r/BoomersBeingFools

TLDR: skip down

Ok, short bio for my family. We live in a very expensive area. Like, one of the most expensive places in the country. Most millennials my age couldn’t buy a house here, but we did. Please don’t assume I’m well-off. We had special house buying options during Covid that enabled us to buy during the pandemic and we got a house for 2.5 blah blah blah. Our house is on the smaller side but not crazy. Our main living area contains our kitchen, dining room, and living room all in one. It’s a cape style with four bedrooms and a finished basement. We sometimes feel like our house is too small for many guests and feel self conscious about the space. We feel that it’s a good starter home. Our parents make us feel like we’re failing. “It’s too small, look at other people’s families…” We don’t feel cramped when it’s just our family. My in law always tells us her thoughts on selling my wife’s childhood home. We told her many times we would consider buying her home FROM HER for a fair price as her home is larger and could accommodate us better. But, every time the topic comes up she switches from, “let’s sell you guys the house,” to, “oh, but I want to see if I can get a higher deal.” She’s brought it up so many times we just tell her to stop talking about it as we feel it’s like her dangling a carrot for us we can’t reach. Boomer mom seems to forget she also had a starter home before this one.

TLDR: boomer parents making us feel like failures despite securing a house in a very good area, in an expensive part of the country, and successfully managing three kids and their needs. Are boomers not able to self-reflect at all and how insensitive they are?

After church this morning there was a social gathering with coffee and donuts. One kid goes to grab a donut but my other kid doesn't because he has celiac disease (he cannot eat or drink anything with gluten which is in wheat, barley, and rye). A boomer lady is handing out the donuts and tries to give him one. He says "no thank you, I have allergies". Boomer says "no one is allergic to donuts!" She tries to hand it to him again and he again says "no thank you" and turns to follow his sister, she grabs his arm and says "you can eat it honey, I won't tell your mom". He looks her straight in the eye and asks "do you want me to eat something that can kill me? I said NO THANK YOU." Boomer is still holding the donut but now sputtering.

I've had boomers tell me that no one had allergies or celiac disease when they were kids. My reply is always people born with severe allergies existed, they just died young from "failure to thrive". Now we know better.

So I am traveling with my Gen X mom to southern California for a family gathering this week ,and I drove to the Siskiyou mountains area of CA (very northern part of CA and it is where she was born and has spent about 75 percent of her life ) to pick her up and head south .

We stopped at a burger king in Sacramento for lunch and as we were eating,this boomer couple sits at the both next to us and the man is wearing a Kings shirt and hat. My mom (who has been a kings fan since they moved to the city in 85) told him that she liked his style even though they are back to sucking after a couple of good recent years (which is true lol)

The man gave her a weird look and responded with saying that most women "except for his wife,know nothing about basketball or sports in general "

My mom holds her own all of the time ,and she responded to him in a sassy way that she grew up playing sports and has been a 49ers,Giants and Kings fan for over 40 years and has been to many games of each (all true)

The man looked at her suspiciously and began asking her random trivia questions about each of those teams (mostly on the kings) to which she got about 90 percent of it all right.

Instead of converting like an adult,he asked her where she was from ,and after she told him that she's from Siskiyou county,he asked if she had ever lived in Sacramento to which she answered that she had never done so.

He got this annoying shit eating grin on his face ,and declared that he knew that she wasn't a real kings fan as she has never lived in the city and that proved it.

His wife simply looked down at her tray at that point (never really said anything during the whole conversation tbh)

My mom looked at him with a dumbfounded expression and asked him what that had to do with fandom? He said that "no one is a true fan of a team unless they've lived in the same city as them at some point in their life at least"

My mom asked him how long he had lived in Sacramento and he gave her yet another stupid look and simply said "Long enough"

His wife mumbled something to him and he didn't look or speak to us again

My mom and I laughed about it outside on the way back to the car .

These boomer fools...I swear .

I attend a church in the UK. Pretty liberal end of things with a young pastor, trying to do things in the community. Few boomers do attend and they complain about everything.....

So this week its church annual meeting - we have to hold a formal members meeting yearly to approve accounts and elect trustees - its a condition of the charity commission. It means a (dullish) meeting just after the service so you have a long morning.

The church put on a lunch afterwards: baked potatoes, chilli, cheese, salad and some desserts - done in a help yourself buffet style.

The table of boomers sat and issued their verdict on this free meal:

-as its Sunday this should have been a full roast dinner - not enough effort has been put in by the young people (the church has a small kitchen but not commercial facilities,only volunteers to cook and the food was donated by a bunch of us)

-we shouldn't have a buffet - the food will get cold,we have to stand and wait, we should go first, it should be table service.

-the pastors wife hasn't hand made the desserts herself- these are all bought cheesecakes! She needs to be a better pastors wife and hand bake everything (she works,she had 2 small children and its not the 1950s....)

-why does there need to be a vegetarian option for the chilli- we aren't vegetarians, they should have had something else instead of bothering with that.

- we have to clear up our own plates and take them to the counter ourselves.

Its difficult to maintain your Christian charity as honestly there just sat through the whole thing moaning like this, being miserable and derogatory about the efforts of others, leading you to question why even bother coming - this was never advertised as a resturant.

At the Costco yesterday, going down a refrigerated aisle. Clocked a boomer lady on an electric shopping cart, gave wide berth.

She starts reversing at full speed, not a glance behind her to check if it's clear, and she hits a flatbed cart and full ramming speed.

The cart belonged to an employee, a boomer man, who was unloading dips into the display.

She jokes "Ooops I don't have insurance on this thing!"

He says "You better have insurance, you almost blew out my knee"

Both devolve.

"I did NOT hit you"

We walked away after that, but I saw her cruising through the rest of the store at full tilt, so lesson not learned, I guess.

My dad told me a roller-coaster of a story about a thrift store visit in Birmingham Alabama. He's 76 next week and a conservative Christian republican, but not maga. He's telling me the place advertises as "up-scale" but it's in an industrial part of town and he was unimpressed.

Then it gets interesting. He says as soon as they walk in he sees a couple "trans kids or whatever" that were looking at the women's clothes. He didn't say it in a dismissive way but like he's not sure of the current vernacular. Then he goes all Libertarian, "you know I don't care if they do whatever they feel like they need to do." Then the curveball, "but this is kind of a bad part of town. I wouldn't feel good about your mom coming here alone." I was mildly shocked and relieved he didn't say anything terrible. Then he starts telling me about the rest of his shopping experience.

It wasn't until I got off the phone with him that it dawned on me that he wasn't worried about the trans kids he was worried for them. Like his gender stereotypes are outdated but he assigned them correctly. I'm kinda proud of him.

Got in a heated argument the other day with some boomer about mandatory safety features that come with newer cars eg brake assist aso.

His argument was that the boomer generation is the only one buying new cars these days and manufacturers ignore their preferences. He told me that many of his age dislike for example especially the lane assist function, because it beeps all the time. All of his peers hate it. Because, it beeps constantly. On every ride. All the time.

When I told him to think about his argument because, well, it beebs when you don't hold the lane, and only then. he got angry. He was like: you don't get it, I can't talk about this with you. What he meant was: you don't repeat my stupid opinion

He could not wrap his head around the fact that the beeping sound was an indicator that the assist obviously is needed. Because it only f'in beeps if you drift out of your lane!!!! If you hold your lane, it won't beep. That it means that he and his peers drift out of their lanes all the time.

Nope.

The problem is the mandatory feature. Because it beeps all the time. No connection made between those two factors. It beeps. It is disturbing. All the time.

I wanted to yank his keys from him right away...

So this happened yesterday and I've been trying to figure out how to tell it coherently. Basically the situation is I work in manufacturing. We cut wood so we have a system that is supposed to suck up all our sawdust. It then goes outside into filters and a barrel in this like outside closet space. So at my work there's a maintenance supervisor (70 y/o), a safety supervisor (pushing 60-65) , my supervisor (maybe 30) and production supervisor (maybe 50s)

Last week the local fire department did their annual walk through. And when they got to our dust collection closet they found it's full of dust because it leaks all over. So now suddenly the safety supervisor and maintenance supervisor think this is a big deal. And it is. But they've known about it for years. The maintenance supervisor is the one who built the system 10 years ago. When they rebuilt it from the old system. My past 2 supervisors had been trying for years to get maintenance to do the cleaning and fixing and we never got a straight answer from the maintenance supervisor because he doesn't want to do it. We empty it on a regular basis as part of our job which is fine but we don't have time to stop our work (that makes the company money) to do all this cleaning and repairs. The maintenance supervisor got away with not doing it because the previous production supervisor was a boomer and didn't give a fuck about workers.

Now I have a new younger supervisor. When they decided it was a big deal they tried to get us to do it but my supervisor pushed back. He went straight to the new production supervisor and he agreed immediately that maintenance should.... Do maintenance . So now they might get to it next week.... If they have time. Suddenly it's not so important.

Oh and we have no drinkable water in our building and we asked for some like last summer and still got nothing from this maintenance supervisor. (New production supervisor wasn't happy about that either)

And the safety supervisor is giving me a hard time because I use my own ear muff hearing protection. Because last time I asked him for some he didn't have any. "But I can always just ask" he has some now but I have to go to him and get them. If he really cares I feel like hed bring them to me. I didn't have the energy to call him out on it.

Oh and the safety supervisor doesn't like that we plug extension cords into other extension cords. So I pointed out (in front of the maintenance supervisor ) that when we have a long cord and it has a cut on the outside of it maintenance just cuts the cord in half and adds two plugs. Making it two short cords. My supervisor offered to bring them all the short cords in exchange for long ones and they suddenly said to wait and might put in some extra outlets for us when they have time.

Oh and the maintenance supervisor who's 70. He was training a nice hard working younger guy to replace him in the next year. But he decided recently to stay on for another 4 years so the good worker quit.

I'm so tired of boomers

This happened a long while back but I recently found this subreddit so I thought I'd share. This isn't as crazy of a story as some others here but I felt like sharing.

So my daily commute is taking the train. Due to inclement weather, this was one of those days when trains were getting delayed/cancelled. I found an empty spot to stand on the platform and I was sending text updates to my mom because I was definitely gonna be late.

Around 10 feet away from me, there was an old lady & old man chatting. They didn't look like they knew each other; more like strangers who struck up a conversation or acquaintances. The lady was doing most of the talking here. Now, I'm not saying I triggered the topic to change but regardless, the way she was talking still made me roll my eyes. Mind you, she was loud enough that I could hear her through my headphones and a busy train station.
Here is what I remember of her rant: "Ugh kids these day are constantly looking down at their phones these days like they don't even talk to or care about people anymore... My grandchildren don't even call or visit me (gee I wonder why karen & mind you, I call my grandparents every weekend)... It's all because of those phones... Everything can be done on the phone these days. Literally anything you need to do, look down at the damn phone (sorry technology is evolving lol)... My husband even read the news on the phone every morning & I'm like 'nuh uh put that thing down..." blah blah blah. It was pretty long cuz them trains weren't showing up any time soon.

The old man was just quietly nodding along with an occasional "yeah" & "well" whenever Karen would stop to breath.

Eventually, when the mans train came, he left. Soon I did too. I was having one hell of a day & that just annoyed me more.

My boomer dad is a chronic boundary crosser. Ever since I and my siblings were little, he'd take our snacks or CDs or toys and give it to other kids unprompted and without any permission. His partner (my other parent) is extremely sick and tired of it.

And if you ever dare to say "don't touch my stuff," or "that belongs to me" he'll go on this raging tirade on how, well HE doesn't do that and well HE shares his stuff and blah blah blah blah blah.

It's infuriating at this point, and it's literally common knowledge to hide stuff you don't want him to see. A few summers ago, he almost physically assaulted me because he ate a snack I'd been saving for days for the weekend after a long, tiring week at work, and I was so mad I let him have it. He STILL hasn't learnt anything, and at this point, I'm just numb watching him.

It's honestly disgusting and narcissistic, if I'm not overreaching in psychology-speak. I dunno. I just wanted to vent because he drank out of my sister's bottle and refuses to hear about a little something called HYGIENE. Tf.

I work at a agency which assists elderly and disabled people with various needs. We set them up with various programs and equipment and send them on their way. No long-term care or housing is provided. We also are not affiliated with Federal state or local governments, but can link to resources these entities provide. We also don't write health insurance or life insurance plans. Again linking can be done as a service, though. All free, by the way.

With that out of the way, I was sitting at the front desk in the lobby, essentially functioning as a secretary. This older lady walks in, already a pissy look on her face and with her 50+ year old daughter in tow. I ask her how I can help her and she just stares at me blankly, as though I should know who she is and what she needs. I ask if she has an appointment, again an annoyed stare, but she was able to use her words this time and said she didn't. Okay, we're in 20 questions territory now. I ask if she wants to rent equipment i.e. the walkers and shower chairs we provide. This time she scoffs and says she is looking for help with her health insurance. Obviously someone her age probably has Medicare, which they love to complain about, but you never know. Some retirees can draw health insurance via their spouse's union for example. She rolls her eyes, but I get the first straight answer from her. Hallelujah, holy shit, she's able to tell me what advantage plan she has. Great, that I can look up. I ask what she wants to know about it. She asks me what happens to her when she goes to the hospital. Uh okay vague, I don't like where this is going, as it just sounds like a bitch session. I ask if she has ever used our agency before, to switch gears. She says she hasn't, and a search in our database confirms this. I look up her plan while she stands there impatiently, as though I should already have this information on hand. I have a lot of familiarity with Medicare and Advantage plans, but she doesn't know this, since we just met 2 looong minutes ago. I pull up the information and mention again she was looking for information about the hospital. I tell her the copays, which like most health insurance plans these days, are fucking high. Like, okay, it's shitty to make someone on a fixed income pay as much as they ask nowadays, but I am not the decider of these things. I sympathize, but all I can do is provide information. She asks how Medicare will pay that. I explain that the amount I just gave her is the copay. She rolls her eyes again and says she knows this, and asks again how Medicare is going to pay her copay. I explain that the amount is what *she* pays after her Advantage plan pays their portion. She looks at me like I'm crazy and I just asked her to shell out that amount of money to me personally. She says she can't pay that. I ask if she has Medicaid, which will pick up the cost after her advantage plan pays. I kid you not, she takes this know-it-all "oh finally you get it!" tone and says "well that's why I'm here." Lady, you could have walked in and instead of playing twenty questions just told me this. Instead you wasted everyone's time playing games. You obviously know what Medicaid is. Why are they like this?

Anyway, I got my coworker who does the Medicaid apps who was busy at the time. She got mad she had to wait, as though you can always just walk into any underfunded, understaffed non-profit in the year 2026 and get instant service. I don't hate my job, but I do find this type of person insufferable. Anyway, not the most amazing story and I do realize it's very long so:

TL;DR boomer lady walks in my job like she's the main character, acts like I can read minds, plays 20 questions with me before revealing what she really needs.

Edited: Clarity

My wife and I were hanging at Caesar's over the weekend for the Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival. After the show we went over to the Hell's Kitchen bar to play video poker and get some mac and cheese. I sit and immediately clock that the old man to my left is going to be a problem. He was drunk and already cut off, but still hanging at the bar trying to order more drinks. He tries to hand me a bottle of his water and I decline and turn to my right to talk to my wife.

Food comes out and we're hanging there playing poker, but this guy NEEDS my attention. He starts doing that thing where he reaches over my shoulder to tap my right shoulder, thinking I'll look to the right, not knowing where the tapping is coming from. After the second instance of that I tell him I'm trying to eat and I'm not interested. The bartender is trying to find his wife who has his wheelchair so they can roll him back to his room.

A few minutes later, he jabs me in the ribs and at that point I'm done with his horseshit. I tell him that if he doesn't stop touching me, he's not going to like what happens. The bartenders hear this and immediately start searching for security. This old cunt slaps his phone on the bartop and starts slurring that he's going to kick my ass. I turn back to my mac and cheese and ignore him, because he's literally too drunk to stand. Finally, a security manager shows up and positions herself between his chair and mine and starts talking him down. His wife comes over and then she immediately starts touching me and asking what her husband did. I'm so fucking tired of these old people at this point. She tries to excuse his behavior with early dementia, I don't give the slightest fuck and ask to be left alone. The second his wife walks away, the old drunk asks the security manager for a lap dance. They finally roll him back to his room and I can relax a bit.

Seriously, I'm so fucking over it with old people. I'm not about to throw hands in a casino with someone I could knock over with a feather, but why are old men like this? They demand attention, can't keep their fucking hands to themselves, and then lose their minds when you tell them no.

I hope he died in his sleep.

In a massive hospital in Orlando. Lots of people filing in for morning appointments. It’s hectic here, big parking garage, super busy traffic, busy elevators etc. I get in one elevator, boomer husband and wife are very stressed out. You can tell it was a “big thing” for them to get here.

I don’t like to chit chat so I was on my phone and boom wife starts saying “it’s so busy here!” Husband says “what floor we going to?” “11!!! I told you 11!!!” He says “what floor did we get on?” “1 you know it was one we get off at 1 too ya know!” Then they get off the elevator I’m going to the same place they are fluttering around the lobby “where do we go? Where is the room?” They are just so upset for nothing.

Get to waiting room. New boomer woman goes to sit in chair. Someone left a cup of water on the floor. She goes ballistic! She’s stomps to the desk with it and gets huffy saying how awful people are. Desk staff take the cup politely. She’s sweating with anger - again for no reason. If you’re a boomer reading this please stay calm no matter how you feel inside. It’s stressful to be around this kind of energy.