You may have wondered at times how it could possibly be that your boomer parents could not figure out how to play a DVD on the TV despite your incredibly patient lessons. Or, maybe you couldn't keep from LOL as they lamely tried to hunt and peck with their thumbs. You may have even been slightly revolted when they tried to friend you, or worse, friended your friends, who didn't know how to say no.
We have an answer, or at least the beginning of an answer, in this first installment of our new guide. We may not be able to explain all of their odd behavior, but we will try to give you the context in which the behavior developed over the years. Settle into those back seats; it's going to be a long ride:
1. They grew up in homes with one rotary-dial phone, one Made in America B&W TVset, and, if they were lucky, a "Hi-Fi" in the LR.
3. "Partner" meant lawyer, accountant or the lady who played doubles with mom.
4. Their parents' friends may have been doctors, dentists, relatively sober advertising execs; many of them worked at companies that made real stuff: Brylcream, candy, or cash registers.
6. Many of them, perhaps most, had one "family" car, instead of a family of cars parked in the driveway or on the street. The occasional second vehicle was a station wagon, which may have even been to a station. Sometimes they listened to music on AM. Really.
7. Having a profession meant doctor, engineer or lawyer. "Business" school was for someone who could not get accepted to medical, engineering or law school, or for some who just had to "go away" for a while.
9. A real computer was something that required an entire building to hold it. Server was the waiter. A router worked at the bus company.
10. A web caught a spider's lunch, and World Wide Web might have been the name of a scruffy band whose annoying music their parents would not let them play on the Hi-fi in the LR or on the the AM dial in the family car.
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