Baby Boomer Life Skills, That Are Useless Today

There used to be certain skills that were taught to us that prepared us for living a productive life. These were things that our parents would pass along, maybe they were even taught to us in school, or maybe we just figured it out ourselves, but regardless, they were essential to us. Now-a-days, many of these life-skills have been abandoned, especially with newer generations. So, let’s take a look back at these baby boomer life skills that seem useless today.

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[GodzillasaurusJr]

UNfolding a paper map is fine... REfolding a map is the real test of skill!

[westernnut]

As a teacher, I used to amuse my students by looking at them while I typed on the computer keyboard. They were shocked that I didn't need to look at the keys. I learned touch typing in high school, and it stuck with me. Remember carbon paper?😅

[thegoodtexan]

There is no such thing as a useless skill. The more skills you possess, the better person you’ll become.

[markwiley]

Being polite to each other is a lost art that I miss.

[anamedrano-cruz]

By the time I was 10 years old, I knew how to sew, crochet clean our home, cook, iron, proper manners (much younger actually). I started working in high school to hel myself get through college and assist my parents financially, as their income was quite low. Our family was united and took every opportunity to share and support each other. Values, which unfortunately, have been lost. No complaints here. We did whatever needed to get done. I am currently 65 years of age and everything that I learned gave me the tools to overcome adversities in life.

[Snargfargle]

I am a "boomer" and almost all of the skills I learned as a child have had application throughout my life. I grew up working on farms, learning to drive trucks, tractors, and combines, weld, maintain the vehicles and implements, build houses, and work cattle. At 17, I joined the US Army. This was normal for most farming-community boys my age. Now, it amazes me how immature and unskilled even college-age people are. At a time when they should be adults, many people still have the mentality and abilities of children.

[toddbu-WKL]

When I was 18 years old, I drove across the country in my old beater '71 Mustang for the first time. I didn't even take a map with me. I just learned the roads that I needed to turn on and made it in three days. I listened to whatever radio stations I could dial into, slept in rest areas, and paid for my gas in cash. Roughly 40 years later I was on virtually the same drive when my iPhone died in Boise, ID. Suddenly I had no way to make calls, listen to music, or navigate with my GPS. So, I just did what I'd done before in 1981... Studied a highway map to make sure of my exits, tuned in whatever radio station I could find, and pointed my truck west. I knew that I was headed west because the highway signs told me what route I was on and the sun was on my left-hand side in the afternoon. I did manage to use my iPad to message my wife that I was offline while in the vehicle when I stopped for lunch at McDonalds. And since I was running a bit late that day I decided to stop for the night rather than push it and drive the last few hours in the mountains while tired. Did I stop at a five star hotel with a jacuzzi tub to soak away my troubles? Nope. I slept soundly in the front seat of my truck at a highway rest stop. Who wants to waste $150 or more for a few hours of sleep? 🤣

[barbaracollins]

Im so glad i was raised in the good old days. We learned cursive in the 3rd grade, learned to tell time on a clock with real hands in the 1st grade. Had drivers edication leasons in high-school. Learned typing and shorthand, had homemaking classes and shop classes. Whe we git home from school, changed clothes and played outside until supper. Weekends were spent riding bikes and exploring with friends. Life was so good back then

[albertmarnell]

My grandmother was born in 1900. She could fix any clothing or even make it on her sewing machine. She was fast and played that machine like a maestro. People have lost their hearts and their brains. People have no patience today.

[tomhammer]

You covered sewing your own clothes, but forgot in the days before permanent press and tumble dryers, you had to also iron them after every washing. A skill I still possess at 75 years old.

[janinewetzler]

Map reading, especially knowing N, S, E, W directions is still essential, don't kid yourself!! Also, sewing is always very useful, especially machine sewing!!

[micheal_mills]

For boomers and senior citizens, the current market and economy are unnecessarily harder. I'm used to simply purchasing and holding assets, which doesn't seem applicable to the current volatile market, and inflation is catching up with my portfolio. My biggest concern is whether I'll survive after retirement.

[rodneykingston]

Um, about 15 or so years ago, I read an article that totally shocked me. A woman in Maryland was ARRESTED for allowing her 10 and 6 y.o. children to walk to a local park by themselves. Her defense was that she was trying to raise "free range kids" who could navigate the world by themselves. When I was a kid, in the 70s, that was a parenting strategy employed by, well, EVERYBODY. ALL kids were free range kids then. I was sent out the door and encouraged to explore the neighborhood on my own almost as soon as I could walk. It was up to me to find my own friends. I never had a "play date" made for me in my life. EVER. The term didn't exist then. I guess I acquired a lot of now useless skills under that system, but I sure don't envy today's kids.

[Lindyanne]

Learned to sew at age 10 and still enjoy it. Take a lot of pride in creating a garment I won’t see walking toward me in a crowd. Still drive a stick shift and use cursive, love texting, but hand written cards are still important. The most important things from my boomer years are empathy, courtesy and honesty.

[warpp]

I still go inside the bank to the teller window. I still use a typewriter for some things, not just a computer keyboard. I still write in cursive. I still eat inside restaurants, and I know how to balance a checkbook! Oh, and I know how to count back change too! All of these are still very useful in my book.

[sharroncalundan]

Am 74, RN, worked until 72. Had computer glitch n the clinic one day. I reverted back to the “olden times” and informed the staff how to continue operating. The “kids” were amazed not only could we keep going but I did it with the ease. Live tech but we need to use our critical thinking skills and keep going.

[joepangean]

You forgot the most important life skill missing today. ETIQUETTE. We were taught in school and mostly at home from Emily Post's book about how to behave in public. We learned proper speaking, attire, dining, dating and gifting. The phone skills were also part of this.

[dbchatt]

My husband and I were older parents and were stunned at what skills our children were no longer taught. We taught our kids to reference physical encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses. My children were the only two kids that passed using reference materials in their state testing. My husband replaced his car with a manual when it was time to teach our kids to drive. We even had to have a few lessons on how to use a hole punch, stapler, staple remover, and paper cutters. My brownie troop didn't know about licking stamps. They had always had peel and stick stickers. I taught them to count back change correctly at Girl Scout cookie sales. Older people were amazingly patient at letting them practice that. I never see anyone do it now. The few times its happened, I compliment them. It's a lost art.

[cwbrooks]

There is no such thing as a "useless" skill. Learning and repeating skills create neural pathways that develop problem-solving capabilities applicable to other tasks as well as confidence in the expectation that one can master future tasks successfully.

[drmasroberts]

Do you remember the smell of mimeographed copies? I always jumped up when the teacher would ask for a volunteer to crank paper through the machine.