Slow on the Uptake

What I've learned recently is that the preferred or correct method of toasting a Pop Tart is the vertical way. That is, you put it in so the skinny side is parallel to the toaster. For my entire toasting life, I have been putting them in the other way and having a helluva time getting them out without burning myself. It never, ever, occurred to me to do it the other way. I thought that the end would stick out and not get as molten-hot as the rest of the Tart.
What is my point? I am not terribly bright. No wait, maybe my point is that I am not a moron, but these minor little things, in the complexity of this life, can remain elusive to one for years--or even forever.
I am also, at the age of 40, in dread fear of becoming an old fart who talks about people in terms of their "generation." "These kids today have no sense of responsibility and respect." That kind of thing. I have even felt myself wanting to use the word "entitlement" in sentences. I never understood the term, really understood it, and part of that was that I didn't want to. I didn't want to use and understand such a broadly deployed and trendy descriptor. But there it is. I feel it every time some young person is non-responsive, unappreciative, or generally dead weight; it bubbles up in me.
I also realize that every generation--- since Og and Kodunga got together in French caves and rutted and had kids and watched those kids put together the new wheel and axel because they (Og and K) couldn't understand not only what it was, but what it was good for---has been saying the same thing. My urge to avoid triteness is trite. Do we let ourselves bitch and moan about "kids today," or do we....um....not? Of course, no matter what we decide to do, we won't actually do it. We'll do what comes to mind as habit, which will often seem kind of moronic and a step behind wisdom.