You’ve grown up in a world where everything is instant, digital, and streamlined.
Because of that, watching older generations navigate modern life feels like watching someone use a rotary phone in 2025. Their habits that once made perfect sense now seem bizarrely complicated and inefficient to your generation that’s never known anything different. These are just some of the things older people do that you can’t even fathom being bothered with if you were born after 1997.
1. They print out emails to read them properly.
Boomers will receive a perfectly readable email on their computer, then immediately hit print so they can hold a physical piece of paper and read it with a pen in hand. They treat digital text like it’s somehow less real or trustworthy than the same words on paper.
Your generation can’t fathom why anyone would waste paper, ink, and time to create a physical copy of something that’s already perfectly accessible on screen. The idea that reading requires paper feels as outdated as needing candles to see at night.
2. They refuse to put their card information online but hand it to random waiters.
They’ll lecture you about the dangers of online shopping while happily giving their credit card to strangers who disappear into restaurant back rooms for five minutes. The idea of typing their card number into a secure website terrifies them, but physical strangers handling their cards feels totally safe.
You’ve grown up understanding that encrypted websites are actually safer than the dozens of random people who handle cards in person every day. Their fear of digital transactions while trusting human strangers seems completely backwards to your risk assessment.
3. They call instead of texting for simple questions.
A boomer will interrupt your entire day with a phone call to ask what time dinner is or whether you got their message, instead of just sending a quick text that you can respond to when convenient. They treat every minor communication like it requires immediate verbal discussion.
Your generation sees phone calls as reserved for emergencies or complex conversations, not basic information exchange. The inefficiency of stopping everything for a voice conversation about simple logistics feels almost disrespectful of everyone’s time.
4. They print directions instead of using GPS.
Before any trip, they’ll spend time printing out Streetmap directions or writing down turn-by-turn instructions from their computer, then follow these static directions even when traffic or construction makes them obsolete. They trust paper over real-time navigation updates.
You can’t imagine voluntarily choosing outdated information over live traffic data and automatic rerouting. The idea of being stuck with predetermined directions when better options exist feels like choosing to be lost on purpose.
5. They keep phone books and yellow pages.
Despite having the entire internet at their fingertips, they maintain collections of massive paper directories that are outdated before they’re even delivered. They’ll flip through hundreds of pages to find a phone number instead of typing the business name into Google.
Your generation sees these books as environmental waste and storage clutter when the same information is available instantly and more accurately online. Choosing slow, outdated information over immediate access seems like technological self-sabotage.
6. They write checks at grocery stores.
While everyone behind them in line has paid and left, they’re still slowly writing out the store name, date, amount in numbers, amount in words, and their signature for a routine grocery purchase. This payment method turns a two-second transaction into a three-minute production.
You’ve grown up with instant payments that take literally seconds, so watching someone manually write financial information for basic purchases feels like watching someone churn their own butter. The inefficiency seems almost inconsiderate to everyone waiting.
7. They save everything “just in case.”
Their homes are filled with broken electronics, outdated cables, expired coupons, and random items they might need someday, even though replacement items cost almost nothing and take up no storage space. They operate like scarcity is still a real concern.
Your generation understands that most things can be re-acquired quickly and cheaply when actually needed, making storage of unlikely-to-be-used items seem pointless. Living with constant clutter to avoid tiny future inconveniences feels like choosing to be trapped by stuff.
8. They refuse to learn streaming and stick with cable.
They’ll pay triple the price for hundreds of channels they don’t watch, plus endure countless commercials, rather than learn how streaming works. They complain about having nothing to watch while refusing to access the vast libraries of on-demand content available for less money.
Your generation can’t understand choosing expensive, ad-filled, scheduled programming over cheap, commercial-free, watch-anything-anytime options. Paying more money for a worse experience seems like the definition of being bad with technology and money.
9. They listen to entire radio shows to hear one song.
Instead of simply searching for and playing any song they want immediately, they’ll sit through DJ chatter, commercials, and songs they don’t like, hoping their preferred song will eventually play. They treat music access like it’s still rationed and unpredictable.
You’ve never experienced music scarcity, so choosing to wait and hope for songs instead of instantly accessing any song ever made feels like volunteering for frustration. Why accept randomness when you can have exactly what you want immediately?
10. They buy entire newspaper subscriptions for one section.
They’ll pay for thick daily newspapers filled with information they’ll never read just to get the crossword, sports scores, or local news that’s available free online. They’re essentially paying for paper waste to access information that exists in better formats elsewhere.
Your generation gets all news instantly, for free, from multiple sources, with video and interactive features that print can’t provide. Paying for yesterday’s news printed on dead trees seems like nostalgic self-punishment rather than practical information gathering.
11. They use Facebook like it’s their personal diary.
They post detailed updates about their medical appointments, what they ate for breakfast, and every minor life event as if their Facebook friends are desperate for constant life documentation. They treat social media like everyone wants comprehensive updates about their daily existence.
Your generation understands that social media is for curated highlights, not minute-by-minute life documentation. Oversharing mundane details feels like assuming everyone cares about information that’s only interesting to the person living it.
12. They keep landline phones “for emergencies.”
Despite carrying smartphones everywhere, they maintain expensive landline service because they believe these hardwired connections are somehow more reliable during disasters. They pay monthly fees for backup communication they’ll likely never need.
Your generation knows that cell towers have backup power, internet calls work during most emergencies, and landlines go down during the same disasters that affect cell service. Paying extra for redundant communication seems like insurance against problems that don’t actually exist.
