There are things that we all wish we had known from an earlier age to avoid mistakes, mishaps, and general embarrassment.
Not only is there advice that older people wish they could give the younger generation, but there are things the younger generation is doing now that older people simply do not get.
Redditor IslamicAnime asked:
"Older women of Reddit, what is something young women are doing that puzzles you?"
Buccal Fat Removal
"Buccal Fat Removal surgery."
- walkingoffthebuz
"They're gonna regret that s**t, lol (laughing out loud)."
- beepbooponyournose
"It's permanent, and your body will never make more of it. Buccal fat removal ages the face immediately, which isn't a problem for most women in their 20s, but as they actually do age, there is a high likelihood that they will need to constantly get fillers for the rest of their life to combat the side effects of significant premature aging."
- NinaNeptune13
Lip Fillers
"The overdone lip injections. I can’t wait for this trend to die."
- chubbybarbie81
"I'm 26. I went to high school with a girl who has lip fillers, and every time I see a picture of her, those d**n lips are all I can look at. They look so goofy."
- mrsbebe
Surgical Butt Lifts
"Brazilian Butt Lifts. The weird disproportionate diaper booty look is... interesting."
- Shapoopadoopie
"I have not seen a single one that looked good. The proportions are so unnatural between the butt and legs."
- Hexenhut
Social Media Babies
"Blasting pictures of their young children all over social media with 1000 followers."
- assylemdivas
"Before my son was born, I asked everyone to keep my kid off their social media. Mine is restricted to friends and family only, locked down pretty well, and difficult to find because I don’t use my first name on there. I don’t know who other people have on their pages but my kid didn’t need to be blasted all over their pages to see."
"My son was born via C-section around 5:00 PM. The nurse asked if I wanted a picture taken on my phone to show my mom and niece (who were in the waiting room). I said yes, she went and got my phone from my mom, took a couple of photos, and gave it back to my mom."
"She sent it to herself, then to close family members. Within 10 minutes, my sister had it posted on all of her social media pages and was acting as though she had been at the hospital with me all day."
"My 16-year-old niece (her daughter) called her and told her to stop, to take it all down, and do as I’d asked. My sister apparently got mad but finally did it. I found out about it the next day and thanked my niece, but it started a whole thing that ended with me finally just blocking her (my sister) on social media because she wouldn’t do one simple thing."
- quincyd
Falsies of All Sizes
"Big, fluffy false eyelashes. I tried it once and it felt like caterpillars on my eyelids, they had to come off right away. I don't know how they stand it, but I admire their skill."
"(Just wanna make it clear here, I'm not about sh*tting on the aesthetics of young people. You do you, my sweet children! It's just not for me.)"
- katie-kaboom
A Little Privacy
"Letting everyone on the internet know exactly where you are at all times and what your schedule is seems a bit nuts."
- Konebred
"I teach high school math..."
"My students have tracking apps so they can see exactly where their friends are at all times, and I think it's weird as h**l."
"Someone was absent, so I asked, 'Where is Martha?' to nobody in particular. Well, her friend in class pulls out her phone and replies, 'Oh! She should be here soon. She's in the 300 building bathroom.' I find it incredibly creepy, but they have no issue with it."
- Philyphreak3
Influencer Concerns
"Posting non-stop content and then caring so much about what strangers say about them online. As if life isn't difficult enough for women without finding new and unnecessary standards to hold themselves up to. It all seems like an exhausting, pointless, and mentally draining exercise."
- MuddaFrmAnnudaBrudda
"Focusing on their social media appearance. The lighting, the posing… it’s all for likes."
"Posting where they are. Where they go."
"The complete transparency over their location floors me after being told not to tell people that stuff online."
"I worry that a lot of young people are too aware of their social media standing and appearance and aesthetic and are forgetting to find and love themselves for who they are."
- punnymama
Lack of Communication
"Passive-aggressive roommate fights."
"The layers can get really impressive, but in a terrible way. 'A wrote B a note about dishes, but C thought it was about them, so C wrote A a note, and then B came home and thought it was for her so she texted the group chat and...'"
"DUDE. TALK TO PEOPLE. TALK. TO. PEOPLE. This is the perfect time in your life to be practicing assertiveness and healthy conflict resolution. All this s**tty note-writing and vague group text chatting and bulls**t is making whatever the problem is a thousand times worse."
- Much_Difference
Self-Sufficiency
"I am bewildered by women who do not prioritize the ability to support themselves."
- Joey690
"I have so many friends that can't do stuff my dad taught me was basic. Like following instructions for general house maintenance stuff. No reason to pay someone $400 and wait two weeks for them to come when you can do it yourself in 15 minutes with an online tutorial."
"Like swapping the lock assembly on a washing machine. Sounds difficult if you don't know what you're doing, but on many washing machines it's one screw and it's plug and play. There are a ton of videos on YouTube for it, so you don't even need to know how to start."
"I guess what I really got from my dad was the confidence to try. So many people I run into just don't even think they can, so they don't try."
- caboosetp
#VanLife
"Van life."
"The whole 'Van life is so glamorous, look at me sipping my coffee sitting in the back of my van in front of the sunrise' thing is WAY overrated and very, very fake."
"Van life or camper life can be fun and an adventure at times, yes, but it comes with a LOT of work, expenses, and risks that people don't tell you about."
- Just_another_Sue
Makeup Enthusiasts
"They are SO good at makeup. I don’t know if it’s because they have better products, the availability of tutorial videos, or both but they all look amazing and we were walking around with orange faces and smudged eyeliner. Not gonna lie, I’m a little jealous."
"EDITED TO ADD: so many bitter people in these replies! Makeup is a hobby. It might not be one that you enjoy but that doesn’t invalidate it."
"We should respect and uplift all women and however they choose to express themselves, whether it’s by wearing makeup and miniskirts or Carhartt and axel grease."
- SnooPeripherals5969
Relationship Red Flags
"I'm definitely not considered an older woman yet, so I apologize as my view may not count, but one thing I've noticed since starting a new job and working with some 17-20-year-olds has given me a few yikes."
"One is the weird obsession with knowing where their partner is at all times, one girl threw a mini fit because her partner's Snapchat location wasn't on and she was scarily angry about it."
"And the weird glorification I've seen about being 'psycho' is such a weird red flag. Amount of them boasting about borderline mentally abusive things or acts they do to their partners is f**king WILD and frankly scares me a little."
- bamyris
Real-Life Experiences
"I'm 33 so I don't consider myself old yet, but I've seen young girls living through Snapchat and other apps, vehemently photographing themselves and everything around them."
"To me, it seems as if they care more about how they portray themselves online towards others (they don't even know), instead of enjoying the actual experiences."
- Flikketeer
Miss Dependent
"I know a few 17 or 18-year-old girls who have decided not to learn to drive or get licensed because their boyfriends always have cars; not to finish school because they don't enjoy it; and don't ever want to vote because that stuff's boring."
"They have these precious rights to be free, to be educated, to be heard, and they don't care!"
"(Regarding the car thing, we're in a semi-rural area with limited transport options.)"
- RooBeeDooBeeDoo
Lack of Skin Protection
"Not wearing sunscreen and still going tanning."
"My sister died at age 36 from skin cancer and it is still a struggle to convince younger girls of all ethnicities to wear sunscreen and stop tanning. Use a fake tanner or/and love the skin you're in."
- Sure_Temperature_349
From generation to generation, priorities and practices have a way of changing. Some practices are wildly confusing for older generations, leaving the older people to wish that they could give younger people advice they wish they'd had themselves.
