Life in the Cheese Drawer

oh lord, as a tail-end genX/xennial (cringe), i kind of don’t want to tackle this one, but as part of meme monday, i thought it might be apropos of the current climate we’re struggling with.

plus, i feel like “ok boomer” is sort of something genX might get behind, in a sort of “whatever” eye roll, cynical way. i liken ok boomer to my version of “you do you”: i have laid out everything that might be wrong with this decision you want to partake in, and you’re going to do it anyway. you do you.

ok, a few things to go over before we dive into the proverbial hornets nest.

• silent generation (of great depression era): 1928-45 (my dad is in this gen)
• baby boomer (of ok boomer):  1946-64 (my mom is in this gen)
• genX: 1965-1980 (i am in this gen)
• millennials: 1981-1996 (all my sibs are in this gen)
• genZ: 1997-present

(just a note: please stop calling everyone under 25 a millennial. millennials are 24-38 for crying out loud. the majority of them are in their 30s and some nearing 40.)

here’s how ok boomer started: an older man was in a video in which he said, “millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome, they don’t ever want to grow up; they think that the Utopian ideals that they have in their youth are somehow going to translate into adulthood”. in early april, the phrase ok boomer started in reaction to this as a retaliation and criticism of baby boomer-shaped politics, economics and the environment policies.

the big thing about ok boomer is that genZ is fed up with baby boomers and their views on racism, climate change, technology, the economic state, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, etc. and that millennials and genX should be right on board with them in the disgust. or genX (the forgotten generation) would be on the sidelines watching the fight, eating popcorn (maybe with the silent generation).

“The older generations grew up with a certain mind-set, and we have a different perspective,” Ms. O’Connor said. “A lot of them don’t believe in climate change or don’t believe people can get jobs with dyed hair, and a lot of them are stubborn in that view. Teenagers just respond, ‘Ok, boomer.’ It’s like, we’ll prove you wrong, we’re still going to be successful because the world is changing.” (source)

but here’s the problem with this ok boomer generalization: no matter what generation you’re in, there are idiosyncrasies. my mom is the furthest thing from a racist or climate change denier, and she’s a boomer. the majority of genZ guys at my school to get a trades degree are trump voters. the top end of genX is mid-50s and is most likely economically stable and won’t understand this whole avocado toast/home loan thing. millennials are in their 30s and have responsibilities just like everyone else. (meanwhile, you do realize everyone is burnt out?)

i think anyone can be on either end of the ok boomer meme. my mom could walk into the welding lab and say “ok boomer” to the dude wearing a trump hat, and it would fit. it’s just that looking at generalizations of each generation, that’s where it falls.

of course, the baby boomers have taken great offense to this, saying it’s ageism and denigrating. to which i say, check yoself. you were the ones crying about how awful millennials are for not buying your superlarge homes and getting joy from owning plants. eyeroll*. (*classic genX!)

i’m not sure where to take this from here. i do have to react to the original older gentleman in the video about growing up, because who really wants to grow up? and what is wrong with bring a few childlike fancies into the world as an adult? sure makes it less boring, more inviting, and kind of fun^. but if this ok boomer craze is the start of something that will effect some change, i guess it might be ok.** i’m going to stick with you do you.

^ whoa, there’s the xennial in me peeking out!

**back to classic genX hahaha

i have meme mondays slated for this month unless you readers have a different topic you’d like me to talk about on mondays. i’d be open to that!

before i delve into memes for today, i’d like to take a moment for a shoutout to whirlpool. i had a tine break off my stove grates and i tweeted it:

hmm i don’t think this is supposed to happen… @whirlpoolusa 😂 pic.twitter.com/WjP0q3b7a9

— k8 🦃🌙🍂🍄🌎🍁🍗🥧 (@prairey) October 21, 2018

i got a direct message from them asking for my address and phone. they called and left a message, to which i tried calling back 3 times! their business hours are totally wonky. but i finally left a message and said i tried calling during normal business hours but it says you’re closed and i don’t know what to do. i got a message today:

“…we’re going to look for a grate in your area to send it to your address at no charge…”

😮

i checked OEM replacements for these, and they run $200+

😮  😮

******************

onward to meme monday!

A meme is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea.

back in the day, memes were lists of questions that you filled out on your blog. or it was a quiz you took on a website and then copied/pasted the code into your blog. i used to do a lot of them on my blog! in fact, i bet if you searched the early archives, you’d find quite a bit.

these days, our attention spans are shorter so we have to write two sentences on a picture.

ah ha!! thanksgiving food week has arrived!! get ready for some possibly unscheduled food posts coming up!

i was thinking to myself, hmm, it’d be really great if i could find one of those old-style memes from the early oughts that were a list of questions about yourself. everyone on Livejournal did them. OH! and maybe find one of those memes where you took the quiz and posted it on your LJ – like the actual CODE. none of this facebook sharing that happens these days. (really – we’ve gotten a lot dumber in our style of sharing life information.)
so i poked around on the internet like, aaahhh, where do i FIND these anymore, when i thought HEY, MY DUMB BLOG’S 13 YEARS OLD I SHOULD JUST LOOK IN MY ARCHIVES.
yep.
so here we go, a 2005 classic, with updated answers. i’ll boldify things that have stayed the same.
Two Names You Go By
1. kate
2. catherine (very few people call me that. i can think of four. five when i get snooty with my brother.)
Two Parts of Your Heritage
1. german (ALTHOUGH i did the ancestry.com thing and it says that my german heritage is actually british isles. it makes me wonder about the conquering and pillaging that happened in that area.)
2. irish (6% according to ancestry)
Two Things That Scare You
1. a spider
2. another spider (can you blame a person for keeping these.)
Two of Your Everyday Essentials
1. kitty pets
2. time for reading
Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1. wool argyle pink socks (seriously, i am wearing wool pink socks. not argyle, but i think they’re close enough, and that is WEIRD.)
2. yoga pants
Two of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists (at the moment)
1. everclear
2. old-school liz phair (doens’t even have to be old school.)
Two Things You Want in a Relationship (other than Real Love)
1. fellow cat lover
2. comfortableness
Two Truths
1. cat poo increases exponentially with the number of cats using the box
2. life happens
Two Physical Things that Appeal to You
1. trees
2. lakes
Two of Your Favorite Hobbies
1. reading
2. gardening
Two Things You Want Really Badly
1. a cabin!
2. i guess no debt would be nice…
Two Places You want to go on Vacation
1. machu picchu
2. mesa verde (i kept this one because i’m going there in february!!!)
Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die
1. retire
2. travel more (maybe before my knees give out)
Two Ways that you are stereotypically a Chick/Guy
1. stereotypes are weird. i don’t feel “womanly” really. i’m just me.
2. i wear mascara pretty regularly i guess. 
Two Things You Normally Wouldn’t Admit
1. i eat a lot more than i should. even with running. if i ate like a normal person, i’d probably weigh 30-40 lbs. less. that’s kind of annoying. but i like food!! and my willpower is crap.
2. i really get annoyed when people ask me if i have kids. because it means as soon as i give my answer (no), our conversation stalls because that’s the topic the other person wants to talk about. sorry, society in general. i’m going against your grain with this no kids thing. we can talk about things other than the small people who rule your lives.
Two Things You Are Thinking About Now
1. how i should run more and eat less.
2. the short week next week! i’m really excited for a short week and hosting thanksgiving. also, work has been unstressful as of late, which is REALLY nice. i’m NOT thinking about that all the time like i normally do.
Two Stores You Shop At
1. the grande depot (i window shop.)
2. target
Two people I would like to see take this quiz
1. myself in another 12 years
2. liz (!)
Two people I haven’t talked to in a while
1. define a while, and define talk. does a facebook convo count? is a while 2 months? 2 weeks? 2 days? SO MANY QUESTIONS.
2. melissa, but i should call her. she’s one of those friends who i can call after not speaking to for six months and pick up right where we left off! (and like i said before, it’s always so soothing talking to her.)