Ugh, boomers. [NOT 6/2/24]

6/2/24 brightersideoflife 21

Hi, friends!

I swear dealing with boomer relatives is just a damn delight.

If I could just get them to send a text with actual information instead of a text “please call me tonight.” Almost every time the conversation is like a few questions which could have happened over text.

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21 Comments

  2. oh man….if i could just get people to call me instead of fucking text…that’d be nice

    especially if they are going to need fifty three billion texts to lead up to a call anyways….

    just fucking call

     

  3. …I find my mileage varies…some people respond better to one form over another…I know a lady who has in my experience never looked pleased to be told the phone was for her…& some people who type…or swype…with such insane speed it’s like a barrage of phrases each delivered as a run on sentence over multiple messages…but can’t read a five line email containing all the information they’re asking for…as a response to the email they haven’t read…over whatsapp…or slack…or some shit that they’ve made the core of their workflow

    …but…to your point…one or two folks I’ve known long enough that these days they are…in a word…slower than they used to be back in the day…they need to have it go at their pace to understand it…&…be it pride or an acknowledgement that they need to have a firm grasp on it…you end up wanting to finish their sentences for them…move up through wanting to just do whatever to get whatever working & then explain what you did & how they could find the relevant stuff to do it should it be required…& often how whatever it is works…& a few dead ends they don’t see as being obviously such…at leisure having done the operative bit they couldn’t do for themselves so you know it’s actually working…which some people are mysteriously unwilling to entertain doing in that order

    …&…at least in my experience…a profound desire to commune with something tasty that’s been distilled at least once…if you can afford for it to be as old as the individual who drove you to drink…I believe that’s called making a success of yourself?

    • mate…..i fucking love your word play but cant help but feel you could have said that in fewer words,,

      really theres only so many you need to get a point across

       

      that said you make it sound real pretty

      • …nah…I mean, it’s a fair cop, guv…just…generally

        …but that one in particular…I mean…I sort of meant it to seem that way…call it an homage to the frustration-inducing process I was trying to describe

        …thought about doing the barrage as

        the staggered
        kind of
        run of these
        that I meant
        but
        you know
        too much scrolling
        is just
        taking the piss

        you know?

        • that staggerred part……i hear it in my head

          and it sounds kinda like ren…..but hes just paying homage

          im not so knowledgeable on my rap to know who hes paying homage to tho

  4. My preferences depend on work vs. personal. I never want to talk on the phone, in either case.

    For new external work partners I prefer Zoom followed up by a clarification email that reiterates agreed upon responsibilities. For seasoned partners emails only.

    For coworkers, Slack for fast requests, answers, info. Slack huddle for longer interactions, with a clarification email. Zoom for meetings with 4+ persons on more complex topics, again with the email follow-up and probably a shared Google reference docx/sheet. We move fast and need reference points.

    For friends, text, and seeing them in person. I have so few family members left that it isn’t an issue.

    #notallboomers

  6. One of the banes of my employment at the agency I used to interpret for was getting voice mails with nothing else but the request to call them whenever I got a chance. In the paranoid, pessimistic state of mind that I had during those last few years, I imagined that the reason was a complaint that they’d received about my job performance or something similarly dire. More often than not, though, they were just asking if I could cover an interpreting gig – which they’d invariably have already given away by the time I called them back.

    Never mind texting: I actually once suggested to my boss that the people from work leaving me voice mails actually reveal in the message what the call was about – and give me a timeframe to call back if it was about a potential appointment. And being a boomer, my boss actually wrote this down with a pen on paper. Still, somehow the message was either never relayed or just plain ignored by the Gen X/Millennial cohort who continued leaving me the voice mails. But then, intra-office communication never really seemed to be their strong suit anyway. I mean, the one time I remember someone from the office (likely also a boomer) actually mentioning an appointment in a voice mail was on a Monday while I was out getting lunch.

    Of course, the trouble with that was . . . I’d basically just quit the previous Friday.

    • Yes! This is exactly my problem.

      If I’m getting a text asking to call the person, then give me some fucking context about the conversation. If it’s just a text saying call me and then the conversation is “are you coming over on Friday or Sunday?” Then whyyyyy not just ask that in the first place!

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