8 things boomers refuse to stop doing that drive younger generations absolutely crazy

Every generation thinks they’ve figured out life better than the one before them — and boomers are no exception.

They grew up in a world of hard work, in-person connections, and “just get on with it” attitudes. But what made sense in the 1970s doesn’t always fit into the reality of 2025.

Younger generations — millennials, Gen Z, and even younger Gen Xers — often find themselves gritting their teeth through habits that boomers not only keep doing, but defend proudly.

And to be fair, most of it isn’t malicious. It’s just… outdated.

Here are eight things boomers refuse to stop doing that quietly (and sometimes loudly) drive younger generations up the wall.

1. Calling instead of texting

To boomers, a phone call is personal — a sign of respect. To younger generations, it’s an intrusion.

You’re deep in work, your phone rings, and suddenly you’re forced into small talk you didn’t plan for.

Boomers love spontaneity. Millennials and Gen Z love boundaries.

It’s not that younger people don’t want to talk — they just want control over when they talk. Texting gives you that flexibility.

But boomers still call for everything. To ask one question. To say “just checking in.” Or, my personal favorite, to tell you they’ve just sent you an email.

There’s a reason most younger people see an incoming call and think: “This could’ve been a text.”

2. Giving unsolicited advice (about everything)

Boomers are a wealth of experience — and they know it. The problem is, they often assume you want that experience every time you mention a problem.

Mention a career issue? “You just have to stick it out.”
Relationship problem? “Back in my day, we didn’t quit so easily.”
Feeling burnt out? “You kids don’t know what hard work is.”

It’s not that their advice is always bad — it’s that it’s rarely asked for.

Younger generations value emotional validation first, not immediate solutions. They want someone to listen, not someone to lecture.

But for boomers, advice-giving is a love language. They see it as helping. Unfortunately, it often comes across as dismissive — especially when the world we’re navigating looks nothing like theirs did.

3. Making everything about “hard work”

If there’s one boomer mantra that’s survived every decade, it’s this:

“You just have to work harder.”

You could be talking about mental health, burnout, or inequality — and somehow, it circles back to work ethic.

For boomers, working hard was the path to success. For younger generations, it’s often the path to exhaustion. The economy, technology, and expectations have all changed — yet boomers still see overworking as a badge of honor.

Gen Z, on the other hand, sees work-life balance as a boundary, not laziness. They’re not afraid to say no to toxic hustle culture.

Boomers call it “entitlement.”
Younger people call it “self-preservation.”

4. Oversharing personal details (and expecting you to do the same)

Boomers grew up in a world where privacy meant something entirely different. They’ll casually ask about your salary, your relationship status, your plans for kids — all before the appetizer arrives.

And they’ll do it with no ill intent. In their minds, that’s just conversation.

But for younger generations, those topics feel invasive. Boundaries are a big deal — and not everything needs to be discussed at Sunday lunch.

I once had a boomer relative ask me during a family dinner, “So how much money are you making now?” right as I took a bite of lasagna. That’s a classic boomer move — well-meaning curiosity delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

They don’t mean harm. But it’s a reminder that generational definitions of “appropriate” vary wildly.

5. Romanticizing the past (and criticizing the present)

You’ve heard it before:

“Kids these days have it so easy.”
“When I was your age, I already had a house.”

Boomers love nostalgia — and they often weaponize it.

Yes, they faced challenges. But comparing the cost of living, education, and housing now to the 1980s is like comparing a bicycle to a spaceship.

Younger generations don’t resent boomers for having it easier; they resent being told they’re lazy for struggling under completely different conditions.

And yet, boomers still cling to the “back in my day” refrain as if it’s the ultimate truth. For younger people, it’s exhausting. The world has changed — and pretending it hasn’t doesn’t make anyone wiser.

6. Treating technology like it’s out to get them

For younger generations, technology is oxygen. For boomers, it’s a battlefield.

They’ll proudly tell you, “I don’t trust those apps,” while typing a Facebook status about how much they hate Facebook.

They’ll call you to ask how to “open the YouTube,” or forward you an article from 2014 about how microwaves cause cancer.

The frustration isn’t that boomers struggle with tech — it’s that many refuse to learn it. Instead, they treat it like the enemy.

And when younger people try to help, they’re met with:

“Don’t talk to me like I’m stupid.”

It’s not stupidity. It’s stubbornness. The same stubbornness that makes boomers charmingly old-school — and occasionally impossible.

7. Equating disagreement with disrespect

For many boomers, authority and experience are sacred. So when a younger person challenges their opinion — even politely — it feels like defiance.

But younger generations were raised in a culture that values open dialogue. Disagreement isn’t rebellion; it’s curiosity.

You can see this clash everywhere — at work, at home, online. Boomers see disagreement as rude. Millennials and Gen Z see blind agreement as dishonest.

It’s not about ego — it’s about communication styles.

But until boomers stop interpreting “I see it differently” as “You’re wrong,” this generational standoff will continue.

8. Assuming their way is the only right way

Whether it’s parenting, saving money, or ordering coffee, boomers tend to believe their methods are tried-and-true — and anything different is either unnecessary or wrong.

They’ll say, “You don’t need therapy, just toughen up,” or “Why are you renting? You’re throwing money away.”

It’s not arrogance; it’s habit. They survived by relying on a formula that worked in their world. The problem is, that world doesn’t exist anymore.

Younger generations have had to build flexibility into their lives — multiple income streams, shifting identities, changing economies. Boomers often see that as chaos. But it’s actually adaptation.

And that’s the irony: the generations they sometimes dismiss as “soft” are the ones quietly learning to survive in a much harder world.

Final reflection: a clash of values, not villains

Boomers aren’t bad. They’re not the enemy. They’re just from a world that rewarded stability, authority, and effort — and now they’re watching that world disappear.

Younger generations, meanwhile, are navigating a landscape that demands flexibility, empathy, and constant reinvention.

The frustration goes both ways: boomers feel misunderstood; younger people feel unheard.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Maybe boomers could learn that boundaries aren’t disrespect, and maybe younger people could remember that experience — even outdated — still carries wisdom.

But until that happens, the cultural tug-of-war will continue: phone calls versus texts, nostalgia versus progress, “back in my day” versus “but it’s different now.”

And maybe that’s okay. Because beneath all the eye-rolls and sighs, there’s still something beautiful about generations trying — however clumsily — to understand each other.