While younger people may have many physical and cognitive advantages over their elders, there are still many things that they just cannot do to the same standard. Here are 17 things that the older generations do better than the younger generations.
Telephone Communication
In this era of instant messaging, simple telephone conversations are going out of fashion despite people now being able to ring others from almost anywhere. While almost everyone in the Western world seems to own a smartphone, only 25% of people use them to make calls, as reported by The Guardian.
Time Management
Older generations have a knack of being where they need to be on time, if not slightly earlier than required. The same cannot be said for the younger generations, who often take a more laissez faire approach to time management.
Handwriting
While the older generations may not be able to type out essays on their smartphones in seconds, they certainly have better standards when it comes to handwriting. People once took pride in their ability to write with neatness and flair, only for future generations to scrap it in favor of digital typing.
Gardening
The aptitude that older people have for gardening stems from being born in a time when growing your own produce was a necessity rather than a pastime. Food imports weren’t cheap, and supermarkets hadn’t monopolized the weekly grocery shop. Gardening in old age also has a positive effect on the health of seniors, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Sewing
The rise of fast fashion and the increased availability of clothing for a fraction of its former cost has almost eradicated the skill of sewing among young people. There is no longer the need to repair clothes with a needle and thread, as they can be replaced within a day.
DIY Work
There has always been a much more thrifty edge to older generations, sometimes as a result of their upbringing and sometimes because of their shift of income in retirement, as U.S. News suggests. This makes them far more likely to try and fix home maintenance issues themselves rather than paying a professional to do it for them.
Solving Conflict
As people age, their desire to bear grudges and allow interpersonal conflicts to continue wanes significantly, resulting in a stronger ability to solve relationship issues. The older generations are not as hot-headed and often have greater empathy and understanding for others’ points of view.
Caring Less
When you’re young, it can sometimes feel as though the whole world is judging you, what you look like and what you’re wearing. While this isn’t the case, it can be a hard feeling to kick. However, as you get older, the issue subsides, with 72% of older people feeling content with themselves, according to the Metro.
Finance Management
Older generations often place more emphasis on financial stability than young people, who are more willing to spend their cash freely. This is likely due to the shift in income as people age, from receiving a salary to paying themselves out of their pension accounts.
Telling Stories
As older people have spent more time on this planet, it has allowed them to collect more life stories and anecdotes to tell around the dinner table, usually making them very good company. This skill is developed over a long period of time, giving older people a huge advantage over their younger counterparts.
Etiquette
Young people are far less likely to conform to standard etiquette and behaviors than older people, who value traditions to a greater extent. The upbringing of older generations was often much stricter and more focused on etiquette and manners, with modern parents taking a more relaxed approach.
Being Resourceful
Life experience allows older people to adapt to situations, using whatever they have on hand to create a solution to any problems at hand. Younger people will often freeze in challenging situations, as they simply won’t have the know-how to understand how to deal with the issue in front of them.
Patience
The patience levels of young people pale in comparison with the patience levels of the older generations. It is easy to see why, too, as we live in a society where everything is instant, from next-day delivery to messaging to short-form online content. There is no waiting five days for a letter from a loved one to arrive.
Home Cooking
You can eat a meal at one of the highest-rated restaurants in the world, but it will never compare to the food that your grandparent makes when you visit. There seems to be a lot more emphasis on grandparents to keep family-written recipes progressing through the generations.
Dressing
In recent decades it has become socially acceptable to wear casual clothing to more places and occasions, meaning the overall standard of dress among the younger generations isn’t as smart as the generations that preceded them. It’s not uncommon for an older gentleman to wear a shirt and tie for a trip to the grocery store.
Appreciating Small Things
One of the most endearing qualities of an older person is that they will often appreciate the small things in life that would usually go unnoticed by younger people. This can include all manner of things, such as seeing the first butterfly of the summer to eating a tomato from a plant you grew yourself.
Telling the Time
While almost everyone who went through conventional schooling will know how to read an analog clock, it is a skill that younger people are losing their proficiency with. This is because they are more likely to refer to their mobile phone’s digital clock than keep their mind sharp reading a watch.