Something light for Friday (and Friday the 13th, for that matter).
This is about a month old from Late Night with Conan O'Brien, but it's making the rounds on the e-mail circuit. It's comedian Louis C.K.'s take on how we -- especially the younger generation who has grown up with technology -- have become dulled to how technology has improved our lives. The e-mail that touts this clip encourages Baby Boomer parents, like myself (barely), to show it to our kids.
My favorite part:
Now we live in an amazing, amazing world and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of just spoiled idiots that don't care. Because this is what people are like now: They got their phone and they're like [puzzled look while acting like he's pushing buttons on a cell phone] . . . "Ew, it won't turn . . ." Give it a second! It's going to space! Can you give it a second to get back from space?
I know this will spark some colorful comments. I'd like to hear from the Millennials about what they think of this.
More here:
COMMENTS
"Back in our day we didn't have your fancy-shmancy computer languages. All we had was a bunch of ones and zeros. And when we'd run out of zeros we had to use the letter 'O'!"
Chahk 03/25/09 04:09 pm ET
It's so funny to see people still saying that the older generation screwed up the world and now the younger generation has to fix it. That's exactly what we said when we were the younger generation and our parents and grandparents were calling us thankless. It's an endless cycle, sigh.
tydydgrll 03/20/09 02:39 pm ET
Couldn't have said it better than the person who offered last comment.
You morons built the world in which we now live, screwed it up and now call us thankless -- when it's our job to fix your mistakes.
We're the generation whose parents are dynfunctional morons but have to stand up and fix things for the good of the family. Yes, that makes you a dysfunctional moron.
JC 03/18/09 01:08 pm ET
This is so true. This country has gotten so spoiled riding the gravy train for so long, that we've forgotten how lucky we are to be alive at this time in history. Technology is wonderful, but at what cost? Can teenagers actually compose a letter - with whole words and the correct grammar? On a piece of paper with a pen? Common courtesy is a forgotten social norm. I called a credit card company's service department last month, and the person could hardly speak English. Is this new generation going to be left at the starting gate while other countries grab all of their job opportunities? They'll never know what hit them - not until they get their brains off of "Reality" TV, IPODs, and text messaging and start concentrating on getting an education.
donsginny 03/17/09 04:21 pm ET
Let us not take this matter too seriously; we have bigger problems to confront. Each generation needs the other. One for experience & funding power; another for creativity and expertise. I was able to build a future because of the sacrifice, support & encouragement of my parents. My children (all born in the 70s) have been successful due to the stability & financial assistance I was able to provide. We need teamwork to ensure that my grandchildren will have the same opportunity at the "pursuit of happiness"...nothing is guaranteed.
Rapidly aging boomer 03/16/09 02:39 pm ET
Red herring about the younger geveration and the deficit, I gather the younger generation overwhelmingly voted to handle the future in this fashionable manner.
TDK 03/16/09 11:59 am ET
Loved it. This is hilarious and also true. I feel the exact same way when people get pass me on the highway. They're clearly furious because I'm -only- going 75mph. If they can't go 90, it's the end of the world.
Marco 03/16/09 09:41 am ET
I have to say that I'm a 20-something and I tend to agree. We grew up with the internet in grade school, cell phones when we turned 16, and we expect technology to continue to develop at a rapid pace. I agree with GenXR's comments that we will be left with much of the deficit to struggle with which isn't necessarily our burden. However because our parents, the boomers, worked incredibly hard all their lives, our generation has also had access to substantially more higher education so we should be able to deal with it fairly well.
I'd also like to reference another hilarious commentary on how rapidly technology has improved our lives. Search for the "24: The Unaired 1994 Pilot" video. It will not disappoint.
Beth Heis 03/16/09 09:20 am ET
As an Xer, I witnessed first hand the crash of 1987, and high interest rates that stifled the U.S. economy for a decade. We understand that if not for our technological advances, i.e. Bill Gates and company, Boomers could not and would have not enjoyed the last 20 years of prosperity. Unfortunately for them, they weren't able to plan accordingly, save and regulate, and now my generation will some how have to pick up the costs for these mistakes. At this point, we don't have the numbers to make a significant difference in our current politics; however, we are watching and learning. Boomers and everyone else should be praying that some "lazy" young person is sitting in some garage creating what will ulitimately be our next financial boom. I wouldn't bet againts this generation, we've proven ourselves in Iraq and Afghanistan! We will do the same in finances and public policy!
Dan 03/16/09 07:58 am ET
I'm a GenY, so I guess I'm grouped into the 'spoiled idiots' category, lol (that means Laugh Out Loud for you oldies out there).
I admit the man does have a point. A lot of youngsters nowadays don't really appreciate how good they have it.
However, I think the older generations need to understand that it's really not that easy growing up in today's world. There is a lot more pressure on us to achieve because we do have everything at our fingertips.
So yeah, give your kids a break! They've got a lot going on. Trust me. They're just not telling you about 90% of it.
*high fives GENXR*...*turns up ishuffle*...*checks facebook* lol
M 03/16/09 02:10 am ET
Just like anything taken out of context, the "Crappiest Generation" thing is a little stupid.
Louis CK could have definitely chosen some better words, like, "Crappiest group of people" rather than pinning it on young people, but *everybody* does that.
When's the last time you saw an old person get frustrated with a computer because it didn't do what they wanted it to do? Or because it went from really fast to really slow... Then who do they call? Millennials. Gen-Xers. So, yeah, I guess it is that we young people are so damn spoiled.
Am I going to boycott Louis CK now? Hell no. He's got a point, he's funny as hell, and he's a comic.
If you think we, as a people, have gotten to the point where all this new "magic" of technology is not as impressive as it once was, and you want to share a good laugh about it, then why not?
But if you're a parent or grandparent or somehow related to a millennial, or if you think that you need to prove a point with this video, you're a moron.
-Nick
PsychoticResumes.com
Nick Armstrong 03/14/09 02:13 pm ET
Sounds like another boomer/oldster complaining that these dern kids today just don't get it...are we supposed to believe this hack constantly reveled in all the changes technology made when he was 25 (color TV, cars, digital watches or whatever) and repeatedly thanked his elders for blessing him so?
Get over yourself. And i didn't hear him being thankful for this same technology that lets his 'comedy' spread over the internets...
And finally, this 'crappiest generation' is going to be dealing with the deficit the boomers created for the next 30 years. So thanks for that.
/turns up iPod
GenXr 03/13/09 04:44 pm ET