1) Why young people don't use phones for conversation.
Phones have many functions, but isn't their original and primary purpose to speak on them? Conversation requires vocalization. For something to be considered a conversation, boomers believe it must involve spoken words; young people do not. Typed words are exchanges, not conversations. Texting isn't having a conversation; neither is IMing or Gchatting. This is an eye contact avoidance thing, isn't it?
2) Why young people switch jobs so often.
Yes we know that the economy has changed and the concept of keeping a job -- or at least an employer -- for life feels a little foreign right now. Still, there seems to be an awful lot of voluntary movement going on. It seems to be born more from restlessness and a sense of searching for "better." We understand that first jobs that pay bupkis are jobs worth leaving. But we also wonder if what gets lost in the constant-movement equation is contentment and the ability to recognize when you achieve it. It isn't settling to settle down.
3) Why young people don't use cash.
Young people prefer using credit and debit cards to the almost virtual exclusion of cash. They even pre-pay Uber tips so they don't need to handle any money. Millennials have told us that they feel more secure not carrying cash with them. Oddly, that's the very reason we boomers do carry it. Being caught without cash feels like being caught without clean underwear on if you are rushed to the emergency room after a car accident.
4) Young people changed how we watch TV, but doesn't binge-watching make office Spoiler Alerts more necessary?
Binge-watching has an upside. You can fill a block of leisure time and save up watching an entire season of a popular show. The problem is, by the time you do that, everyone else in the office has already seen it and been talking about it. We like the idea of binging because who wants to stay home every Sunday to try and figure out the latest episode of "True Detective?" But can you please all just hush up? In the interest of generational harmony, we would like to proclaim a discussion moratorium on TV shows until the season concludes. (Although if anyone younger can translate Matthew McConaughey mumbling, that's probably OK.)
5) Dressing for success seems to mean dressing for Fashion Week.
Yes, stiletto heels make your legs look sexy. They also cripple your feet, but we understand you don't believe us. Why do young men dress for comfort and young women dress for Fashion Week? This is proof to us that the generations are more alike than anyone believes.