Fine Print

At work, I occasionally get caught up in the news and gossip page on my browser, which seems to specialize in mocking baby boomers. One of the most frequent articles to pop up is, “Things That Will Die When Baby Boomers Do.” It’s revised periodically. I admit, some of the things they list will die out with this older generation, such as writing checks. Or paying cash. My dad, who actually is older than the baby boomer generation, still prefers to write checks. Some of us boomers are used to paying through portals, but I get why not everyone trusts that method.

Of course in some cases you don’t have a choice. I have to pay my rent, for example, through a portal. I don’t like it. You have to agree to their terms or you can’t use that method of payment, yet that’s the only method available. It’s not that their terms are unreasonable. I just don’t like being forced to agree to something that is made to look voluntary but really isn’t.

I mentioned this to one of my young colleagues and she didn’t understand my irritation. “Do you disagree with the terms?” she asked. When I replied no, she thought I was making too much of it. Yet there are so many places where we’re forced to agree to a long list of things to use a particular service. How many of us take the time to really read these things? I skim them, but inevitably agree to whatever is put out there.

However, the reality is, this isn’t a new phenomenon. Back in the day, before electronic agreements were so commonplace, we signed lease agreements, loan papers and the like without taking the time to look at them closely. The first time I took out a car loan, I had no idea that was an option. I read all the fine print, much to the irritation of the loan officer, who pretended to compliment me on my thoroughness.

So some things aren’t really different generation to generation. Reading fine print isn’t listed as something that will die out with boomers, so I guess people know we’ve always been guilty of it and probably always will be. By “we” I mean the population at large, not one generation in particular. We can get taken advantage of so easily.

Image Credits: Header–Signing Document © furyon–stock.adobe.com; Payment Options © jenny on the moon–stock.adobe.com; Car Purchase © Prosymbols–stock.adobe.com