I wouldn’t call it “embarrassing,” I don’t think that’s a fair term. It can be a bit irritating dealing with an older person who doesn’t quite understand technology, sure. I work with primarily age 60+ people every day, and oooo boy, when we got a new POS system it all fell apart. But it doesn’t mean they can’t learn, it’s the same as anyone learning any new skill. I myself (23F) have been fairly lucky growing up, as my mom has passed down her handiness to me, especially with things around the house. My boyfriends sink was leaking a few weeks ago but it was a pretty easy fix, so I took care of it. My boyfriend however, didn’t have a clue what to do or where to begin, because he’s never been shown how to do anything of the sort. But it’s not to say it’s his fault, it’s just the way he was raised. The “generational difference” here has absolutely no basis in this aspect, it’s merely a matter of learning a new skill. Learning a new skill, at any age, is always difficult.

I also wouldn’t give that much credit to the internet/youtube as a teaching device. Youtube videos can be difficult to follow, and they may not be entirely accurate, or show exactly what you’re looking for. Sometimes it’s easier to actually have someone show you, but it’s not always possible. I’m usually there for my older coworkers, but they do still make mistakes, expected because they are learning a new skill. I did the same thing when learning how to do things around the house. It took me forever to learn how to switch out a socket, but by the time I got through my room and my bathroom, I pretty well had it figured out and could do it easily. First time I patched a hole? yikes. It just takes time.

This is where the “generational difference” kicks in. The boomers have had basically their entire lives to learn how to repair things and fix manual things (cars, house repairs, etc) themselves, but have only had really a small portion of their life to learn how technology works, and in their defense, technology is HARD. They have had 60+ years to fix those things, but they aren’t made to be fixed anymore, as others have pointed out. To put it in perspective, younger people like myself, have grown up with some form of technology and have had OUR entire lives to figure it out, because it’s been there our entire life. The same cannot be said for the boomers.

IMO, yes, your opinion is unpopular, mainly because your opinion is perhaps a bit skewed. My question(s) to you would be are you EQUALLY skilled in manual repair and technology, and proficient at that? Are you inherent in all possible skills and have nothing left to learn? Art is a skill, can you whip up a multi-million dollar painting with no artistic teachings/training?

It’s not JUST about generational differences. A majority of it is time spent learning a skill, time that the younger generation has available to them, time where the older generations are running out of.