"Boomers Are Perpetually Trying To Eat From A Garden They Didn't Tend To.": The Internet Is Roasting Baby Boomers Who Are Grieving Not Having Grandchildren
If you've ever attended any sort of family gathering for the holidays, I'm going to guess you have been made hyper-aware of the ways that millennials and Gen Z are approaching adulthood differently from their parents and grandparents.
One of the most popular examples is they're having kids at older ages and less often than older generations, if at all.
Recently, the New York Times published a story about this trend and how it's impacting Gen X and baby boomers who hoped to be grandparents.
The article is called "The Unspoken Grief of Never Becoming a Grandparent." It tells the story of people whose adult children have chosen not to have kids. In the article, one therapist explained, "Would-be grandparents...may experience a deep sense of longing and loss when their children opt out of parenthood, even if they understand at an intellectual level that their children do not 'owe' them a family legacy." One parent expressed, "I don’t have young children anymore, and now I’m not going to have grandchildren... So that part of my life is just over.”
On social media, a lot of millennials were not trying to hear about their parents' grief, and pointed out the irony of the discussion. They mentioned things like voting for Trump and his policies that make it difficult for young people to have and afford families, and parents calling their grief "unspoken" in the article while it's being publicly discussed in the New York Times.
Reacting to the post, one person sarcastically rewrote the headline of the article: "The Unspoken Grief of Being Denied a Viable Future and Habitable Planet by the Insatiable Consumerism and Unfathomable Selfishness of Previous Generations within the Global North."
This person made the timely argument that who you vote for matters, saying, "The unspoken grief of your parents voting for Reagan twice and Trump three times then expecting you to have a house and a kid by now."
This person made a similar point, noting that, "Boomers are perpetually trying to eat from a garden they didn't tend to."
This person, also referencing the headline which called parents' grief "unspoken," joked that their parents actually make their opinions VERY known. They said, "this 'grief' is very spoken. Constantly spoken."
This person joked, "Millennials are killing the grandparents industry."
This person exclaimed, "THE ENTITLEMENT!" Explaining that "there are kids everywhere who need love! Love those kids! Volunteer! But they won't because it's all transactional with them."
And finally, this person sarcastically whipped out their mini violin and said, "I'd like to dedicate this next song to the boomers."
What do you think? Do Gen X and boomers have the right to grieve? Or do they need to take more responsibility for the position their kids are in? Let us know in the comments.
