Advice or Judgment?
There was a senior journalist I knew who filled much of every conversation with stories from his younger days as a television reporter in Korea.
At first, I thought those stories—often embellished with a touch of heroism—were lessons intended for younger colleagues.
There was also a businessman I met in the field who never missed an opportunity to recount his own successes.
How he fought off a robber.
How he outdrank business associates and won deals.
To them, these were valuable experiences worth sharing.
But to those listening, they gradually began to sound less like wisdom and more like echoes from the past, repeated over and over again.
One evening, during a company gathering attended mostly by younger employees, I asked a simple question:
“What is the phrase you least like hearing from older people?”
The answers came quickly.
No. 1: “Back in my day...” (The infamous “latte” phrase.)
No. 2: “You think that's hard? In our day, we worked through the night.”
No. 3: “I'm only saying this for your own good.”
No. 4: “Kids these days...”
No. 5: “Why are you so sensitive?”
To older generations, these words are often sincere advice drawn from experience.
Yet to younger ears, they can sound less like concern and more like dismissal—less like wisdom and more like a dagger.
Older people say,
"I'm only telling you this because I want what's best for you."
But life is something no one can live on another person's behalf.
And so those words can sometimes become a heavy burden.
Even words spoken in love can change their nature when they cross generational boundaries.
What was intended as advice can be received as a verdict.
Reflection of the Day
★ We can share our experiences, but we cannot live another person's life for them.
The younger generation's present is not simply a replay of the older generation's past. ★
[Go back to Korean version] 한국어
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