Candy: Don’t say ‘Ok Boomer’ at work
Dec 11, 2019, 3:28 PM
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
You should never say “Ok, Boomer” at work.
First, I am a huge proponent of radical candor, but not everyone can handle it and that’s something I have learned over the years of being too blunt.
More and more we are seeing the under 40 set pop off with a casual “Ok, Boomer” when a conversation isn’t going the way they want or it’s used as the ultimate shutdown.
Don’t get why thousands of high school students across our state walked out of class last week in support of climate change – “Ok, Boomer.”
College debt? I worked my way through college! “Ok, Boomer.”
Just want to irritate your uncle at Christmas, “Ok, Boomer” beer now exists. You can make it a drinking game. Every time he questions your tattoos, your side hustle or your ethnically diverse boyfriend, take a drink.
Here’s the problem, if you say “Ok, Boomer” at work, a place where you are often conversing with the older generation, you could be fired. You may see it as a funny shutdown, but it’s age discrimination and it’s only a matter of time before we see lawsuits from the elder snowflakes.
Boomers were constantly told they were “disrespectful” based on their parents’ view of the world. Why don’t you cut your hair, put on a suit, and ‘we didn’t stop Hitler so you could listen to that racket’. It wouldn’t take much for an old to feel your use of “Ok, Boomer” is age discrimination. Under the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, discrimination of employees over the age of 40 is just as illegal as discriminating against someone on the basis of sex or discriminating on the basis of race.
“Ok, Boomer” is so problematic that HR departments across the country are now warning companies that if someone directs the phrase at a co-worker on a social account, they should be warned, then fired. Think of it this way, even when you type “OK, BOOMER” it has to be in all caps: one, because your target is probably squinting to read it and two because it’s meant to be aggressive.
You should never say “Ok, Boomer” at work.
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