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People admit the one thing that Boomers really got right and some folks are uncomfortable

"You have to force yourself to do things that are difficult and uncomfortable."

via Yerling Villalobos/Unsplash

A Baby Boomer has some thoughts on emotional resilience.

An overarching Baby Boomer stereotype is that they have a problem with the younger generations, especially Millennials because they were coddled growing up and lack the determination to do hard things.

Many believe that when helicopter parents shelter kids from discomfort, they never develop the emotional resilience that it takes to succeed on their own. Some may even attribute this to the increase in mental illness.

A writer on X, who goes by Katie, recently admitted that Boomers who believe facing discomfort has a significant benefit may be right. Her post has been seen over 4 million times.

“My boomer-est opinion is that you have to force yourself to do things that are difficult and uncomfortable and you have to do it often, while you’re young and your brain is still flexible." Yes, even if you are (functionally) mentally ill,” Katie wrote. “Buying groceries can be uncomfortable. going to school/work can be uncomfortable. Socializing can be uncomfortable. The more you do it, the less uncomfortable it will be. If you can do these things (I know that there is a % of the population that isn’t), you have to do them often.”

“I’ve never come back to a piece of life advice more than this one,” she continued before quoting Virgil Thompson. “Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.”

Many people agreed with Katie’s Boomer-adjacent thoughts on building emotional resilience.

Some folks are on the fence.

Others disagreed with Katie’s point, saying that the idea that we can all “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” is ableist and erases the struggles that people with anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses have.

So, what does the research say?

Dr. Simon Sherry, a professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University, says that coddling has caused real problems for the younger generations. "There is nothing wrong with wanting to keep kids safe, but we must recognize there are unintended consequences in our current approach of excessive caution and vigilance. Instead, we must teach our youth to face anxiety, take risks, and overcome fears,” Dr. Sherry told CTV News. "We need to get control of this societal problem before it causes further damage for future generations.”

When it comes to confronting uncomfortable situations, Dr. Launa Marques, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and Former President of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, says avoiding discomfort can make anxiety even worse.

“Psychological avoidance isn’t about the actions we take or don’t take, but the intentions behind them,” she told The Washington Post. “If our actions aim to squash discomfort hastily, then we’re probably avoiding. For each of my clients, avoidance became a crutch, initially tempering their anxiety but progressively amplifying it. Psychological avoidance, rather than alleviating anxiety disorders, can exacerbate them.

Obviously, everyone’s situation is different and people who are experiencing mental health issues should consult their therapists to determine the best course of action to overcome their challenges.


This article originally appeared last year.

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What is 'Generation Jones'? The unique qualities of the not-quite-Gen-X-baby-boomers.

This "microgeneration" had a different upbringing than their fellow boomers.

Photo Credits: Michelle Obama, US Department of Education, Lawrence Jackson

Generation Jones includes Michelle Obama, George Clooney, Kamala Harris, Keanu Reeves and more.

We hear a lot about the major generation categories—boomers, Gen X, millennials, Gen Z and the up-and-coming Gen Alpha. But there are folks who don't quite fit into those boxes. These in-betweeners, sometimes called "cuspers," are members of microgenerations that straddle two of the biggies.

"Xennial" is the nickname for those who fall on the cusp of Gen X and millennial, but there's also a lesser-known microgeneration that straddles Gen X and baby boomers. The folks born from 1954 to 1965 are known as Generation Jones, and they've been thrust into the spotlight as people try to figure out what generation to consider 59-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris.

Like President Obama before her, Harris is a Gen Joneser—not exactly a classic baby boomer but not quite Gen X. Born in October 1964, Harris falls just a few months shy of official Gen X territory. But what exactly differentiates Gen Jones from the boomers and Gen Xers that flank it?

"Generation Jones" was coined by writer, television producer and social commentator Jonathan Pontell to describe the decade of Americans who grew up in the '60s and '70s. As Pontell wrote of Gen Jonesers in Politico:

"We fill the space between Woodstock and Lollapalooza, between the Paris student riots and the anti-globalisation protests, and between Dylan going electric and Nirvana going unplugged. Jonesers have a unique identity separate from Boomers and GenXers. An avalanche of attitudinal and behavioural data corroborates this distinction."

Pontell describes Jonesers as "practical idealists" who were "forged in the fires of social upheaval while too young to play a part." They are the younger siblings of the boomer civil rights and anti-war activists who grew up witnessing and being moved by the passion of those movements but were met with a fatigued culture by the time they themselves came of age. Sometimes, they're described as the cool older siblings of Gen X. Unlike their older boomer counterparts, most Jonesers were not raised by WWII veteran fathers and were too young to be drafted into Vietnam, leaving them in between on military experience.

Gen Jones gets its name from the competitive "keeping up with the Joneses" spirit that spawned during their populous birth years, but also from the term "jonesin'," meaning an intense craving, that they coined—a drug reference but also a reflection of the yearning to make a difference that their "unrequited idealism" left them with. According to Pontell, their competitiveness and identity as a "generation aching to act" may make Jonesers particularly effective leaders:

"What makes us Jonesers also makes us uniquely positioned to bring about a new era in international affairs. Our practical idealism was created by witnessing the often unrealistic idealism of the 1960s. And we weren’t engaged in that era’s ideological battles; we were children playing with toys while boomers argued over issues. Our non-ideological pragmatism allows us to resolve intra-boomer skirmishes and to bridge that volatile Boomer-GenXer divide. We can lead."

Time will tell whether the United States will end up with another Generation Jones leader, but with President Biden withdrawing his candidacy, it has now become a distinct possibility.

Of note in discussions over Kamala Harris's generational status is the fact that generations aren't just calculated by birth year but by a person's cultural reality. Some have made the argument that Harris is culturally more Gen X than boomer, though there doesn't seem to be any record of her claiming any particular generation as her own. However, a swath of Gen Z has staked their own claim on her as "brat"—a term singer Charli XCX thrust into the political arena with a post on X that read "kamala IS brat." That may be nonsensical to most older folks, but for Gen Z, it's a glowing endorsement from one of the top Gen Z musicians of the moment.

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Remember Nutter Butter cookies? Wait til you see their absolutely unhinged TikTok videos.

No one can stop watching.

@officialnutterbutter/TikTok

What did we just watch??

Nutter Butter, as any cookie aficionado knows, is sweet, salty and a little bit nuts. Apparently, it’s TikTok account is much the same.

While brands adopting an edgier persona on social media to attract a younger, hipper audience isn’t unheard of—just take it from Wendy’s or Duolingo— Nutter Butter’s marketing tactics are so unhinged that it has folks wondering “is Nutter Butter okay?”

This was the question posed by Cassie Fitzwater, who posted a now-viral video talking about how the page was freaking her out.

“If you guys have not seen Nutter Butter’s official account on here, I need you to stop what you’re doing and go look at it, because I had to, and I think you should, too,” she said in the clip. “I’m concerned. Nutter Butter, are you guys okay? Are you doing alright?”

The content is…surreal, to say the least. Every video feels like something out of a bad fever dream. Distorted voices, creepy retro commercial footage, dystopian imagery, jumps scares, unsettling cries for help…

Here’s a small sampling. Watch at your own peril.

@officialnutterbutter let; me out
♬ original sound - nutter butter


@officialnutterbutter come play,
♬ original sound - nutter butter


@officialnutterbutter tales of nutter butter in suits of new. sumwher in the distance, a laugh. the sky!
♬ original sound - nutter butter

Yup. Straight up nightmare fuel. Sort of makes that one Quiznos commercial (you know the one) seem tame by comparison.

Understandably, people and companies alike who have bravely wandered onto the Nutter Butter accounts have some pretty strong feelings.

“This crosses a boundary I didn’t know I had,” commented one viewer.

“I heard there was ✨unhinged chaos✨ from my favorite snack’s TikTok. I was not disappointed 🤣🤣,” wrote another.

“I love nutter butter! (please release my family),”someone quipped.

Meanwhile 5 Hour Energy’s page wrote, “Even I don;t know what to do with this energy.”

“im logging off,” Wheat Thins commented.

What’s more, the page also appears to be some kind of recurring narrative taking palace, centered perhaps around a mysterious Nutter Butter-headed doll named Aidan, along with a black cloud named Nadia, and a masked clown with a top hat known simply as the Nutter Butter Man, who (much like his Skibidi Toilet predecessor) does not seem to be a benevolent character, by any means.

@officialnutterbutter here we g o
♬ original sound - nutter butter

In a lengthy post shared to the r/GameTheorists subreddit, one person theorized that "Aidan’s tragic past involves his son being murdered by an intruder in their home," adding that "Nadia [is] likely Aidan’s wife. Hints of a wedding and the similarity of her name to 'Aidan' suggest she plays a significant role in the story."

The Nutter Butter Clown, who originates from old commercials where he gave sweets to children, promoting the idea of accepting candy from strangers” the added. “Now, he symbolizes chaos and menace in the TikTok content.” Wow. Meta.

To that, at least, there are some answers. According to AdWeek, digital advertising student and Nutter Butter "superfan" Aidan Moloney left comments containing only his name on Nutter Butter's TikTok posts for a year straight, which eventually became so popular they were incorporated into the brand’s market strategy. Who knows–maybe he’s even the mastermind behind all of this.

Whoever that mastermind was, it seems like they did it with Gen Alpha's signature band of perplexing, complex and mildly disturbing meme culture in mind. And to great success, given that many haven’t even thought about these cookies in decades.

“Last time I had a Nutter Butter was after standardized testing in middle school. I’m in my 30s, I bought one today at a gas station because I remember their TikTok. So it's working.”

And that, ladies and gentleman, is what good marketing is all about.

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Gen Alpha vs Millennial slang. Mom and son do amazing rapid fire comparison round.

Skibidi

Photo credit: Canva

Gen Alpha vs Millennial slang amusing rapid fire round

Slang is different depending on which generation you grew up in, of course there will always be some crossover but mostly it's not the same. Gen Z had a different slang than Millennials, just as Millennials had different popular terms than Gen X. The list goes on and on.

Nobody says groovy unironically anymore and haven't for quite some time but generally the new term on the block was pretty easy to decipher. That doesn't always seem to be the case when it comes to the slang Gen Alpha uses. That's the generation currently still being born with the oldest of the cohort just barely middle school age. Their phrases are so unique that even the generation right above them is having a hard time understanding what they're talking about.

Angie Bacuyani and her Gen Alpha son decided to give the internet a crash course in the new slang words by playing a word association lighting round. The mom would say a Millennial slang word and her son would immediately say a Gen Alpha word that means the same thing.

It was a fun interaction if you aren't from Ohio. If you are from Ohio, surely Gen Alpha means no harm by saying it's the alternative word for crazy. Saying something is "lame" would now be known as "selling" while the word "cool" has been replaced with "sigma." Thanks to their video parents will finally know that "skibidi" just means "bad" and isn't some sort of disease or something to be concerned about, although "Skibidi Toilet" the character responsible for the gibberish word is a little weird.

Aside from the word skibidi, Gen Alpha and Gen Z seem to be the main source being credited for today's slang, most of the words are derived from AAVE or African American Vernacular English, formally known as Ebonics. Many of the popular terms used today can be traced back to things people have said for years, but thanks to social media, they've made their way into the mainstream lexicon on younger adults and children. A few commenters pointed out this historical information while others felt amusingly confused.

"I’m gen Z and I feel like I’m getting left behind," one person cries.

"My teen says “fax / no printer” for facts / true / truth," another mom shares so parents can add it to their mental rolodex of terms to keep up with.

"I thought I was caught up until my daughter and her friend started walking about saying 'that’s giving,'" someone says.

An Ohio resident had a question to ask Gen Alpha, "as an Ohioan I’m offended because how are we the word for crazy…what happened to Florida?!"


"I don’t understand why everyone acts like children are “coming up with” new slang (or style for that matter) almost everything we say that’s considered trendy throughout recent history originates from the black community but we’re always acting like Kyle in 3rd period is making all this shit up on the fly," a commenter shares for additional context.

It's important to give credit to the originators of trends and terms but most children are simply repeating what they hear. Since the terms are so wide spread, this fun video serves as a quick dictionary for confused parents trying to sort out what their children are saying, no cap.

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