Mr. Handsome has been on a roll with his blog posts. I hope you all are enjoying his humor as much as I do! And now, another word from Mr. H…
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
Has anyone else noticed that us millennials really don’t want to do things the same way our parents did? If our parents did it, it certainly cannot be cool. I have a feeling that every generation throughout history has felt this way. The terms we use to describe what we are change–from “totally rad” to “groovy” to “hip” to “cool” or whatever–but the idea remains the same: We all just want to be more trendy than the generation before us.
I have compiled a list of things that my parents did that myself and other millennials wouldn’t be caught dead doing; but in reality, we rjust do these same things but with different names.
Talk Radio
One sure way to be labeled a “fuddy duddy” is to listen to talk radio on the am stations. Whether it’s NPR, Rush Limbaugh, ESPN radio, or Dave Ramsey, if you accidentally land on one of those radio stations, you need to change it immediately, or else you are in serious danger of being labeled dull and boring. I mean who would want to just listen to someone talking on the radio?
Thankfully, us millennials have a much more intelligent way to spend our time. We listen to podcasts. What are podcasts? They are completely different then talk radio. Talk radio is just lamely listening to someone talk about some random subject. Podcasts, are…well….uh…basically listening to someone talk about some random subject. But podcasts are cool because, you know, they are totally different than what our parents did.
PBS Documentaries
We all remember seeing our dad sitting on the couch watching horrible documentaries. I mean, who wants to waste their time learning about sports history, an unsolved crime, or some flamboyant character in history? That feels way to much like school. In fact, some of us even had to watch these boring documentaries in school. Today we have much more interesting things to watch: Netflix Docudramas.
Shows like The Last Dance, Making a Murderer, and Tiger King are “all the rage” among millennials. What are these shows about? Well they are shows were you learn about sports history, an unsolved crime, or a flamboyant historical character. Wait, isn’t that exactly the same thing as a documentary? No way, these are hip new docudramas.
Remodeling
Remember when your parents decided to remodel your childhood home? It was miserable. They took out all the shag carpeting, fake wood paneling, and avocado green bathrooms and painted the entire house beige. How boring! They probably made you help scrape up all the old wallpaper, pull up the carpet, and repaint. Remodeling was just about the lamest thing you could do and certainly nothing you would do now as an adult.
As a millennial, you watch HGTV, and you don’t remodel your home, you do a “home makeover.” You go in and remove all the disgusting beige colors your parents thought were cool and replace them with the new, exciting, trendy color of our time: gray.
Being a Handyman
Remember how your dad could fix anything? He would never call a plumber, electrician, or mechanic. He would never even look at an instruction manual. He would always try to show you how to fix stuff, but you just wanted to play with your friends.
Now that you have your own home, you certainly are not a handyman like your old pops was. You are a DIY-er. You also won’t hire someone to work on your house, but that’s just because you are a millennial and you are broke. You also don’t read an instruction manual or one of those home improvement books they used to sell at Home Depot; you look up how to do things on YouTube. As you can see, a DIY-er is completely different than a handyman
Antique Furniture Collecting
Growing up, you parents had antique dressers, mirrors, and chairs. The furniture could have come from grandparents, flea markets, or antique store. Nowadays you don’t want to look like you are living in the past, and nothing screams outdated like filling your home with antique furniture.
Instead, millennials fill our homes with “reclaimed” furniture, which is completely different than antique furniture. The definition of antiques is “old objects, such as a piece of furniture or work of art, that has a high value because of its considerable age.” “Reclaimed” furniture, on the other hand, is just old junk that has been repurposed. See how much more hip that is?
Farm Fresh
If there is one thing millennials understand, it’s the importance of farm fresh, pesticide-free, organic, free-trade produce. We understand that mass produced food is not as healthy and may be harmful to the environment. Amazingly, we are the first generation to figure out that getting your produce straight from the farm is the way to go.
Our parents just don’t understand this. They certainly didn’t go to the farmers’ market to get farm fresh. When my parents grew up, they got their food a totally different way. They would…..well now that I think of it, my dad grew up on a farm and grew his own food. And my grandparents…..well come to think of it, my grandma would actually raise and butcher her own chickens in the backyard. But you see, that’s not how you are supposed to do it; you are supposed to go to Whole Foods and spend three to four times as much to buy something that says “farm fresh” on the mass produced packaging.
So there you have it, millennials just do things better. The good news is that I know my children will understand that the way I do things is the best way.
Our legacy remains to be seen, but I am confident that we will do great things, just like those who have gone before us. Every generation has things handed to them that they take for granted. For example, the generation that fought the Revolutionary War won incredible freedoms that we have been taking for granted since 1783. The generations that fought in and endured the Civil War made unthinkable sacrifices and witnessed awful horrors right in their backyards that none of us could even begin to fathom. Visiting battlefields across Tennessee and hearing about the brutal, hand-to-hand conflict that took place (and in many cases, was witnessed by civilians) has really opened my eyes to the amazing bravery of the young people who fought (and those who lived through it). The Civil War claimed the lives of approximately 2% of the US population at the time. That is equivalent to 6.5 million people based on today’s population. No generation since has seen such a fatal conflict or accomplished such incredible tasks (the reunification of a nation and the abolishment of slavery). Since the beginning of time, every generation has left the world with both positive and negative change. We could have a very lengthy discussion about the despicable things that went on in the 60s and 70s (and every generation before and since).
Very well said Ellie, thank you!
Mr H´s posts are always hilarious! I actually laughed out loud when I read the “home makeover” section because I have just finished paining my house gray!
Glad you enjoyed it. We also recently painted our house gray. LOL
Did you watch Tiger King?
No I don’t.
This is funny, and true! 😂😂😂
I also can’t help but think of how many pictures I take compared to what our parents would take when we were kids. My mom only pulled out the camera for special occasions like birthdays for example. I have my phone with me everywhere and take 3 million pictures a day of my kids. I capture every moment 😂 my mom says, ‘I wish I had that when all you kids were younger!’ 😆 any other millennials do this?!
Yes! I can totally relate!
I loved reading this. I totally got the message that Mr. H was getting across. His humor cracks me up.
Thank you for the smiles!😀
Another witty and well observed post from Mr Handsome. While there are certainly always many social and technological changes in each generation I always find it funny that many of the ” latest” trends have been in and out at least several times in my 43 years on the planet.
My grandmother used to say never get rid of things you love because they are out of fashion if you live long enough they will be back in again.
Is there something glitchy going on with your website? The other day a picture was inverted and today it says 8 replies but there are only 6.
Two other people mentioned the picture thing, too. Very strange. I think what I’m seeing must be different. Can you email me some screen shots showing the issues? I would really appreciate that! [email protected]
That was very well observed and written!! Another awesome past! Please keep writing Mr.H!!
Love to hear your thoughts and humor! Keep the roll going lol
This is absolutely correct! And hilarious!!
This is both so funny and so true.
This was quite amusing. Always enjoy Mr H’s posts. Here is another one my husband and I puzzle over as in different but the same. Hacks that are helpful ways to get something done or a how to. Is that not the same as a tip or helpful suggestion? Are we missing something? LOL
LOL! As a gen x-er, I found this hilarious, too. Fashion is another place this seems to happen…sweatpants are now “joggers,” pedal pushers became “capris,” and “bell bottoms” are now “wide-leg jeans” (and, yes, I realize there are some differences between new and old, but in essence, they’re the same thing.)😉
MR. Has are
Mr H’s are posts and enjoyable fun to read.
Loved this! So funny and SO true!!!
lol. The accuracy is spot on. The talk radio/podcast cracked me up the most.
Could one of you guys do a post about people paying for a strangers bill at a restaurant. Have you ever paid for a strangers bill or have a stranger ever pay for your restaurant bill?.
These are hilarious and so true! Although, I think I’m the only person my age who hates the gray!
My Daddy loved to listen to all types of radio programs before he went to sleep each night. He was a WW2 buff and loved espionage. One night, my daughter and I were talking to him, and he told us about spy messages being sent during the radio programs. I told him I didn’t believe it, and Daddy told us to be quiet and listen. Sure enough, within 10 minutes, the music stopped, and a voice said, “the chair is against the wall. The chair is against the wall.” Then the music resumed. Just amazing to me. That was about 19 yrs ago.
Wow, that is fascinating!