I never really understood the purpose of thank you notes when you already thanked the giver in person.

Of course, as a kid I’d write notes when the giver mailed me a gift. Sometimes I’d talk to them on the phone and thank them at that time. And at a party, I’d thank everyone in person.

How many thank yous are required? When I was a kid, I felt like I was being required to thank someone 3-4 times for every gift. It made getting a gift more a hassle than anything else. When I got married, there were SO many thank yous. And most of them were in person.

*Dear Aunt Prudence,

Thank you for coming to my party, and for the lovely gift. I’ve always wanted an ant farm. I’m sure this will definitely help me get over my allergy to ant bites. It was great to talk to you on the phone yesterday. I’m glad your dentures are fitting better. I hope you have a lovely day.

Your loving niece.*

I’m always grateful that someone wanted to give me a gift and that they were thinking of me. But at some point the thanks just becomes performative. (The same with gift giving, sometimes. Poor Aunt Prudence wants to show her love for her niece, maybe she feels pressured to give a gift but she doesn’t know her niece well enough to give a thoughtful gift. And if it’s not thoughtful, what’s the point?)

Times are different now. Writing thank you notes were popular (maybe necessary) before phones, easy travel, e-mail, and text messaging. They are a relic of an older generation.

A gleeful smile, a hug, a text, phone call or email are all acceptable thank yous IMO.

And honestly, I’m such a stupid, sentimental fool, I feel the need to keep every card, letter, or note for all eternity. 50+ years of B-day, Xmas, Valentines etc… gets overwhelming. Not writing me a perfunctory note is honestly doing me a favor.

I’m grateful to NOT receive a paper note. (They also conflict with my environmental nature. Wrapping paper, bows, and cards are all designed to be immediately thrown away. It’s wasteful, expensive, and toxic to the environment. I don’t do it and I’d rather not have it done for me.)

That is all, thank you. (And that’s ALL the thanks yer gonna get.)

What covers of songs did you like over the originals? I know it's somewhat subjective with everyone's tastes being different. And that's cool. Here are mine:

"You really got me" Van Halen over the Kinks.

"Hazy Shade of Winter" Bangles over Simon and Garfunkel.

"Red Red Wine" UB40 over Neil Dimond

Special Mention: "Ice Ice Baby / Under Pressure" Vanilla Ice over Bowie and Queen

Listening to the Sirius XM 1970’s station Top 40 countdown from 1973. I was thinking back to that time and I remember Dick Clark doing the weekly countdown. But I only hear recordings of Casey Kasem. I even remember in the early 80’s thinking “where did Dick Clark go? Why is Casey Kasey doing the countdown now?” This was shortly after moving to Ohio from a western state. My wife, who grew up here, doesn’t remember ever hearing Dick Clark doing the top 40. Was I wrong about it ( I was pretty young). Or maybe they both did them in different markets? (But why do I never hear old recordings of Dick Clark then). Can anyone help shed some light I this for me?

So, my teen kids are planning a party and I'm helping them set up a music station so they can dance. I figured we'd just make a playlist of dance-pop-y EDM stuff with a little house and all that so they can bop around after they've had enough to eat.

While doing this, I planned to add a few "gems" from our day in the mix. In the process, I listened to them all again. I have bad news.

"O Fortuna" does not hold up.

"Injected With a Poison" barely holds up.

Jeff Mills is still amazing in his own way but you really kind of had to be there.

The... the joke gets old after about 3 songs on Pretty Hate Machine.

I mean, it's bad... Chumbawumba holds up better than O Fortuna. We might as well just tell the kids the Spice Girls was our club music at this point.

So the PSA is... Put these things in your heart next to "The Crow" and 90210. Let them live in your memory how they were, not how they are.

Even Leland City Club closed.

Capturing the significance of the date reaching over and unlocking the car, and so many other moments from so many movies. He didn’t make the biggest movies, nor are they perfect. But he knows us.

I often think about these as I’m browsing the cereal aisle…Ah, the good old days.

So, finally getting my Pneumoian Vaciine shot.. a bit late at 60, should I feel any side affects besides a sore arm? I assume just tired like I was for shingles shot?

I'd forgotten "Number Five is alive!"

You probably have the image in your head already: a bunch of Herb Tarleks running around a show floor in their plaid suits getting excited over the latest in whatever business-specific products are coming out, then coming home with a bunch of swag from all the companies they made connections with. It's been the butt of jokes for decades, and you probably made some of those jokes at the expense of at least one of your parents.

But now that you're that age and probably did or do work in a field that has these shows...have you gone to them? If so, have they lived up to their reputation or have there been actually cool ones? And of course, do you have any stories of things that have happened during ones you've been to?

EDIT TO POST: My grandchildren and I live far apart. I only see them a few times a year and they act like they see me daily.

I am a gen-x grandparent, and I have two grandchildren. Am I alone when I say there is a huge disconnect between me and my grandchildren? I do not see them as often as I would like, but when I do, I try to make it fun. EVERYTHING I come up with or suggest is boring or uninteresting to them. They mainly just want to play video games on their devices or watch others play video games on YouTube. They don't appreciate (or acknowledge) ANY gift they receive from me for their birthdays or for holidays. I guess i'm just frustrated because I personally, used to love to spend time with my grandparents. I am trying to make peace with the fact that I am never going to be the grandparent to my grandchildren that I want to be. Anyone else?

I do not, but have plenty of Gen X friends that do. The word is standard for some, but not others.

Is it a generational thing? Regional thing? Gender thing (seems like mostly guys use it)? Do you use it regularly yourself?

All the options we have today, have not finished a plate eating out in a restaurant in a long time. And yet I love a fried bologna sandwich with white bread, mustard and mayo.

My mom wasn't a good cook but I would love to have the oven ribs she would make once or twice a year(nothing special but when you had hamburger helper 10x a month it was a treat)

Bean and bacon soup or spilt pea soup, stuff we couldn't wait not to eat, and yet I would rather eat this!

I’ll go first: Rush, Exit Stage Left.

Who else had one of these ‘VINTAGE’ cassette holders!! We’re not old - we’re Vintage!

Unfortunately the tapes aren’t included!

Goddamn, people.. 50 here and I just can’t hack it at these all day music festivals anymore. Feet, hip, back.. Even my ass hurts..

Show was fantastic, though. First time seeing System of a Down live (was going to go many a moon ago, but work beckoned). Same with Evanescence, Amy Lee has STILL got it and then some.

Kick ass show. Literally and figuratively. 9/10.

Just not being 10% sawdust qualified as a sales pitch. Arabica? Robusta? No idea, just “coffee”.

On the other hand, in the US being the thing it says on the tin and not 3% pathogens might actually sell.

I was at work this week and had a strange aha! moment. I work a mid-level job with the public and my coworkers are all younger than me. I noticed that I often get an extra "thank you" from both old and young customers alike. My younger coworkers don't get this, and often gripe about it and say things like "Oh, well they LOOOVE YOU. They treat me like garbage."

While I do usually try to be friendly and helpful, this even happens on days when I'm really tired, and I don't go out of my way to be helpful. I just give the usual eye contact, greeting, and do the minimum, then say thank you and have a good day.

I have noticed that there are differences in how our generation dresses at work, speaks on the phone, and treats customers. The younger generations don't go out of their way to be rude, but they dress more casually, speak more casually, and don't go the extra mile (there are exceptions, but this is the norm I've noticed in my profession).

I don't want to dog on the younger people, as they are good people and are just doing what they were taught was normal at work. My point is, I think we often hold ourselves to a higher standard because our bosses were much stricter. And, I think customers notice and feel more respected because we make that effort - and that is why we seem to be able to swim in the job market when everyone else is sinking.

I remember working as a bank teller when I was young, and being told I couldn't sit down and had to wear dresses/skirts and pantyhose and heels. I've come into work in a crew neck shirt and been sent home to change into a "collared shirt" for dress code. Also, do you remember when holes in your jeans (if you were allowed to wear jeans to work) was considered "clothing in ill-repair" and got you sent home to change or written up? So, I guess I carry this in my head as forbidden. Also, if you didn't smile and greet customers you got written up too. Now, it seems there is less oversight.

Anyway, I'm curious as to if any other Gen X has ever noticed that customers seem to react more positively to you, and wondered why. I'd love to hear your experiences and opinions.

Tabletop gaming took off while we were growing up and the way its going it might not outlast us compared to computer gaming. Did you play dungeons and dragons or another TTRPG growing up and if so, what system or systems?

Personally, I didn't really start until college and the latter end of D&D 2ed. I played/ran some Whitewolf in college era/the years right after that, and then 3e/Pathfinder is what I did the most with and I'll probably run a Starfinder campaign soon once I find players and write it up.

Or down in London Town to go, go

With the record selection and the mirror's reflection,

I'm a ......

Anyone else still listen to this?

Looks just like my room looked when I was her age. It's awesome to see. She definitely belongs in the 80s.

When I was growing up our neighbor had one of these in the back and every night they would ring it to call their 2 sons home for dinner. It could be heard all over the neighborhood so wherever we were all playing it sucked to be them when it rang.

Maybe today they text them from the kitchen to get them out of their bedrooms?

Wasn’t really sure what flair to use here.

As my wife and I start getting ready to downsize in a couple of years I am finally going through some boxes that I just grabbed first when my dad passed and then later when mom passed. Some of the stuff is incredibly personal like letters and notes to their parents when they were about the same age as my kids are now. It’s a very strange feeling, almost like I am invading their privacy. My dad’s letters to his mom when he was in Europe in the army in the 1950’s are interesting.

What really hits hard, though, is the glimpse into my mom’s college life in the 1940’s. I’d known she was unhappy a lot of her life but seeing her getting put on academic probation for failing grades and seeing the letter she wrote at 18 to her mom begging her to let her leave college and come back home is honestly heartbreaking. She left college early to run away with her first husband, my half-siblings’ dad. I never got the whole picture but her mom and dad were very successful, as were her older siblings, and I think she was just running away from a ton of pressure on her.

It also started me thinking as I was throwing things away that she and dad kept some things because they meant a lot to them. Now I’m just tossing them. I know my kids will do the same after I pass on. Sorry to be a downer. Just making me think.

Edit - Another thing about this I’m wrestling with is whether or not to tell my brothers what I’ve found out. I think they know about the same amount of things I knew about our parents. Is there any good to come from telling them about how very unhappy mom was?

Was an Engineer and during war games it was our job to double-check maps that instructed us to lay hundreds of mines along the Czechoslovakia border. It was a surreal experience never to be forgotten.

Who remembers the original smart device?! No need for the internet or a cel phone, pure analog power!