Things have sure changed over the years.

Can you believe it is already 2025? It seems it was just a couple of years ago that we were going into the year 2000 and everyone was talking about Y2K. Some were even afraid of going into the 2000s.

If you are a “baby boomer” like me, you have lived in six or even seven decades and two different centuries.

Baby boomers were born in the late 1940s through the 1950s.

Even “millennials” have been around for at least four decades. I guess they feel old, but baby boomers feel even older because we are!

Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years, with the generation typically being defined as people born from 1981 to 1996. Most millennials are the children of baby boomers.

Think about all of the changes we, as baby boomers, have seen throughout the years.

We have seen things like home computers, the internet, using email and social media.

Most everyone now has a cell or mobile telephone. It was once something we only saw on shows like the original Star Trek television series. They were called “handheld communicators.” Now, however, we have seen them come to reality as a variety of smartphones. Having a landline telephone now is rare, with most people having only cell phones where they can get good service.

When people go out to eat, instead of holding conversations, they have their noses stuck in their smartphones. Most people, especially the younger generation, will not even talk on the phone but communicate by texting. That is something I am still trying to learn.

We grew up with one black-and-white TV in the house and only three channels. Nowadays most homes have three or four flat-screen color television sets. You have access to so many channels and streaming services where you can watch about anything you want. Twenty-four-hour access to movies, sports, weather, news, home shopping networks, government channels and all kinds of new and old television programs.

If you want to watch Gunsmoke or Bonanza from the 1960s, or newer shows like Friends and Seinfeld, or old classic movies – there is a channel for you. If you are not going to be home and could miss your favorite show, you can Tivo it and watch it at your convenience at a later time. This is a step up from the VCRs, where people taped their favorite shows or movies. (We still have old VCR tapes).

Most of us grew up learning to write letters and how to address envelopes. Nowadays almost no one pens letters, instead using email or social media to contact friends, loved ones or co-workers.

Professions I have worked in over the years have really changed. Local radio is a dinosaur, giving way to satellite stations. Printed newspapers are not as common nowadays, when in the past, they were something we received on a daily basis and delivered to our house. Now most newspapers are online and only on the internet.

So many things are controlled by computers or some electronic format. Remember when the fax machine was a big deal and changed the way offices exchanged information? Now those are a thing of the past and that was not that long ago!

Many people work from home now in sweats or pajamas. Going into an office is a thing of the past. That was already occurring, but the COVID pandemic sped that along.

Dress codes are no longer a thing in most businesses or office settings. Now people wear jeans that cost more than a suit. When I first worked in radio and newspaper, we had to wear a tie and dress pants. Jeans were not allowed! Now if you wear a suit or sports coat people will look at you like you are the strange one.

Small-town retail stores and even shopping malls are becoming extinct. Now people order what they want via the internet. You can even grocery shop online and have them delivered to your house.

Of course people do not cook meals at home as much as they used to or even use a stove. The invention of the microwave changed a lot of how people cook or warm up frozen meals. Many people buy takeout from restaurants nowadays also, which has changed a lot from the 1960s and 1970s.

Many people do not buy books or check them out at a library. Now they are in a digital format and you buy them and read them via your computer or tablet. I think these are called E-books, but I still prefer the old-fashioned print books I can hold in my hands.

Even textbooks are fading away, and school lessons are being assigned using computers and internet sites.

Having a tattoo used to mean that you were some kind of rebel just half a century ago. Today, you are as likely to see a sleeve on a kindergarten teacher as you are on a biker chick.

Family sizes are much smaller these days. Most married couples only have two or three kids and some have just one child. Back in the day, families were much larger and many had several siblings.

Cars and trucks are built much differently today. Many cars are electric and have to be charged. Give me a good old-fashioned car that runs on gasoline.

So many things we grew up with are antiquated. They are a thing of the past. I do not necessarily like it, but there is not much we can do about it.

However, it does not mean I have to like it. I do long for the good old days.

Happy New Year! Until next time.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)