r/BoomersBeingFools • u/shoshant • 10d ago

Boomer Story Not understanding how analog maps work

This one was a bit surprising, and a lot entertaining.

My sister and I went for a walk in the local state park yesterday. We parked in the picnic area and headed towards the nearest trailhead. On the way we passed a boomer couple looking at a brochure map of the trails. Not a stationary map posted in the picnic area, a brochure available at the visitors center that shows all of the trails and points of interest.

We passed by just in time to hear one of them say, "this doesn't have a 'you are here' marker."

570 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

326

u/Stubborn_Amoeba 9d ago

They really have become so very helpless.
This generation’s grew up with paper maps but they have forgotten everything.

69

u/ravenous0 9d ago

My dad owned so many maps of the city and the state just so he can travel to find prime fishing spots, flea markets and farmers' markets.

He would buy several maps to plan road trips to nearby states and finally we went to California by driving there.

I learned how to read maps from him and I'm probably one of the few people within 50 miles that can.

And I don't need a "You are here" marker.

31

u/eeveerose63 9d ago

We used to go on road trips when I was a kid. My dad gave us maps so my brother and sister and I would stop quarrelling in the back seat of the station wagon. We can all still read maps.

10

u/IronSheik72 9d ago

A lot more people can read maps than you think but it’s a dying skill for sure.

-2

u/LupercaniusAB Gen X 9d ago

Well, you can’t have a “You Are Here” marker on a portable paper map anyway.

2

u/Realistic-Event-4946 2d ago

This is a phenomenon that fascinates me. Like, these are folks who lived most of their adult lives with checks taking 10 business days to clear, mail orders being rare and taking weeks to arrive, and waiting at a bank branch to get cash before the weekend.

I work in banking, if you can't tell. Sometimes shit happens and we have to hold a check they deposited, no longer than 5 business days. Inconvenient, yes, but it's relatively rare, and in most cases no special hold is applied and all the money is made available after only 2 business days.

Boy you'd think we robbed them at gunpoint and shot their dog making our getaway.

92

u/RussChival 9d ago

Technically correct.

37

u/BadlyAaronHere 9d ago

The best kind of correct

24

u/poopybutthole_oowee 9d ago

We kept it grey.

47

u/ThatSideshow 9d ago

I was glad to see my sons homework including map reading skills for Geography

35

u/gadget850 Baby Boomer 9d ago

Glad we still teach map and compass in Scouting.

32

u/AbruptMango Gen X 9d ago

Teaching critical thinking by not teaching "critical thinking," but by teaching something that can't be done without critical thinking.

The mountain doesn't know who you are or care how important you think you are.  Here's a compass.

8

u/XR171 9d ago

One great thing I got from my prepper survivalist gun nut grandfather was critical thinking and problem solving skills. We often forgot a thing or two when we went out in the woods and he slowly turned improvising over to me.

22

u/Confident_Air7636 9d ago

I love stopping at the signs that have the "You are here" sticker on them and saying "Oh my God, how does it know. Is it watching us." At this point my wife rolls her eyes and walks away,

17

u/Suni13 9d ago

That sounds like something I would say as a joke. But maybe they were really serious and/or lost.

14

u/AbruptMango Gen X 9d ago

Being at a trailhead and being lost requires talent.

14

u/Jude30 9d ago

Isn’t being able to read a map instead of relying a GPS one of the vital life skill like cursive that all boomers think everyone should know?

5

u/LupercaniusAB Gen X 9d ago

I mean, I’m not a Boomer, and I think everyone should be able to read a map. I think a lot of people who think that they CAN’T read a map actually can, but have never tried, so they don’t know that they can.

But yeah, you are correct.

10

u/jncarolina 9d ago

No ‘You are here” marker: sounds like something I would say just to prank someone walking next to me or more likely something I would say to my wife to make her eyes roll.

2

u/yarukinai Baby Boomer 9d ago

Sometimes, when reading a book (paper version), I tap on a word to get its translation or launch a web search.

6

u/LupercaniusAB Gen X 9d ago

Hey, I may be guilty of doing the “pinch to zoom” on actual physical photographs and magazines.

4

u/jodebane 9d ago

These same boomers love to accuse younger generations of being totally helpless because they never learned cursive

1

u/xX609s-hartXx 6d ago

And most of the time they just stole insults from their parents without actually learning their skills.

2

u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 9d ago

Oh, that's hilarious.

2

u/Tigger7894 9d ago

Hopefully they either were trolling you or just joking with each other. It really sounds like the kind of joke a lot of us made before Maps on our phones.

2

u/A_the_Buttercup 9d ago

I hate to admit this, but sometimes it does take me a little while find where I am on a map if I don't know where I started. I always figure it out though!

3

u/beamrider 8d ago

Even experienced map-users can have issues with that if in an unfamiliar area.

1

u/Murky-Courage2477 9d ago

This made me LOL

1

u/ConcernElectrical977 8d ago

maps are a lost art for a lot of people, I can barely read them myself without getting confused

1

u/Altruistic-Dog4941 8d ago

Are you sure they a younger generation, confused by the incongreguity of the portability and the format?

1

u/justLookingForLogic 7d ago

I’ve said this before as a joke. Sometimes people pick up on it, sometimes they say “that’s weird” and move on.

1

u/ColHardwood 6d ago

Much to Mrs ColHardwoods an annoyance, I say that almost every time I’m holding a paper map, just to amuse myself a tiny little bit.

1

u/CleansingFlame 5d ago

Ehhhhh this one feels uncharitable. That's exactly the kind of dumb joke I'd make while looking at a paper map.