Are dryer sheets a thing of the past? Am I getting old? I heard about this dryer sheet thing on the radio. I’m going to run fast and loose with some stats—so don’t quote me. Apparently millennials—that’s those folks who were born anywhere from 1980 through 2005, don’t understand the concept of fabric softener.

This generation—or Generation Y, or Gen Y, are slippery. You need look no further than their list of prideful monikers. They are smugly amused watching the rest of us try to tag, capture, niche, and understand them. They have an edge in communications and understand the digital world like nobody’s business. Because of this, we are all watching them closely. I learned a new term in researching them. You probably already knew this, (settle down Gen Y), but I didn’t know that they are also called echo boomers. This is because they are echoes of the baby boomers—or my generation. Yes. I just aged myself.

I checked with an echo kid in her late twenties on the dryer sheet thing and she admitted it was true. She didn’t understand what they were for, nor had she ever used them.

“But their use is declared right there on the box with the term fabric softener. The product softens fabric.”

She just shrugged and looked at her phone. “Get away from me old lady and stop trying to tell me how you made the wheel.”

Harsh.

You know, if I was born during those years, I too would be averse to instruction manuals. I too could have picked up any piece of technology and hacked my way into maximum usage at record speed. But the question is, what did you learn from us? I’m not completely sure, but I know we paid for it.

Drop the phone and thank me. I’m in the laundry room, still doing your wash.