Sunday Sun: Confessions of a Boomer Dad

Where are we really going?

Ok, I probably lost you at the title. I am not ashamed to admit I am a Boomer, but truthfully I often feel like a Millennial trapped in this body. That’s a whole other story, not for this post. But here we go anyway.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been hearing laments from younger people around me. Arguably, young people who could be my adult kids. There are so many issues they are struggling to resolve. The issues include work, return to school, job changes, relationships, obligations, etc. You could say it is pretty much everything adults face while living in the Big League of adulthood.

I was just about settled in on the idea “they’ll figure it out and be OK.” Then I received a feed about ‘hey hanging.’

Apparently, ‘hey hanging’ is a thing. And it is a growing source of actual anxiety, mainly at work. It involves the text or Slack post saying simply “Hey”. Nothing more, just Hey. It’s the pregnant pause, the unfulfilled message, the disappointed ending, … whatever. Apparently sending the message ‘hey’ and saying nothing else, is now giving folks anxiety.

Seriously?

For me, that was too much. It returned my thoughts about all the other recent moments where I’ve tried to counsel and consult…