For years I have struggled to understand my Grandparents and relate to them on their own level.
Obviously they’re at least more than two generations unconnectd from my own and I would expect this to presuppose some sort of unconnect related to age and personal interests.
They’re not going to have the same experiences as my own when all of us were all individually 20 years of age in our respective time periods. There were extreme advances in technology and shifts in culture in the years since my Grandparents were young. I have to remind myself that my own parents are members of the baby boomer generation and they struggle themselves at times with adapting to modern technologies, especially all of these iPhone apps and store websites that you need to use just to order food from a local diner or visit a dentist’s office. I take it for granted that I’m used to sweeping improvements in digital technologies every decade, whereas my Grandparents are still stuck getting caught up to the swings that took place roughly 20 years ago. The thought of falling that far behind in life at a cultural level is somewhat spine-chilling to me. For instance, I was really shocked when I visited their house the other day and they had their oil furnace on while it was in the 90s outdoors. I cannot provide you a rational reason for them to do this, but they claimed they felt freezing regardless of the outdoor temperatures. Maybe I’ll relate to them more when I reach their age eventually, but right now it’s hard when the people you analyze are crazy enough to run a oil furnace in 85 degree heat.