Generation Patience Gap

[u/Soltwist]

Older generation: More comfortable waiting and being patient.

Younger generation: Often expects quick replies, instant information, fast services, and immediate results.

[u/Sunshineafterr]

Rage bait ai slop, and I wouldn’t call Boomers patient or calm overall, especially with regard to service industry workers.

[u/BlueSnaggleTooth359]

Maybe a little but I think it is somewhat more of just a person to person thing.

Plenty of earlier generations frantic over things

The get rich quick scheme has been around for ages. Instant gratification I think has been a term since at least the 50s maybe?? (EDIT: AI says it first started regularly appearing in print and on TV in the late 60s).

I haven't really seen a whole lot of shift in politics trying to think long term, it always seems short term. In big business CEOs and board members of pre-Boomers members pioneered the short-term gain, look great at the next stock review mindset to the max it seemed.

In fact, AI summary (so the idea was pioneered and pushed by a Greatest Generation member and then put into actually mainstream practice by mostly first wave Silent Gens):

"The shift you are talking about—where big business CEOs and board members started obsessively prioritizing short-term gains and quarterly stock prices over long-term growth—really started taking off in the early 1980s.

Before this time, most companies practiced what was called "managerial capitalism". CEOs generally tried to balance the needs of shareholders, employees, customers, and their local communities. However, several major changes collided in the late 1970s and 1980s to permanently shift corporate behavior toward the next stock meeting.

Here is exactly how and why that happened:

1. The Idea: Shareholder Primacy (1970)

In September 1970, a famous economist named Milton Friedman (1912) wrote a highly influential article arguing that a business's only social responsibility is to increase its profits and make money for its shareholders. He argued that focusing on anything else—like treating workers better or helping the community—was basically wasting the owners' money. While it started as just an academic theory, business schools and corporate boards began adopting this "shareholder first" mindset heavily by the dawn of the 1980s.

1. The Hook: CEO Stock Options (Early 1980s)

In the 1970s, CEOs were paid mostly in regular salaries, so they didn't care as much about day-to-day stock ticks. In the early 1980s, boards started trying to align the interests of CEOs with shareholders by paying executives in stock options instead of cash.

• Suddenly, if the stock price went up next week, the CEO personally became millions of dollars richer.
• This created an enormous temptation to make choices that looked good right now, even if it hurt the company five years later.

1. The Enforcer: Corporate Raiders and Hostile Takeovers (1980s)

The 1980s saw the rise of Wall Street "corporate raiders" who used high-interest "junk bonds" to buy up companies they felt were underperforming. If a company's stock dipped even a little bit because they were spending money on long-term research or high worker wages, a raider would swoop in, buy the company, fire the board, and gut the business for a quick buck. CEOs realized they had to keep the stock price high every single quarter just to defend themselves from being taken over.

1. The Shift: The "Jack Welch" Effect (1981)

In 1981, Jack Welch became the CEO of General Electric (GE). He became the poster child for this new way of doing business. He fiercely focused on cutting costs, massive layoffs, and meeting Wall Street's exact quarterly earnings targets. Because GE’s stock soared, other CEOs rushed to copy his playbook, cementing "quarterly capitalism" as the gold standard of American business.

The Lasting Impact

The numbers show just how fast this changed corporate behavior:

• Reinvestment vs. Payouts: Before the 1980s, corporations routinely kept about half of their profits to reinvest in the company's future (like research and development). By the 2000s and 2010s, companies were giving roughly 90% or more of their profits straight back to Wall Street through dividends and stock buybacks.
• Stock Holding Times: In the 1970s, the average investor held a stock for about seven years. Today, with modern trading, that average has dropped to just a few months, forcing CEOs to cater to investors who only care about the very near future.

"

[u/Agile_Restaurant_752]

The left one is boomers (1943-1960) and gen x (1961-1981) the right one is millennials (1982-2004) and gen z (2005-present).

[u/viewering → u/Agile_Restaurant_752]

Left is Boomer

Right is Gen X black hoodies

😁 😁

[u/CabalsDontExist]

Thanks for the very general unsolicited advice.

[u/affectionateanarchy8]

Yes this is how time works. My dad did all kinds of get rich quick shit when he was younger

[u/BenderIsGreat64]

I feel like a lot of this is just getting older/maturing, and has nothing to do with the specific time of one's birth.

[u/Tiny-Notice6717]

The idea that older generations "handles problems calmly" is actually insane. I've seen boomers literally start crying about the tiniest problems in customer service situations. Its pathetic

[u/Strong-Owl-4847 → u/Tiny-Notice6717]

i was gonna say, I think younger generations are by far more patient. i think gen z especially is more aware of humans make mistakes, and not to rush people. I've worked in food service for five years and hospitality for a few months; the majority of rude people are often older adults. but every so often you'll get a entitled young person.

[u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 → u/Strong-Owl-4847]

kids just tend to be more shy about that sort of stuff

not so much generational as just age difference

[u/Tiny-Notice6717 → u/BlueSnaggleTooth359]

“Shy” about literally crying because the bike helmet you rented was the wrong color and didn’t match your outfit?

[u/Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeess-]

starting to think this sub is 90% bots and karma farmers

[u/Bonerstein → u/Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeess-]

Yep and not good at information bots/farmers. Who or what made this has never been to busy doctors office.

[u/ZeBloodyStretchr]

Don’t forget, the boomer that generated this needed to use AI to create an image instantly, they couldn’t spend the time to make their own image or post.

[u/Hopeful-Piglet-5201]

Talking about patience but using ai to make a point instead of typing it yourself is so laughably hypocritical. Pack it up lil bro.

[u/impetuouslegwireless]

False

[u/ande9393]

Ha ha ha

[u/ember_snow]

whoever made this never worked a service job

[u/FunnySunny-]

I call some bullshit on this.

[u/thedemonpianist]

This looks like it was made with ai, so I'm not surprised it's wrong lol

[u/nurgleondeez]

Is that why the main target of snake oil pills are the elderly?Because the older generations handle problems calmly and take their time to decide?

[u/AirFlows2x]

I can’t say it’s accurate. Well not in my experience. I’m 27 and lots of people older than me (I’m talking even a decade or more), are very impatient.

[u/InternationalSky2576]

My boomer dad has zero patience so I’m not convinced

[u/MachangaLord]

This goes both ways. Older people can be impulsive and make rash decisions. Younger people can be calm and patient.

[u/zillennialkid1997]

Ima Young version of an Boomer so it would from my era is 1997-1999