Boomers love to keep a cabinet of “luxurious” china that never gets touched. While they may say such plates and silverware are for a “special occasion,” anyone who grew up under a Boomer knows that no occasion seems to be special enough to actually pull out the bastards. Excuse me, but I just beat all of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters — you’re telling me that’s not even enough to use a single teacup?


But Boomers now have a problem: They’re dying. As a result, they feel the need to start dividing up all of their items for their loved ones — and they’re learning that, surprise surprise, no one wants the plates they’ve never been allowed to use.



In a post on r/BoomersBeingFools, user potential_wasted recounts how his mother-in-law attempted to give several sets of fancy china to her children. Wouldn’t you know it, no one wanted it.


“My wife pointed out that they haven’t been out of the cabinet in at least 30 years and we are all here celebrating and are using the everyday plates,” potential_wasted writes. “MIL tried to lie and say she uses them at Christmas. Wife lost it and reminded her that we have been at every family gathering for decades and those plates have never been used and she is going to use them as frisbees once she dies.”


Okay, a bit harsh, but I hear her.


Soon, commenters arrived to share their own bastardizations of family china. “I use the China that my MIL gave us as our only plates. We use the teacups for dipping sauces and small portions of soup!” exclaimed a user.


“We eat on beautiful china every day because my wife observed it sitting unused for more than 50 years in her parents house, so she took a few of the plates for us to use. They are works of art which can’t go in a microwave but we get to enjoy them every day,” detailed a second. Could you imagine actually using a plate? Shocker!


Of course, china isn’t the only thing that holds an overvalued place in the mind of the Boomer. Numerous commenters shared stories of parents passing down figurines, tiny spoons, 78 RPM records and gaudy furniture, only to have their millennial child explain that there’s really nothing they could, or would want to, do with these things besides take them to a Rage Room.


Also, many old pieces of china are filled with lead. Then again, maybe eating off of lead plates is what made Boomers like this in the first place.