Older People Explain Which Skills They're Shocked Younger Folks Don't Know

People can be quick to pick on Boomers for their use of Facebook or to call Millennials and Gen-Z individuals "lazy," but at the end of the day, there are things that we can all learn from each other if we would only take the time to open our minds and listen.

Ready to take notes, Redditor idiot_in_real asked:

"What is a skill or piece of knowledge that you're shocked most young people don't know?"

The Redditor further explained:

"Old people get roasted a lot for not knowing how to use new technology, but I'd bet there are things that have fallen out of young people's brains. What is the one thing that comes to mind for you? I'd guess counting change or changing a tire."

Basic Technology

"Use technology."

"I’m not kidding. Young people who have mostly only used phones haven’t the slightest idea where a file went if they downloaded it or what to do with a PDF."

"At one of my last jobs, one task was helping the college interns with their work computers. I was in my late 60s."

- cannycandelabra

"The former superintendent of our district felt kids learned keyboarding on their phones. Next thing you know, we’re handing out Chromebooks, and none of them can set up their email, type a document, or create a file."

- KariKHat

Navigation

"Read a map and figure out directions by yourself."

- Heidels223

"Counting change or changing a tire is a skill they don't have that doesn't surprise me. Reading a map and having an idea of where you are is one that distresses me. It really makes life easier and makes it easier to get around when you have a good sense of direction."

- HoselRockit

Literacy Skills

"Reading. The falling level of literacy in this country is shocking. 30% of Americans can't identify the narrative in a piece text, or identify the arguments for and against an argument, and the idea of living such a blinkered life is frightening to me."

"No wonder so many people believe things that just aren't true."

- NotAnAIOrAmI

Bathroom Etiquette

"I used to help a friend property-manage houses around IU Bloomington. I was on call while she was out of the country."

"One of her tenants rang me and said that their toilet was clogged and asked if I could come fix it. The renters were early 20-somethings attending IU."

"I asked a young lady if plunging took care of the problem. Her response was, 'Plunging? What is that?'"

"I replied, 'You know, when you take a plunger, and you push it many times over the hole in the stool to unclog the clog.'"

"She had never heard of a plunger or experienced using one."

- Small-Building3181

Mending Clothes

"Darning socks, sewing on buttons, mending clothes - I guess at some point it got cheaper to discard clothing rather than repairing them."

- CPetersky

"That makes for some great deals at the thrift shops, though. I recently got a very nice brand blazer that was missing a button. There was a spare button still attached inside. Sucks for them but great for me!"

- ListlessThistle

Analog Clock

"the ability to tell time on a clock with hands."

- cerealandcorgies

"I was raised by my grandparents, so I carry around a few anachronisms for my generation. But now I’m imposing them on my children as well."

"'Do you have the time?' Or 'What time do you have?'"

"And the answer is 'quarter past' or 'ten til five.'"

"My kids are constantly asking me why I don’t just say the time normal."

"'Normally,' I say back."

- thedrew

Exchanging Money

"Counting change is spot on."

"I had a transaction recently where my change was going to be $4.85. I gave him $20.15."

"He handed me the $4.85 his machine told him I was to receive (he had punched in the $20 before I got the 15 cents out of my wallet and handed all $20.15 to him) and then, bewildered, handed me my 15 cents back."

"I think I broke him."

- Ernigirl

"Long ago, when I worked at a mall, and the drinks were $0.85. The first time I gave the guy $1.10, he gave me back the dime, and I was like, No, I want a quarter back."

"He didn’t understand and argued with me for a few seconds, so I just told him to just put it in the register. He did, and lo and behold, my change was 25¢. His mind was blown."

- WittyButter217

Completing Phone Calls

"Introducing yourself on a phone call."

- FNFALC2

"Making a 'business' call at all. Calling a company with a question or need and being able to articulate what you want."

- spaetzlechick

Cursive Handwriting

"I'm 47. When my kids give me a hard time about technology, I remind them that I had to teach them how to use a f**king spoon!"

"Every time my son sees something written in cursive, his brain just gives up! LOL, for this very reason, I will teach our grandbaby how to read and write in cursive. Technology is nice sometimes, but so are paper, pen, and books."

- FlatNoise1899

Physical Correspondence

"How to address a piece of mail. A few years ago, I told my stepson that he needed to address the envelopes to mail out his graduation announcements, and he had no idea how to write out the addresses on the envelope (mailing address, return address, etc)."

- Snapdragoo

Car Maintenance

"Jack up a car and change a tire. It boggles my mind! I’ve met kids who don’t even know where the jack and spare are in their vehicle!"

- sas5814

"Many new cars don’t even have a spare. In 2021 paid $100 for a donut spare as an ‘option’ in a new Ford."

"Both my kids (she and he) have a battery impact driver to make jacking and removing lug nuts way easier. 10/10 recommend. Oh, I also got them little jump-packs to keep in the car. Much safer than cables and you can jumpstart without help."

- Slick-62

Physical Work

"We raise cattle. Sometimes we would like to hire a young person to help with a variety of chores. While I understand that not everyone grows up knowing how to run a tractor or fix a fence, we are often stymied by the lack of absolutely any knowledge or skills. They are unfamiliar with basic tools."

"I had one young man who had to be shown how to use a shovel."

"There is also a lack of problem-solving and initiative. I don't want to crap on young people in general, but I think a lot of them are being raised with no experience working on anything outside. They are all nice kids, and willing to learn, and work hard to earn a few bucks and help us out."

"They like the farm and the cows. We just have to start from absolute scratch and assume they know nothing about working with their hands."

- rivertam2985

Time Management

"Making plans/plan ahead. We had to plan everything. Just to go out, we had to know where our destination was, plan a route on a map, and estimate how long it might take to get there, and be able to use an alternate route if needed (paper map again)."

"We didn't always know the hours of business or the menu ahead of time, and gas stations weren't open 24 hours, so we had to plan on that, if we had to make a phone call, we needed to use a pay phone and be able to pay and know the number or hope it was in a phone book."

" We had to plan on how much cash to bring to pay for all of this because credit cards really weren't accepted at most places."

- klystron88

Real-Life Interactions

"How to interact in real life. Too much time spent on screens behind some fake personality, with their 10k 'friends' but can't hold a conversation IRL."

- ebonyxcougar

"This one hit me hard this week. I am a pediatrician, and I was in the middle of a teenager's physical when I realized their phone was on FaceTime??? They literally were FaceTiming their friend during their entire doctor's appointment???"

"I stopped what I was doing and was like, 'Hi, random friend on FaceTime, you weren’t invited to this doctor's appointment, so bye now!' I’m still so confused."

- k_mom2244

It's The Little Things

"I am constantly bemused by the number of young people who can't use a can opener."

"And the recurring questioning of whether minor little things in life are 'legal' or not."

- Tinman5278

It's amazing to think about how times have changed and how needs shift from generation to generation.

There are some things that are nostalgic but obsolete now, like being able to navigate a card catalog while being able to at least read cursive handwriting arguably will help preserve history.

But there are definitely other things, like reading maps without the use of a phone, sewing, or cooking on a budget, that largely feel like lost arts. While there are many things older generations could learn from the younger, maybe it wouldn't hurt the younger generation to pick up a few of these skills back up.