SEOUL - Back when I lived in the US pursuing an advanced degree in the 1970s, Americans frequently exchanged a salutary"Hi!" or"Hello!" when they passed by on the street, even if they were total strangers.
Soon, I found out the reason. While walking, young Americans were always listening to music through earphones or staring at their smartphones, texting or Googling busily. It was as if they were half-deaf and half-blind due to these things. It is only natural, therefore, that they do not or cannot greet passersby.
By contrast, older people are not very good with smartphones or computers. With smartphones, they merely make phone calls, text on Kakao Talk or read news at best. Many older people do not even know how to obtain an online quarantine pass or set up a QR code, which is a prerequisite to entering a restaurant or a cafe.
Today, the generation gap has become rather technical, such as clashes between computer-whiz youngsters and computer-blind oldies called"commaeng." Since everything is computer-related these days, there is no connection between the two age groups. To the younger generation, the computer-blind older generation is nothing but an extinct species.
The other day, my ballpoint pen ran out of ink. Thus, I drove to Target to buy a refill. At the stationery section, I found out that manufacturers no longer make refills. Today, the older generation is hopelessly becoming an object of mockery by the younger generation. Older people are derided partly because they are clumsy at technology and partly because they try to advise technology-oriented young people who think they are smarter than older ones.
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