If you weren’t feeling old today, you might after reading this.
I got, well, hundreds of responses.
“A young coworker once said, ‘Did you knowGwen Stefaniwas in a band?’
I said, ‘Yeah, No Doubt.’
And she said, ‘No, it’s true!’
(As if I was saying ‘for real?').
Anyway, I was asked while checking out at Davids Bridal for a bridesmaid dress what my email was.
I say, ‘Blah blah blah at aol.com.’
This girl looked at me and said, ‘Can you spell AOL for me?
Ive never heard of that.
Just give me a cane and send me to a retirement home. "
“I was hanging out with some of our interns from work.
One of them mentioned that their birthday was coming up that weekend.
I asked how old they were turning, and they said, ‘23’ and with great enthusiasm.
I exclaimed, ‘Oh my God, nobody likes you when you’re 23!’
She just looked at me with a blank stare and slightly hurt.
I tried to recover by saying, ‘No, because you know, the Blink-182 song?
“What’s My Age Again?"’
More blank stares from her, the other interns, and colleagues.
Oof, that one hit hard.”
“I asked a co-worker, ‘What’s the 411?’
They had no idea what I was talking about.”
“I work at a college.
Referenced ‘jumping the shark’ to one of our student workers.
Not only did I have to explain the reference, but I also had to explain whatHappy Dayswas. "
“It’s not a reference I made, but I teach 9 and 10-year-olds.
My ’80s heart was destroyed.”
“Said, ‘Ya know what I mean, Vern?’
My niece responded that her name isn’t Vern.
My students just look at me like Im crazy and say, ‘Whos Vern?’
People have completely forgotten Ernest, but he was such a huge part of my childhood.”
It didn’t stop there, she didn’t know who Selena was either.
I wanted to die.”
“I’m a teacher, and there was a book that came with a CD for audio read-aloud.
The kid asked me what this was, and I said it was a CD.
I was told, ‘What’s a CD?'”
and everybodys jaws just dropped.
He was mortified that everyone was mortified.
Anyway, human resources was not amused either.”
“Several years ago, a coworker in another department named Klarissa [started].
I said to another coworker in my department, ‘Oh, likeClarissa Explains It All.’
She had no clue what I was talking about, and in that moment, I felt ancient.”
The students just stared at me.
“Having to explain to a 25-year-old coworker what a B-side is.”
He looked at me as if I was crazy and asked, ‘Does she want to have a bonfire?
Why does she want to burn CDs?'”
“At work, we needed a plumber, but maintenance tried to ‘fix’ it.
I said it had been ‘MacGyvered,’ and no one knew what I was talking about.”
Just for reference, Im 32."
She looked at me blankly.
I said, ‘You know, black and white static like on an old TV?’
She then called it ‘snowflakes’ the rest of the visit ."
“I’m trying to explain to young people that the Netflix seriesWednesdayis based onThe Addams Family.
All I got was a blank stare!!!
Even tried with the names of the characters… “My son’s friend was wearing Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars.
I told him I liked his Chucks.
He politely corrected me and told me they were called Converse [they no longer call them Chucks].
I’ve never felt so old.”
He closed with ‘Hey There Delilah.’
I mentioned to my friend that I think every millennial knows that song.
The girls in front of me turned around and said, ‘Not just millennials!
Gen Z appreciates classic rock, too!'”
“I am Gen X and landed a part-time job.
I told a 20-year-old coworker that it provided me with my ‘mad money.’
He had no idea what I meant.”
They legitimately didn’t get it.
I had never felt so old!"
“I mentioned La-Z-Boy, and a 15-year-old boy I teach tried to insist it was a game console.
He had to google it to ‘prove me wrong.’
His father and I were mortified.”
I’m 41, and the youngest of the adults.
Then there is a gap and a few under 30 kids."
“I’m a therapist in my mid-40s.
I had an initial telephone consultation with a new client who was in their early 20s.
“I work down the street from our city’s downtown square, where many different festivals take place.
Last year, at one festival, there was a ‘Mrs.
Out of over 100 people there, only one other woman knew who she was.
I have never felt older in my life!”
One asked, ‘What’s a Kodachrome?'”
“I was hanging with a younger millennial friend.
He said, ‘See you later.’
I replied, ‘Same bat time, same bat channel.’
My friend had no idea what I was referencing.”
“I said, ‘You’re killing me, Smalls.’
They responded with, ‘I’m not short.'”
“I’m a 4th grade teacher.
When I was teaching my students about informational texts, the curriculum suggested I reference a cable guide.
They were all horrified when I explained that streaming didn’t exist back then.”
About a year ago, I started to get blank stares."
I quickly apologized for my sometimes less-than-legible handwriting.
He told me that was not the issue it was that he could not read cursive.
Schools are not teaching Dnealian (cursive) writing in school anymore.
How do you learn to sign your name???"
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
