It’s fine, no worries on your thoughts being all over, it’s the internet. Who cares? You got your points across fine.

I don’t think trying to know what the youth are into is creepy at all! I think the real issue comes from the youth being used to adults being shitty and judgy to them. Like I said, it’s great if we’re not shitty and judgy, but we have to be patient with the youth and their expectations of older people because they’re absolutely colored by the fact that most older folks are weirdly judgy. So it’s more that we have our work cut out for us because most older folks could give a flying fuck about being interested in the art of the youth, and the youth know that and feel it viscerally. It takes time for them to feel “safe” and open up. Like you said, how we grew up with Boomers and most of them are just dogshit and judgy people when it came to the youth. We like to think our generation is better… but it’s not, sadly.

Anyway, it’s not impossible to make inroads with the youth, but you have to be okay with them ribbing you and smile and laugh when they joke about how out of touch you are. They’re going to assume we’re just like any other jerk of an Old, so it just takes more effort on our parts to prove we’re not just some judgy jerk.

I am thankful for every old person who has genuine interest in what the youth are doing and what kind of art they are creating. You’re right, it IS a good thing to be interested, and it’s a good thing to pursue, because it helps break down the very generational barriers we dislike so much.