Anna Log

Have you had any cravings to go back to the way things were? Not talking politics now. We had some crazy things going on 50 years ago. No, I’m talking about putting down all the tech tools and revisiting the good old days…okay just the old days.

Some call it a digital detox, but however you refer to it, maybe it’s time to jettison some digital tech tools for a while. If nothing else, we could prove to ourselves that we don’t need some/all that technology 24/7.

Here’s some small mods to get you started. Stop using your smart phone to wake up. Dig out the old alarm clock that is either in the attic or the basement. It will be a blast (literally) to hear that jolt in the morning.

Find your old watch in the nightstand and wear it for a few days just to remind yourself of what it was like to rely on a non-digital tool.

Ditch the credit cards for a week and see what it’s like to pull bills out of your pocket/wallet – at least at the few places left that take cash.

Here’s a  crazy thought. Instead of texting, call up people. It will freak them out to hear your voice but that will be half the fun.

Remember when cameras needed film? You can still find those cameras and buy the film, and it’s just weirdly satisfying to wait until the prints/slides come back from processing.

All those game apps for your smartphone need a rest. Get out the chess or checker sets, Monopoly, etc. and invite some friends over for some actual live game time. Maybe start on a 1000-piece puzzle again like we did during the pandemic.

The Kindle is mighty handy but try going old school for a week or two with just those funky printed on paper books that you hold in your hands.

Blogging is never going away but you can bring back journaling if you dig out a pen and buy one of those fancy notebooks that people buy and then never use. I wish I still had the portable Olivetti (the one in the Museum of Modern Art) but it’s long gone.

Maybe you’re not suffering from digital fatigue and you’re happy with all your digital servants. Try going analog for just one day. If nothing else, it will give you a greater appreciation for those marvels of technology.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Too Old

I recently saw an article in which people were enumerating things that they were too old for, which struck me funny, because a million years ago our complaint was that we were too young (to drive, to drink, to swear, etc.).

But yes, there are things that we just don’t want to do anymore. The article listed such things as arguing with stupid people (waste of time) and hangovers (recovery period too long).

What’s on your list? Mine starts with concerts with no seating. You have to stand the whole time?  Nah!

You’re stuck in a concert crowd that wants to sing along with EVERY song? Especially the couple right behind you.

Shoes that aren’t comfortable? With only so much time left on earth, why should your feet hurt?

Other people’s opinion of me? I want to care but at our age, what’s the use? We can’t change even if we wanted to.

Guilty pleasures? Bring ‘em on! Too late for you to overdose on Cheetos and what’s wrong with a piece of chocolate now and then (make that twice a day)?

Keeping up with popular culture? Time wasted. Have no idea who the latest movie stars are and I’m not feeling left out or inferior about it.

Risking life and limb? No, no, and more no. I’m sure skydiving is thrilling but not for me.

Conflict. Don’t need it, don’t want it. Life is short. Well, shorter for boomers anyway, so who needs any more agro?

Denying that I like what I like. That’s a big one. Why should any of us waste our time being defensive about the choices we make and the pleasures we pursue (unless it’s illegal)? You like to read only murder mysteries? Good on you. It’s your time and it’s ridiculous for it to be labeled a guilty pleasure. There can be no guilt for how you want to spend your time (and I’ll say it again, unless it’s illegal).

Emojis. I know, I know. You may think they are cute and sure, they communicate emotion with impressive brevity, but I just can’t get through a text or an email that’s filled with them. We’re adults, so let’s act like it.

Maybe we’re too old to be making lists of things we’re too old to be doing –— oops, too late.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Slanguage

One of the biggest bones of contention between Boomers and Millennials is the use of acronyms and emojis, particularly as they have proliferated in the workplace. Millennials love to use them, and boomers flat out hate them. One must admit (or not) that the assumption that everyone will know what your shorthand or emoji means is just plain cocky – besides being out of place in a professional environment.

That brings us to the increased use of shorthand on TikTok and Twitter. The shorthand continues to leak over into workplace communication. DW, for example, means “don’t worry.” Relax. Everything is OK unless you haven’t the foggiest idea of what DW means. (On a sidenote, OK or okay is from the 1880s and is supposedly an intentional misspelling of oll korrect. Who knew? Shorthand has been around for a long time.)

Next, we have ICYMI. This one is most likely directed at clueless boomers on various occasions, because it means “in case you missed it.” Of course we missed it! You insist on using shorthand!

HMU? That stands for “hit me up.” That is, call me. That could be irritating enough that you would rather just slug them.

“AFK” is short for away from keyboard. Really? Really! And we need to know this why? A little too much self-importance. Next thing you know, they will be “ITB” –– in the bathroom.

“TBH.” “To be honest.” Yes, honesty would be appreciated but isn’t it superfluous to tell us you are a professional and not prone to lie when communicating with your coworkers.

Then there’s “SMH” –– “shaking my head.” Most likely a millennial is using it when frustrated that Boomers don’t understand all this shorthand.

Here’s another time waster. “WYD.” What (are) you doing? Sitting at your desk looking up shorthand slang terminology – DUH!

I would like to think that the use of shorthand will taper off one day, eventually, maybe, but sadly I know it will most likely proliferate to the point when I don’t understand half the communication I receive via email or in texts.

No worries. I’ll get ChatGBT to translate everything for me.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

No Longer Young

Uh-oh. Millennials are worried about what age they will be when they stop feeling young. Ho boy! In an article in the Wall Street Journal, the millennial author ponders reaching the decade when he/she will notice signs of aging. On the same day, I saw an article titled “At what age do we start feeling old?”

Lots to unpack here. First, the oldest millennials are in their early 40s, so the woman pondering aging must be referring the effects of the 4^th decade. You need glasses for reading? You don’t have as much stamina as you used to have? Your muscles ache for longer periods after strenuous exercise or physical labor? Hair going grey? Memory not as sharp as it used to be? Need a nap by midafternoon? Having a hard time hearing conversations in a noisy restaurant? Hmmm.

Yep, baby boomers know all about it. We’ve been fighting back against the aging process for 3 decades or more. Not sure this will make an older millennial feel any better, but there’s a difference between experiencing the effects of aging and having a mindset in which you honestly believe you’ve aged. Many boomers will tell you that they did not really begin to feel old until they were in their 60s.

Yes, it’s harder to get up off the floor if you’ve been exercising or playing with a grandchild. So what. Moving slower had its advantages. For one thing, you’re less likely to fall if you ease yourself out of bed or injure something during overly aggressive pickleball action. (Sidenote: Not taking up this popular game because media is reporting that many people are getting injured because they think they are still 30 years old.)

Let’s accept the fact that by age 50 or 60 you will have admitted you are no longer young. How does that change anything? You know you’re old but you don’t need to behave as though you are an old person. It’s an idiotic cliché with a grain of truth to it, but you are as young as you feel. And that’s something to keep in mind while we let others write articles about the signs of aging. In other words, fageddaboutit!

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Pre-Internet

Someone on Reddit posed the following question:

How Did Older Generations (I read that as Boomers and GenXers, mostly) Have Fun Before The Internet.

Over 9,000 Redditors responded and the following are some of the best, with some editorial comment.

“Waiting for the radio to play your favorite songs so you could record them took a big chunk of time.”

And how about making your own mix tapes…ON CASSETTES!! That you could play IN THE CAR!

“Mostly video games.”

It wasn’t my thing, but I knew a lot of people who were into Dungeons and Dragons back then.

“Being a latchkey kid gave me so much time with my parents’ records. If it weren’t for that time alone with Sam Cooke, I’d be clapping on the first beat like a neanderthal.”

Yep. Playing 45’s with one of those plastic adapter rings so they would fit on the little spindle.

“I have a hope chest full of bad poetry from when I was a teenager. I don’t know what to do with it! I’m genuinely afraid of anyone finding that shit after I die — and frankly, I don’t trust the dump.”

I’ve got some fiction somewhere that I thought the New Yorker would want to publish.

“Lie about where the Victoria’s Secret catalog is.”

Hmmm. Boys were perusing any number of catalogs in the late 50s.

“Hanging around outside with my best friend was pretty much what I did every day, and it was bliss. Yes, there were times when I was incredibly bored out of my mind, but it never lasted.”

And you could be gone all day without anyone freaking out about it.

“Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll…without the sex and drugs. But definitely lots of rock ‘n’ roll. Also, riding bikes, camping, and summer jobs. I only saw my room when I was sleeping or it was raining outside.”

And our parents were quite happy to have us out of the house – for hours at a time. The closest we came to anything bordering on technology was a little transistor radio that you could sneak under the covers and listen to music from far away places or Jean Shepherd on WOR in Chicago.

Go back in time and I’m sure every boomer could come up with a list of activities that filled all our waking hours, and never once did we have to worry about whether we had WI-FI service.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon.

Old Is Old

Let’s talk about age, shall we? Not our biological age. No, not that. Let’s talk about the words used to talk about our/their stigma about getting older. Many of the words regarding aging are just rude and crude, but we mostly shrug them off. Maybe it’s time to push back when we’re feeling like we’ve just been disrespected.

“You look great for seventy-five.” Okay, that’s just insulting. Want to compliment someone on their appearance? Just say “you look great” and leave it at that. Better yet just tell them you like their blouse or the color of their sweater.

Then there’s the dreaded “at your age” caution. “You’re going skiing at your age?” Yes, because that’s what they enjoy doing and they don’t need anyone’s approval. If you’re really worried about them, just tell them to be careful and have a good time, while omitting the age factor.

Know someone in their 70s who dresses like they are in their 40s? Leave them alone. They’re happy wearing short skirts or tight tees. Why not let them enjoy wearing that fashion while they still can instead of telling them they’re too old for that look.

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of semantics, we should think about the term elderly. Even if you’re on the leading edge of boomerdom, you don’t want to be called elderly. Even senior is better than that, and older adult is okay.

All of us experience memory lapses in which we are unable to retrieve the name of a singer or the vacation spot from 5 years ago. We have a lot of stuff stored in our gray matter, so it should not come as a surprise that it can be difficult to access all those facts. When it happens to someone you know, rather than remind them it’s happening because they are old, it’s much kinder to admit that it happens to you as well. And more often than you’d like.

Jokes about old people? Not funny if you feel like you’re the butt of the joke or you’re the one doing the joking. Getting old is still a lot better than the alternative of not experiencing aging at all – because (sorry to be harsh) you’re dead.

Think about some of these common slights the next time you’re with anyone older than yourself. The day may soon come when you’re the target of someone’s misguided assumption that you’re just too old to walk, talk and chew gum. And that kind of mistreatment gets old.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Buzzzz

In a recent BuzzFeed post, people shared their “Oh no, I’m old” moments and the results, as you would expect, were very hilarious/revealing/depressing. The worst one was the 42-year-old man who broke his hip in his sleep. Then he broke it again while doing the PT to heal and had to get  hip replacement surgery. If you’re age 70 and over, allow me to remind you he is only 42.

My age realization is when you are filling out personal information online and get to the drop-down menu for the year you were born. Watching the years fly by as you scroll ever deeper down in order to reach your birth year is discouraging.

Another 42-year-old stated that he knew he was old when he watched a music award show and had no idea who any of the nominees were. Dua Lipa had him stumped but I’ve seen photos of her on Instagram and I would say if you’ve seen only one photo of her in concert, you would not forget the name.

One poster vividly remembered Y2K. Then he realized that the year 2000 was closer to the year 1979 than 2023. I remember that many normally intelligent people thought the world as we knew it was going to end. Not.

Someone posted that he AND his father have noticed that they recognize more of the celebrities who died than the ones currently on the red carpet.

Then there was someone who admitted that they had a long and interesting conversation with someone in the grocery store – about mops. Probably not embarrassed about it either.

An obstetric nurse realized she helped to deliver one of her co-workers. That’s almost as bad as overhearing the person in line in front of you give their birthdate as 2006.

One contributor shared that he has thrown out his back getting something out of the refrigerator. And emptying the dishwasher. And sneezing. And removing the dog’s leash.

The topper would have to be the poster who said he went to his high school reunion and was gobsmacked that there were a whole bunch of old people there.

That’s a feeling that any of us can get when we’re in an airport gate waiting area or a doctors office waiting room. Guess we better get used to it and maybe take a long look in the mirror.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that's not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.