Archives for August 2023

One of the biggest bones of contention between Boomers and Millennials is the use of acronyms and emojis, particularly as they have proliferated in the workplace. Millennials love to use them, and boomers flat out hate them. One must admit (or not) that the assumption that everyone will know what your shorthand or emoji means is just plain cocky – besides being out of place in a professional environment.

That brings us to the increased use of shorthand on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter). The shorthand continues to leak over into workplace communication. DW, for example, means “don’t worry.” Relax. Everything is OK unless you haven’t the foggiest idea of what DW means. (On a sidenote, OK or okay is from the 1880s and is supposedly an intentional misspelling of oll korrect. Who knew? Shorthand has been around for a long time.)

Next, we have ICYMI. This one is most likely directed at clueless boomers on various occasions, because it means “in case you missed it.” Of course we missed it! You insist on using shorthand!

HMU? That stands for “hit me up.” That is, call me. That could be irritating enough that you would rather just slug them.

“AFK” is short for away from keyboard. Really? Really! And we need to know this why? A little too much self-importance. Next thing you know, they will be “ITB” –– in the bathroom.

“TBH.” “To be honest.” Yes, honesty would be appreciated but isn’t it superfluous to tell us you are a professional and not prone to lie when communicating with your coworkers.

Then there’s “SMH” –– “shaking my head.” Most likely a millennial is using it when frustrated that Boomers don’t understand all this shorthand.

Here’s another time waster. “WYD.” What (are) you doing? Sitting at your desk looking up shorthand slang terminology – DUH!

I would like to think that the use of shorthand will taper off one day, eventually, maybe, but sadly I know it will most likely proliferate to the point when I don’t understand half the communication I receive via email or in texts.

No worries. I’ll get ChatGBT to translate everything for me.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

In my childhood home, it was hard to be acknowledged as something special. Bringing home test papers marked “100%” or showing off a teacher’s delighted scribble of “A+++” on an English composition elicited, “Well, naturally. You’re my child.” And a quick change of subject.

I yearned for a distinctive talent, one that would truly impress my parents.

Every year Dad and I watched The Miss America contest together. He repeatedly declared, “You were the most beautiful baby anyone had ever seen. Why didn’t we enter you into a beautiful baby contest?” He promised I could be in the Miss America contest when I got older.

In the middle of this fantasy, he appeared flummoxed. “You’ve got to have a talent.”

I couldn’t play an instrument. My teacher was pretty sure I was tone deaf.

My father could draw clever cartoons and comics but my idea of art was a square house with four windows, a chimney belching smoke, a sun in the sky, a flower growing near the path to the house. Essentially, a vision unchanged since first grade. So, not Art.

“I’ll recite a poem I’ve written or sing a song?” Dad winced. He’d already voiced his opinion of my writing when I read him my comic western, Wild Dill Pickle Rides Again.”

“Look,” he’d said, “You’re not a real writer. A real writer gets up at 4 a.m. and writes every day. A real writer watches no TV. A real writer—” I got the idea.

Nevertheless, we continued to watch Miss America together though I was sick of hearing how I failed to measure up. One day Dad had a brainstorm. “Tuck your hair behind your ears and follow my lead.”
“They’re moving,” he whispered. “Hey kids,” he called out to my brothers. “Get in here. Bring your mother!”

With my family gathered round, I practiced in the mirror. My ears danced! And no one else in the family— outside of Dad—had inherited this particular talent. We had found my talent!

For the rest of my childhood I watched in vain for a Miss America candidate to demonstrate my aural dexterity. Ha! No way would I wiggle my ears on TV.

And by the way, I eventually discovered I was a real writer all along. Thanks, Dad (for that stubborn gene in your DNA).

Janet Garber may still be able to wiggle her ears

Remember that song…Wild Thing! You make my heart sing? As we get older that pulse gets tempered. When you’ve ‘been there’ and ‘done that’ for over a long period of time. There aren’t too many ‘wild things’ left to explore or enjoy. Not quite like the initial, youthful discoveries of another. As Italians would say, ‘come prima’…at first.

But what about now, as we age? It just means going quieter, less full blast. Subtle, with more space for silence and absorption of the moment, in the moment. Doesn’t mean any of the past pheromone charged enthusiasm is discounted or disparaged. It’s about accepting that we’re mostly past it. ‘Speak for yourself,’ you might be saying. Okay. I guess that’s all we can ever speak for…our own experience and insight. but hear me out on these couple of thoughts.

Of course, it’s imperative to keep up enthusiasm, pursue new possibilities, keep active and engaged. Still, there is an awful lot of comedy in plays and movies, if not teasing among peers, based on old-guys trying to stretch their salad days past the sell-by date. We must know when to turn down the volume, to go for subtle, slower, more appreciative, with gentle and realistic allowances for the ravages of age and gravity. For example, we must move past the Sports Illustrated cover as the ultimate in female charm and look to personality and caring; mutual comfort and companionship (despite SI throwing a bone to us old dogs by including a spread on Martha Steward…as if! Allow us all to give it a rest!)

Have you ever remarked how toddlers can engage in parallel play and even branch out to playing together? From a distance it’s not always easy to distinguish boys from girls with the gender-neutral clothes and haircuts…they’re just little people doing things together, oblivious to role expectations, not yet partners in the mating dance going on all around them. And sometimes they can play ‘house’ trying on roles, playing ‘grownups.’

Perhaps at the other end of the age spectrum we ‘oldsters’ can give ourselves permission to play ‘youngsters’ and let ourselves simply enjoy one another without all the internal combustion noise and exhaust of the child-bearing years. Like in the story of the elderly couple sharing a gentle kiss. After a pause, the wife asks, “What was that other thing we used to do?”

Ha!…just sayin’.

Retired trainer, and writing instructor, Joe Novara lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Writings include novels, short stories, a memoir and various poems, plays, anthologies and articles. In, Pinata Belly, and other tales of later love, Novara reminds of the limits and ultimate hope for online dating sites.

Uh-oh. Millennials are worried about what age they will be when they stop feeling young. Ho boy! In an article in the Wall Street Journal, the millennial author ponders reaching the decade when he/she will notice signs of aging. On the same day, I saw an article titled “At what age do we start feeling old?”

Lots to unpack here. First, the oldest millennials are in their early 40s, so the woman pondering aging must be referring the effects of the 4^th decade. You need glasses for reading? You don’t have as much stamina as you used to have? Your muscles ache for longer periods after strenuous exercise or physical labor? Hair going grey? Memory not as sharp as it used to be? Need a nap by midafternoon? Having a hard time hearing conversations in a noisy restaurant? Hmmm.

Yep, baby boomers know all about it. We’ve been fighting back against the aging process for 3 decades or more. Not sure this will make an older millennial feel any better, but there’s a difference between experiencing the effects of aging and having a mindset in which you honestly believe you’ve aged. Many boomers will tell you that they did not really begin to feel old until they were in their 60s.

Yes, it’s harder to get up off the floor if you’ve been exercising or playing with a grandchild. So what. Moving slower had its advantages. For one thing, you’re less likely to fall if you ease yourself out of bed or injure something during overly aggressive pickleball action. (Sidenote: Not taking up this popular game because media is reporting that many people are getting injured because they think they are still 30 years old.)

Let’s accept the fact that by age 50 or 60 you will have admitted you are no longer young. How does that change anything? You know you’re old but you don’t need to behave as though you are an old person. It’s an idiotic cliché with a grain of truth to it, but you are as young as you feel. And that’s something to keep in mind while we let others write articles about the signs of aging. In other words, fageddaboutit!

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Of all the hints for maintaining your health as you age, getting more sleep is one of the most prominent. And the most confounding. Eat the right foods: whole grains, Mediterranean diet. Exercise, or at least walk every day. Drink plenty of water. If you’re thirsty it’s too late. And the list will end with the injunction to get enough sleep – they usually recommend seven to eight hours a night.

Sure, if you’re propping your eyelids open at 2:00 A.M. maybe you could ratchet it back to midnight. But what if you have trouble falling asleep? Or, worse yet, you fall asleep easily but wake up in the middle of the night and toss and turn for two hours or more? Listen to the experts and you’ll soon feel guilty about your bad sleep “habits.”

I fall into that last category. Several nights each week, I will wake up after about three hours of sleep and the brain gets going and before I know it I’m wide awake for a couple hours. In all my reading about how to solve this problem the only item that seemed to help a little was to get devices away from the bed. I started putting my cell phone and iPad in another room and found I woke up a little less often. But it didn’t really solve the problem.

Then I happened upon a little historical tidbit that I probably should have known all along. Before the invention of electricity, people mostly went to sleep when it got dark and left the bed when it got light in the morning. But it didn’t work exactly that smoothly. Especially in the winter, when nights were long, folks would wake up in the middle of the night, light the candles or gaslights, and do some reading, or maybe some household chores, or maybe that was their time for sex. Without the constant reminders to get more sleep, they didn’t feel guilty at all. That was just the way things were.

So you know what to do: sure, keep the electronic devices away from your bed; it can’t hurt. But if you wake up in the middle of the night, do something. Empty the dishwasher, read a book. Whatever you do, you’ll feel good about having used the time more productively than if you were watching the clock in bed and worrying about how unhealthy it is to be awake. You might even be glad that you got something done, and sleep peacefully till morning.

Norma Libman is a journalist and lecturer who has been collecting women’s stories for more than twenty years. You can read the first chapter of her award-winning book, Lonely River Village, at NormaLibman.com.