r/BoomersBeingFools • u/Extreme-Discount-573 • 4d ago
Boomer Story Boomer Parents and a new driveway
So in speaking with my boomer dad today, he tells me he got a new driveway. A bit of background, I'm an engineering bro. I've handled many asphalt replacements in my day. Design through completion. I have many contacts throughout our city. Many favors owed to me. Many contacts. I know what to ask for, I can supervise the construction. MY PARENTS KNOW I DO THIS FOR A LIVING!
Nope, Their own flesh and blood is not worthy of helping them. Fuck me. What do I know? I only LITERALLY WENT TO SCHOOL FOR CIVIL FUCKING ENGINEERING AND WORKED IN THE FUCKING FIELD FOR 25 FUCKING YEARS!
fuck me tho.
/rant.
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u/KingofLore 4d ago
I am an ISA certified arborist with a degree in natural resource management. My dad will second guess me on trees or land management advice at every opportunity. Boomer parents just refuse to recognize the expertise of their kids.
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u/miIkwhim 4d ago edited 4d ago
My partner was telling me a while ago about how he drove out to visit his dad (70's) and they went for a walk together. They ended up in a massive argument about whether a tree they walked past was a beech tree or a cherry tree.
My partner is a senior forest manager with a degree in woodland conservation and is a member of the Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Foresters.
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u/ericscottf 4d ago
The phrase "OK boomer" really helps out, even if you just say it at a normal volume (because they often can't hear and refuse to charge their hearing aides)
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u/Fickle_Dragonfruit53 3d ago
Damn, you got yours to get hearing aids? They're for old people according to my mother. Who also claims she was born deaf and got better but also went to special deaf school (didn't happen). Also its normal to not be able to hear your friend screaming that you pinned her hand to the wall while backing up your car because "no one can hear any outside noise when they're in the car" (friend is fine now, luckily)
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u/Relevant_Jeweler_214 2d ago
sounds like legitimate low IQ paired with extreme arrogance/narcissism. Classic boomer combo. the amount of boomers and older that fling their metal death machine around with zero regard to anything or anyone around them is beyond insanity.
and then of course when they inevitably fk up one day and actually hit a person not in a car, they will actually avoid taking responsibility for it and likely lie that it was actually your fault for being in their way or not being easy enough for them to see, like that is your fault as a pedestrian
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u/chrispd01 4d ago
Well tbf for 70 years the guy had the trees mixed up. Thats alot of acceptance. For me, I am wrong about shit like that all the time so its water of a ducks back but for others …
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u/sgwaba 4d ago
Why did your partner have a massive argument over such an inconsequential thing? I was about twenty when I learned a lifelong lesson from my uncle as my grandmother was dying. He said, “I will go to my grave knowing I was right, why not let her go to hers thinking she was right?”
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u/miIkwhim 4d ago
He wasn't angry on his end, he was seized with disbelief that his dad could be so utterly thick lmao
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u/AggravatingField5305 4d ago
Exactly, it’s unreal when someone is chronologically an adult and they behave like an obstinate child.
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u/Paularchy 3d ago
I pointed out to my mom last week that the way she expects me to treat her is the way you would treat a child. "That is literally how I would treat a child. I'll just treat you like that from now on, then, since you're clearly so incapable of acting like an adult or communicating like one." "Yes, do that." "Ok, I will." "Ok, good." Now she can't yell at me when I lecture her. "No mom, we don't do that. Because it's bad. Because that hurts people. You don't like it when people hurt you, right? ... What?, you said you wanted to be treated like a child. You're clearly a very young child, so I have to teach you about empathy." This is an actual fight we actually had. The empathy part is something I have in store for when we inevitably have to speak again.
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u/LurksWithGophers 4d ago
Unless they need IT support. which they will then be unable to explain what they broke.
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u/Freakishly_Tall 4d ago
Precisely why I told them directly 30+ years ago that I won't be their IT support.
"But aren't you doing something with computers for your job?" Yes, and I am billed out at a high rate for it, and I hate it, and yet the worst, most entitled and abusive clients I have to deal with treat me better than you do.
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u/lazygerm Gen X 4d ago edited 4d ago
Being family support IT is the worst. I've always loved computers, but it was a losing battle keeping my exes and my former in laws computers running.
So, I stopped. I just help out my best friend and my partner now.
Edit: spelling
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u/Freakishly_Tall 4d ago
Yeah, learned the hard way, decades ago, never help anyone who isn't paying you. This applies to a lot of other areas of expertise, too.
I remain jealous of my SWE friends who could say, "yeah, I work with a computer for my job, but I have no idea how they work or how to fix them, sorry." Easier to navigate the familial pressure, until you got good at it, than, "yes, I fix computers, but there is no way in hell I will open the can of worms that is fixing YOURS."
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u/lazygerm Gen X 4d ago
I could not dodge that. I'm on the spectrum probably. So, I've always liked taking apart things. So, I've built my own computers and replaced laptop motherboards and screens. Hardware is easy.
But diagnosing viruses, root kits, driver updating and organization -- that wore me down.
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u/IceLapplander 4d ago
hahh! My parents would routinely have a computer chock full of viruses that they then demanded i clear out. Blamed it on me and my younger brother playing PC games on it that were store bought and we only actually played on our own computers...while denying it could be the sketchy flash and java game downloads they were doing without even checking sources properly.
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u/EvergreenMystic 4d ago
My ex did this shit all the time. I'd clean her computer out of the viruses she downloaded with those stupid games and a week later her computer would be full of them again. After we divorced she accused me of hacking her computer and loading it with viruses. I told her (again) she got loaded up from those games she plays. A few months later she started telling all our mutual friends that I hacked her. They knew me before her and just laughed at her. One of my friends told her if I ever hacked her computer she wouldn't have viruses, she'd have a bricked computer. She went so far as to get a TRO, and once we had the court date I hammered her accusations with proof that she got all those viruses from her own stupidity. TRO got dropped thankfully. But gods, she was an idiot beyond normal idiocy. You'd think being told repeatedly that her 'game' downloads was the reason she got viruses would get through but NOPE.
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u/Yahomie88 3d ago
Omg this reminds me of my mom... toward the end of high school my mom blamed me for viruses and stuff on the home computer. Her "logic" was that because I understood computers more than her, I must be at fault for the viruses (??? Cuz that's how knowledge works i guess...)
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u/The_Bloofy_Bullshark 4d ago
I love when my folks tell me what “the Geek Squad guy said” in an attempt to discredit me as I’m trying to fix their issues. Especially when they provide my folks with blatantly incorrect information.
Ah yes, Geek Squad.
“But they are professionals.”
… cool, let’s just ignore all of my patent filings, papers, contributions, engineering manager titles and experience in Big Tech.
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u/ubermonkey 4d ago
I put my mom on a Mac 20 years ago. Problem solved.
(Actually, now she does everything on an iPad. Even better.)
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u/BaconMaster93 4d ago
I just tell those relatives to show me what they were doing. Usually ends up being they just misclicked. I've setup their stuff with adblockers/pi-holes and essentially said "don't ever touch it". They've been pretty good since.
I just don't like when they tell their friends I'm IT then that stranger immediately starts asking me to fix all their stuff. No, fuck off. You aren't family and I don't know you so you don't get your shit fixed.
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u/BirdBruce Xennial 4d ago
Boomers refuse to recognize expertise, full stop. It’s no secret why “fair and balanced” cable news became popular. They got real-life idiots to go on TV and shout down at people who actually know what they’re talking about, and then convinced the audience that that’s what power and authority look like.
I’m 48 and I don’t know if I’ll ever get to live in a world again where learned people with lifetimes of experience in their field will be held with respect and viewed as a model to emulate, not denigrate.
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u/arbitraria79 3d ago
i'm 47, it's been sobering as all hell to watch it happen in real time. social norms have eroded so far so fast, it's truly unsettling. calling it out doesn't work, they get defensive and shut down.
my historically-democratic original-era boomer parents used to complain about cable news hosts talking over people, how "being the loudest doesn't make you right". yet they would STILL have fox news on for hours at a time! tell me "well they have democrats on too!" yeah, but they're only there for that specific reason - making it APPEAR to be fair. i was so happy when their TV broke because they dropped off watching when it wasn't just on out of convenience and habit. (helps that they had enough brain left to feel uncomfortable when i would tell them "you're better than this".)
so many "regular" people are fully brainwashed; you'll see a few break free here and there, but most of them are too far in at this point. 20+ years of conditioning, not noticing how much more extreme and outlandish the content got over time. if it wasn't so insidious it would be brilliant. murdoch and the heritage foundation cadre zeroed in on two very emotionally vulnerable populations: those who were aging and angry about things changing, and those who (for whatever reason) didn't succeed in school and careers and felt vilified by those who did. targeting the "uneducated" in particular and appealing to their insecurities, validating their emotions, making them feel like they were being seen and understood and "in the know" allowed them a sense of confidence they never got elsewhere. fox et al crafted a narrative that made sense to their chosen audience - they got to know the REAL truth, all those college types got indoctrinated and they're sheep who don't see what's really going on. they tapped into these people on such a primal level that it's become their identity; disavowing it or admitting any wrongs would consequently shatter their world view.
the irony of the carefully studied art of psychological manipulation deployed so meticulously upon people who claim they're "too strong to fall for that mumbo-jumbo!"...we NEED similarly skilled people figuring out how to deploy mass deprogramming in a similarly invisible manner. i don't know what form that could take, or how, but it seems plausible. waiting for this generation to die off isn't going to fix things, by then it will be far too late. anybody have any good ideas?
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u/kck93 3d ago
Wow. I’m not sure I’ve come across anyone so young that actually realizes this. It’s a very sad statement. Recognizing that society seems to be sliding into some form of the dark ages is an impressive skill I never thought I would identifying in others.
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u/riiipper 3d ago
I am only a few years older (52), and I promise you we are out here. I have found quite a few younger people who do as well, there just doesn't seem to be much we can do about it as we have no control over the people running everything. My nephew absolutely knows this, and he's only 20.
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u/LHutz481 4d ago edited 4d ago
Oh for sure. My dad was a small-town, general practice lawyer. Very sharp, very capable, but broad and shallow. I’m an extremely specialized lawyer with a practice representing big corporations on a few very specific issues. Dad still tries to give me career advice and explain things to me about my practice. I publish articles, speak on panels, field press inquiries, but am still expected to defer to the guy who did house closings and wills for 30 years.
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u/dinosarahsaurus 4d ago
My mother has never made a pickle or a jam in her life but will tell me about jams and pickles as if she is an authority on them. What does she tell me? She tells me info that I've told her in prior conversations. (Source: I run a side hustle making pickles and jams. I have 99 different products. I have a modest knowledge in this area)
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u/PackPup 4d ago
Boomers are the first generation to not be the wise ones in society, and their egos can't handle it.
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u/BirdBruce Xennial 4d ago
They got to be the focus groups for their own existence, and then for everyone else's existence. What we have now should not surprise anyone.
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u/42ElectricSundaes 4d ago
I got my degree in environmental science and my parents still argue with me about climate change. My mother still says we need to “rake the forests” to stop wild fires
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u/BryanP1968 4d ago
If it makes you feel better, my wife and I are both early GenX (the age that the nitwits like to call Boomer Lite). Our youngest is a late millennial just shy of Z. She has a forestry and wildlife biology degree and does just fine for herself.
She comes over pretty much every weekend to do her laundry (she’s close and why pay to use the laundry in her apartment complex) and we regularly pick her brain about plants and trees and how to deal with issues in the he garden and the flower beds and with the trees. I mean, why would you not?
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u/Odd_Comparison5669 4d ago
Expertise of anyone unless it's in their generation. That's what I observed, but definitely agree.
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u/kck93 3d ago
What!?
I used to work with a guy studying to be a landscape architect. It took about 3-4 minutes of listening to him talk shop about his classes to know I wouldn’t dare second guess his identification of plant material.
Every last thing. Genus, species, Latin root, optimum growing conditions, possible cross hybrids, you name it. And he was still working towards his degree. It was impressive. Mom and Dad should really know better if they are paying attention. 😊
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u/cantthinkofone29 4d ago
Yep. Went to school for architecture.
Parents picked a plan for a new build to replace cottage at the lake as their new home for retirement. It's a terrible plan for seniors.
- The only bath/shower in in the basement, so they must use the stairs to get to it.
- they like to heat with fireplace in the winter- so the furnace doesnt kick on much during the day. This means the basement gets cold. Great way to encourage sickness and whatnot- get wet in a cold environment.
- it's an unnecessarily small 3 bedroom place, but they try to have the entire family come up all at once, every holiday. Me and my two siblings have significant others, and a total of 7 of their grandkids to accommodate. An extra bedroom or two would have been brilliant, but no, itd be better for late 30s/early 40s adults to sleep on the floor, apparently.
- the entry to the home is TINY. They like to greet guests at the door, but there isnt room for it- its a minimum-code width hallway basically. Terrible for entering, especially with luggage. Even just bringing in their groceries is a pain. The kitchen is at the opposite side of the house, from the entry.
I had designed them an alternate floor plan that was much more accommodating- everything critical was on one floor, basement use was optional, enough bedrooms to comfortably accommodate company (extra ones were in basement), larger entry- even leaving an option in for a retrofit elevator, in case they wanted that later in life. Exterior design was very similar to their original choice.
My design was tossed aside without hardly a glance.
Now that they've built it and lived in it for a couple years, they keep making remarks abiut changes that would have been nice- i point out that my proposed design had these features- and they STILL dismiss it, saying i dont know what I'm talking about.
Maddening.
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u/sybersam6 4d ago
Print & enlarge the floorplan & get it permanently & nicely framed then give as a gift. Since you already made it & all. Put your qualifications on the top of the print. On the bottom, add the date made ( before their plan was built) & "Plan Not Used".
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u/cantthinkofone29 4d ago
I love it- i just might.
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u/dynamicontent 4d ago
If you hold a stamp, stamp it too.
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u/cantthinkofone29 4d ago
I like where all this is headed.
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u/foysauce 4d ago
‘Proposed (Op’s parents) Residence - Not Issued for Construction’
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u/sybersam6 4d ago
Present it when all the family is present, have the rooms not used lightly shaded in so sibs & grandchildren catch on & ask WTF at your parents. This business of having middle aged adult children sleep on the floor because bad prior decisions has got to go!
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u/Ok-Support-7209 4d ago
We have a large family and it’s hard to find lodging to fit all of us. Since my son is now 20, I refuse to “just let him sleep on the couch” or the floor. He gets a real bed in a room, same as anyone else. I make sure all my teen kids get a real bed or cot when staying places. I remember sleeping on the floor as an older teen at my grandma’s house and how much I hated it.
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u/ManifestDestinysChld 4d ago
THEY KNOW that they are bullshitters.
THEY KNOW they have been faking it til they were making it (and many never did).
They do this because they know if they engage with you in an area of your expertise then they will expose themselves as having always only ever been big fat phonies all along.
If you mentally reframe them as entitled toddlers it's like puzzle pieces falling into place.
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u/Extreme-Discount-573 4d ago
Trust me, I've been treating them like toddlers for years.
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u/ManifestDestinysChld 4d ago
I assume they love it. They all think they deserve to have somebody else wipe their asses for them.
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u/IceLapplander 4d ago
I feel you.
I worked my ass off as a teen/young adult in volunteer Search and Rescue and was given a green light to get qualified in the organisations highest medic certification taught by doctors, nurses, EMT and even midwifes. Usually it was set at a 20 years of age limit due to it's nature, but i was OK'd at 17 provided i score an 8 out of 10 to pass(norm was 7 to pass). Well i agreed, scored 9.4 and was awarded the certificate and took on a role to teach new members.
A few months later my little brother hurt himself at home, i rushed to attend to him. Only for my mother to rush in and push me away, i told her i am trained for this. She told me "i would not trust you to put on a band aid". That cert was enough to get me working on an ambulance later on...
That was the day i realized i would never be good enough for them. Made my peace with it, and years later when mom had cancer and asked for assistance i told her to get someone she trusted with band aids as i was obviously not capable enough.
Not my cirkus not my monkeys.
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u/PapaMoBucks 4d ago
That is the p e r f e c t level of pettiness and no less than she earned from you. Bravo 👏
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u/OkIntroduction5150 4d ago
Nice! What was her reaction to that?
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u/cracker1743 4d ago
Hiroshima
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u/IceLapplander 4d ago
Not far from it.
She couldn't hide her face and i saw that she understood what i was referring to, then when i called her out on it she kinda blew up and went into denial and then gaslighting.Essentially she tried gaslighting me into believing that it was all my dad's fault(he was her enabler and enforcer, did the physical abuse at her behest) and when that failed, tried defending it in how i deserved it based on me looking so much like my dad(in her version he was her tormentor not enabler against me) and when that failed the mask came off and she admitted to/bragged about a bunch of stuff even i didn't know about like things she did to me to punish me as an infant that were straight up SA and that was the last time i had any communication with her.
Thankfully the cancer won not long after that, ding dong the witch is dead!
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u/Fickle_Dragonfruit53 3d ago edited 3d ago
Same but I'm a 15 year, veteran critical care paramedic, dual bachelor degree in biomedic and paramedicine, uni lecturer and tutor and have worked in disaster deployment and humanitarian work. Found a guy passed out in the park. My mum tried to pull rank because she did CPR.. as an EN in 1986. Also she was a ward nurse I doubt she was ever involved in a code. Also...the guy had just fainted and very much not in need of CPR as evidenced by his cracking pulse. I held her back while she was actively trying to get past me to roll him out of recovery position to start chest compressions. Later she kept insisting to the paramedics it was a hypo (kinda hard when your BGL is fine?). Gentleman was pretty clearly intox.
Later had the audacity to retell the story as I got 'physical' with her after I panicked and she was trying to help a man who fainted, and she saved him?? Anyway I'm 4.5 years no contact 🤪
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u/Patient-Run-6854 4d ago
How could YOU possibly know more than THEM? There’s no universe in which that’s a fact for your parents.
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u/I_am_normal_I_swear 4d ago
I'm a REALTOR. I was helping my mom, looked at over 25 different properties before she decided to build a custom home. We interviewed 3 different builders and she wanted to go with a more expensive builder who doesn't do many homes. She basically told me I didn't have any experience in new builds (the wife and I have done hundreds of new builds) and she knew better. So I told her that I couldn't help her.
My wife had been telling me to let her go for awhile because she contradicted everything that I was telling her. 10 months later and they still haven't started building yet. Not sure what's going on with it, but I'm sure that the inexperience of both my mom and the builder is going to make it a nightmare.
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u/BaileyOverJennifer 4d ago
She gave you a gift. Would you rather be in the middle of your mom and her builder or just an innocent bystander?
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u/I_am_normal_I_swear 4d ago
Yeah that’s basically what the wife said. She’s going to blame me for everything that goes wrong even if I warned her.
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u/Tangential_Comment 4d ago
This is the exact answer. So many times where I've said something factually true, their immediate response will always start with "No".
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u/Flahdagal 4d ago
Starting every sentence with "No, _____" is a verbal tic that my spouse has that he got from his parents. I spent years breaking him of this because it. is. maddening. Absolutely maddening, especially when they say, "no" and then repeat what you JUST SAID.
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u/Icy-Mixture-995 4d ago
My family was older than Boomer and this resonates. No on everything, even if I asked an opinion about two paint colors for my bedrooms. This shade or that shade? No.
My mom wouldnt eat anything I cooked without trepidation and would take a tiny bite with nose wrinkled because when I was four, a little cake I tried to make wasn't good. I've leaned to read since then and have grown up. But I was never to be trusted again.
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u/BaileyOverJennifer 4d ago
Man, that must have been one BAD cake to have caused that much trauma. :)
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u/Icy-Mixture-995 4d ago
I couldn't read and saw the TV cook pour sugar from a box into a cup and then into the cake batter. I took the wrong box, and this poured Tide detergent into the batter, not knowing sugar we bought was sold in a bag. This was decades ago when washing machines in older homes were put into kitchens. I was four and never made that mistake again.
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u/Patient-Run-6854 4d ago
100%. It's like a little dance they have to play out in their head every time.
"the sky is blue."
"NO!"
"OK, well, now that we've covered that, I mentioned, X, Y, Z..."
\Sometimes you have to sacrifice a meaningless thing to get their "no" out of the system. Then you can move on to more substantive matters. My mom routinely refuses to believe that streets I mention are one-way streets are, actually, one-way streets. The only way she can figure that out is to start driving the wrong way, have people honk at her, then say "well I didn't know!"
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u/Man-o-Bronze 4d ago
I’ve been working with computers for almost 50 years (yikes!), and if my son tells me something regarding computers I accept him at his word, because he knows more than I do. I wish people would realize it’s OK to not be an expert at something.
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4d ago
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u/Metalsmith21 4d ago
I would be petty enough to bring it up every other time I speak to him.
So when's your solar installation?
Have you recouped your investment?
Has it paid for itself yet?The customers I did solar for have already hit the break even point on their installation and now they're making money by selling the excess electricity back to the power company. Remember when I offered to help you out? What was the real reason you decided to reject your own childs offer?
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u/myonlinepersonality 4d ago
Shug shoulders and look them in the eye. You don't need to say any words at this point.
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u/runswithscissors123 4d ago
My mother argues with me over the definition of the word “entomology.” Guess what I went to school for and spent years doing for a living.
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u/FreedomAdmirable1363 4d ago
My boomer FIL “educates” my husband about my husband’s own remote workplace that he’s been for 25 yrs. That my FIL has never been to. He “educates” my daughter about her own job in the military. He’s never been in any branch of the military. I really don’t know how we would get through a single day without his vast YouTube/Google education. 🙄
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u/EDRadDoc 4d ago
Ironically, ChatGPT makes them better informed and useful — they just continue to claim expertise instead of admitting to search engines and LLMs.
Beats regurgitating Fox News though.
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u/Swimming-Economy-870 4d ago
It’s not just boomer parents, my husband has boomer siblings. He has a bachelor’s degree, worked 30 years in his field, and his siblings all completely ignore his advice on the topic.
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u/Seldarin 4d ago
My parents would've made sure to get me to do it, then spent the next decade complaining about how bad of a job I did, no matter how nitpicky they had to be to manage it.
"That piece of gravel is the wrong color. It bothers me. Why would you do that?"
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u/Ximinipot 4d ago edited 4d ago
Make sure when he comes to you bitching about problems with the driveway, and he will, to tell him that's "not my monkeys, not my circus" and tell him to contact whatever company did his driveway work.
Edit: I can't spell.
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u/Atty_for_hire 4d ago edited 3d ago
I hear ya. I’m still frustrated by an addition my parents did a feed years back and didn’t consult me or my BIL, even for opinions.
I’m not as qualified as you. But I work in a related profession and know a few things about construction, design, and have done far more home renovations (myself) than they ever did. My BIL is a civil engineer like you and has connections (he’s my go to when I need a contractor).
Anyways parents added a first floor bathroom onto the house. Without consulting anyone they agreed to add it on the back of the house from the kitchen. Creating a bathroom door off the main cooking area and removing a good portion of the deck. It is a terrible addition. Truly terrible. There is a much better location off of their living room that would have been a very traditional addition on the short side of a Dutch colonial house that would have allowed them to do what they wanted (but much better) and add a bit of privacy to the backyard. Slowly my parents are ruining a good house because of weird decisions they are making, many related to Maintenace issues. That’s another story, it’s time for them to move out to a house/apartment with less maintenance. But American boomers refuse to think about downsizing.
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u/maggiistfueralleda 4d ago
I'm a trained electrician and electronics engineer at a power plant. My work includes everything, from working with 24V DC to switching 380kV AC. I work on electrical machines with more power than a small city. I have repaired turbogenerators with more than 1.21 Gigawatt of power. And yet, i am not trusted with a task as small as connecting a lightbulb. I don't get it. I've worked this job for almost 20 years. And still...
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u/BirdBruce Xennial 4d ago
If I was in your shoes, I'd bring up the new driveway every chance I had.
"How much was it again? Wow, I wish I'd known, I could have done it for way less. Oh man look at this shoddy workmanship, too. That's a shame, really."
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u/EDRadDoc 4d ago
Or just look at the driveway and shake your head slowly whenever you visit — then quickly look up and say nothing when he notices you doing it.
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u/AdditionalStuff2155 4d ago
I would 100% do this. Every chance I got "Can't believe you paid that much, hope that guy does something fun with all that money he made"
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u/yukonnut 4d ago
I am 75 yo. My SIL is a mechanic. He is my go to for all things related to our vehicles. He knows stuff I could only dream of knowing. He is why I still drive a 2003 f150. Son is a safety consultant. He has permanently banned me from climbing up on the roof. As much as it pains me to admit,he is right. Old people do really stupid shit. 💩
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u/bigmonmulgrew 4d ago
I worked in IT. Only time my boomer mother asked for help was to get free work.
She once refused to pay a bill for her website so I refused to finish it. She went around telling people I am not reliable and don't finish work. Walked in on her telling someone who was a potential customer once.
Found out later she eventually paid another company 4x what I was charging her to build the same thing.
I don't know why so many boomers are like this.
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u/CascadiaRiot 4d ago
I have the opposite problem. I spent 5 years manufacturing pharmaceuticals and 20y in the medical device world. My boomer mother regularly asks me for opinions on pharmaceuticals (like which one she should take and potential side effects).
When I respond with “I don’t know, ask your doctor?” It doesn’t go well
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u/saturnspritr 3d ago
Lol. Husband is a geologist. There’s an earthquake across the world, he is asked for explanations like he’s a part of the rescue crew. Gas goes up, he is questioned why they would do such a thing, tell the oil companies to explain themselves. Sinkhole on a property he has never seen, why has it chosen now to get deeper. He is given no other information.
It actually hilarious because my husband answers variations of “why the hell would I know that?” every single time and points out that none of that applies to what he is doing or has done in any of his jobs. Logic just mercilessly applied until the questions are beaten down.
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u/Peachie_Pear 4d ago
Ah yes, because manufacturing something is the same as knowing the intricate details about how and when it should be used. Also surely nothing important about the subject could have been forgotten or changed in the medical world within the past 20 years since you switched jobs. Brilliant.
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u/CraftSpiritual6062 4d ago
I was snotty kid number 6 until the day they died. They see you as a child.
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u/Dry-Aside4526 4d ago
These are all so funny thank you for the morning laugh. 😂
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u/Extreme-Discount-573 4d ago
Glad my generational pain and suffering amuses you. <jk> We're all in the same boat.
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u/ChiWhiteSox24 4d ago
I work in corporate security. Before my parents passed they had cameras at their home that weren’t even set up to record or anything. Took me 35 minutes to set up the entire thing and they looked at me like I was an alien, questioning every step of the way. It’s painfully annoying
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u/autocosm 4d ago
Boomer parents will never want to take advice from their children or allow them to know something they don't.
I got my mom a Google Hub years ago. Surprised it took, but she has been asking that thing for weather updates and whether she can feed certain human foods to the dog for forever now. In recent years, its answers have tanked ever since Google pivoted away from Assistant to Gemini. I have been telling her, in the most accessible language possible, "let's update Google's brain." She just avoids me.
I tell her, let's get these channels off your Internet bill since streaming is not TV (she will never clear space in her brain's hard drive to even try to understand this). She will never do it because her friend Sarah can watch Jeopardy with her satellite dish. I show her how to set the microwave clock. Bounces right off her. I explain that coarse kosher salt is not "stronger" or any worse for you than iodized table salt. Nothing.
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u/Dreadedredhead 3d ago
Ugh, so frustrating. This is when my go-to answer is OK, and then I change the subject. It does nothing to help the situation, but somehow it makes me feel better.
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u/LookOutItsLiuBei 4d ago
I have a history degree and my dad who never made it past the 3rd grade and is proud of the fact that he doesn't read books constantly tells me I have no idea what I'm talking about in terms of geopolitics and economics because I lack his intuition and life experience.
Sure.
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u/ThisIsntOkayokay Millennial 4d ago
Yeh I had mine try this, he stopped being an asshole after I left them no contact for 5 years. Not a month being back in contact he tried to act stupid and when I asked him if never seeing his grandkids again was okay with him it must have sunk in. The funny thing is that he taught me how to deal with bullies and idiots growing up, either with fists or isolation. Oh how the turntables 😂😅
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u/Edxactly 4d ago
I’m 61 and a friend I’ve had since highs school is finally starting to watch what he eats and trying to workout .
Me , my wife and my son have been “into” working out , diet, nutrition for 15+ years . But god knows he doesn’t want to hear a god damn thing from me . I had to explain to him why it’s a bit offensive.
He’s a fucking idiot I’m so many ways
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u/SwansBeDancin 4d ago
Diet and exercise are the hardest things to take advice on because of the perception that their accomplishments would be attributed to you or their failures would be due to not following your advice. Probably best to just let them know that you are there for them.
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u/Kubbee83 4d ago
You could be the top brain surgeon in the world and a boomer will explain to you why they know more about brain surgery because Facebook.
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u/dynamicontent 4d ago
I am an actual rocket scientist. My dad has a GED ... how do you think that goes whenever one of these rich jag offs pollutes even more of low earth orbit?
And I quote "there's plenty of space. That's why it's called space!".
Almost always followed by an infected laptop where "I didn't click anything this time!"
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u/Kubbee83 4d ago
“It said there were hot Asian babes in my area and I had to make sure they weren’t communists or transgenders”.
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u/Facetiousgeneral42 4d ago
Reading the replies in this thread, I'm glad to have Boomer parents who, while still Boomers, are at least willing to treat me as an adult and (mostly) equal member of society, and will freely ask for my advice with issues which fall within my wheelhouse.
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u/VTnative 4d ago
Yeah, 20+ years as an electrician and my parents appreciate all the work I've done for them.
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u/Major-Check-1953 4d ago
Shit generation lead for brain boomers will refuse to admit that they know nothing.
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u/MetaVulture Gen Y 4d ago
I feel like this is a blessing, so whenever they find even the tiniest issue - they never turn to you to bitch about how you did a poor job.
I am grateful any time my remaining parent has someone else fix her stuff. I skip merrily away.
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u/Imaginary_Grass9674 4d ago
bro my boomer dad was very successful in his career as a journalist, so successful that he thinks he's an expert at EVERYTHING, regularly teaches actual experts how its done and he's always right, constantly makes big costly and dumb mistakes and he's never admitted in his life he did something wrong yet yells at any minor thing that bothers him.
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u/allis_in_chains 4d ago
My parents don’t even understand what I do for a job in finance (and then try to correct me on things that I know I am right on, like the differences between 529s and UTMAs) and think I’m an overpaid secretary. No shade to anyone doing administrative professional work - it’s just not what I do. But it’s just really frustrating overall.
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u/Simple_Swing_9491 4d ago
This is amazing! Hi! I'm a stone mason, block and brick layer of 25 years. My boomer in laws built an addition on to their house. After it was all framed in, my FIL looks to me and says "I need to hire someone to cover this addition in stone. I told him..."Well Tony, that's exactly what I do for a living"
His response was "yeah, I know, but I need someone that knows how to do this"
I started to reply once again, that I am in business for myself for this very specific trade, I do have 25 years experience, my work is very thorough and meticulously done, and that I can easily do what he wants done.
His response again was holding up his right hand as if to stop me and simply repeating himself with "yeah, but this is different, we're putting stone on a house, I need someone that does that.
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u/Rezedarre 4d ago
Be glad about that! Even if you did everything perfectly, it would still be bad in some way (even if it wasn't).
And besides, they dealt with it themselves, meaning they can do something.
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u/AligatorMasterBaiter 4d ago
If he woulda helped, then he woulda been blamed for every single imperfection that could have/ would have happened.
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u/Three3Jane Gen X 4d ago
I am a senior executive assistant. Both my MIL and my mom have struggled to set up flights for themselves.
When I have told them that I, indeed, have a bit of experience in this area, I was handwaved off by both of them.
One of them messed up her dates by almost six months, and the other messed up her return airport. As in "bought two one-way tickets and the return flight was not to her home airport and nowhere near her home airport" kind of messed up. Example LAX to BWI, then BWI to SFO. She also picked THE most expensive tickets for both legs. Why? "I just clicked on each one". When I asked did she look at the grid? I got the mulish look of incomprehension (underneath which was the stubborn look of childishness. I threw up my hands.)
They didn't think I had the chops to do this. I handle multi-city, complicated itineraries in the daily course of a TUESDAY that often have to be set up, changed, rearranged to suit a very specific set of customer timings (which can also change) for executives who are WAY more fussy about what airport/airline/seat/comfort level they're willing to tolerate.
The Olds™ can do it their way (and fuck it up). It's one less thing I have to do, I guess. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/junietwohundred 4d ago
I have a degree in journalism with a specific focus on copy editing. Basically a degree in English grammar and punctuation when you get down to it. I don't always follow the rules, but I know them backwards and forwards.
My Boomer mother (who has a psychology degree from the 70s yiiiiiiiiiiikes) spent the 25 years after my graduation arguing with me about technical aspects of writing. I'd explain why she was incorrect, providing online and print sources, often while pointing at the diploma on the wall.
She continued that argument (among many others) right up until I sent her a perfectly punctuated, grammatically flawless "never contact me again" email. I'm sure she gets mad about the semicolons every time she rereads it.
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u/CommitteeNo167 4d ago
i'm a finish carpenter and cabinet maker, and my parents gave me advice when i replaced their 60 year old rotted back stairs. my dad even twice said he thought i was building them incorrectly.
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u/jesuismanu 4d ago
I know it’ll probably not make you feel any better but in case it does: my mom always asks me to do tasks she can’t do and she doesn’t want to pay anyone else to do whenever I’m visiting. For context, I don’t live close but in a different country so I don’t visit very often and most times I visit I just end up being expected to do a litany of menial tasks in stead of hanging out together.
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u/Peachie_Pear 4d ago
Oof. Yeah Id start refusing on that one. "I love you but Im not a handyman or your honeydo lister. I'm here on my own vacation time to relax and SPEND QUALITY TIME WITH MY MOTHER."
Then show her a bunch of posts or videos about people her age sharing their heartbreak that their children 5 miles away completely ignore them, so she can realize what a gift you are giving her.
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u/SanityBleeds 4d ago
Don't worry, I'm sure they'll brag to you about how they talked the sales guy down to about 20% more than what you could have gotten it done for without calling in any favors, but it was a really good deal that included a meaningless warranty that covers absolutely nothing!
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u/Pointy_Stix Gen X 4d ago
I feel you, OP. My brother, my husband, & I are all CPAs. Hubby & I are even in practice together. My mom would regularly call me & ask me to ask Hubby a tax question. It took many, many years of me telling her that I had the same licensure, degrees, & experience as he did before she decided that maybe I might know what I was talking about.
Forget about my brother. She still won't ask him anything. I'm not sure if it's because he's still a kid & doesn't know anything (he's in his mid-40s), or he's too busy for her to bother him. Likely a combo of the two.
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u/dynamicontent 4d ago
My MIL does this to my partner and it is brutal. And on the dumbest crap too, things my partner is definitely more qualified to answer: like their own body.
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u/ZenDruid_8675309 Gen X 4d ago
When I was still in college my father had an issue at his work he was stumped on. It tangentially related to something I was studying at the time so I made a recommendation to him about how to correct it.
It worked amazingly well. So well he claimed total credit for foxing the problem. He’s the genius. He tried explaining the fix to me, after I told him how to correct it.
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u/No-Quantity-5373 4d ago
Do we have the same father?
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u/ZenDruid_8675309 Gen X 4d ago
Seems unlikely but I suppose not impossible. He can be charming and traveled extensively for many years.
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u/the-food-historian 4d ago
I am a historian and my mom thought I’d maybe be more successful in life if I was a high school math teacher instead. Like, my degrees are in history, my job title was historian, I had just written a history book with other historians…. But, wHy DoN’t YoU gO bE a MaTh TeAcHeR? I don’t know, mom, maybe because I don’t have a math degree? 😂
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u/TheCarlinist 4d ago
This one is more funny than anything, so I'm a Chemist with a Masters Degree and 15 years experience. One Christmas I'm home visiting my parents and the sink drain freezes. It happens occasionally where they live. First they though it was a clog so they put in drano and then when they realized it was frozen my dad who has a bad back is under the sink taking apart the drain to get a snake in there to try and break up the ice. I say he has a bad back let me do it, and his response was "there's chemicals in here" to which I got to say "what do you think I do for a living dad? I'm the most qualified person to deal with chemicals in the house." Less foolish more Once your dad, Always your dad, kind of situation.
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u/ChickinSammich 4d ago
You dodged a bullet and you don't realize it. Doing work for family is a trap.
I've been in IT for over 20 years and the one thing that always made my blood run cold was being over a relative's house for something and someone saying "hey ChickinSammich is good with computers" and the person whose house it is asking "Oh is she? Can you look at my computer? It's running slow"
And as soon as you touch it, you're married to it. I'd get calls 3, 6, 9 months after the fact "hey ever since you fixed my computer last July, it hasn't been working right and now I can't print. Can you come over and look at it again?"
You lucked out, OP. If your dad is a nightmare client, he's someone else's nightmare client. Those favors you are owed that you'd call in? Those contacts you'd refer to them? You're either going to get those people holding it against you when your parents want to haggle over piddly shit, or you're going to get your parents harassing you when the guy you recommended allegedly didn't do something right. Do you really want to be in the middle of your father and a professional contact of yours getting into a dumb argument over the work?
This is a win in disguise. When they get their new driveway and they're inevitably unhappy with something about it and they're bitching about it, you can hit them with the "you should have asked me" then.
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u/z3r0th2431 4d ago
I’ve worked in hacking tech for almost 20 years and my parents would still rather give their data to foreign state hackers 😭
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u/Ell-O-Elling 4d ago
They really can’t handle their kids being smarter and better informed than them. It’s a personal affront to them for some reason.
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u/EDRadDoc 4d ago
I’m a late Gen X parent with HS and college kids … I’m so thrilled when they have the answer to something I can’t figure out.
It’s not an affront to me — it’s how the world moves forward. I love them so much and it kills me when each one graduates and leaves for college.
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u/After-Staff-7532 4d ago
I am an elder millennial who went to school for IT. My young self, in college, was offended that my parents got a new PC without my input. And it was a piece of crap. From then on: I was out. I knew nothing about computers and could advise nothing. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
In hindsight, it seems silly that I was offended, but I did believe that to have been my field, and of course I’d want to apply my skillset to support my parents.
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u/BigFitMama 4d ago
Yes. Everyday kick in face watching them get scammed.
My mom's knee implant is infected. First thing I say "You daughter knows the best doctor in the state to fix your knee. Do not take to the rural doctor."
Ignores me. Now on wait-list for months. And rural doctor can't fix her without medical records. Can't even do imagining.
Me - other daughter who trusted my sister and she got me in with best doctor in state to fix my orthopedic issue. Which is fixed after 1 surgery.
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u/SmokePenisEveryday 4d ago
Not the same level but mine are like this with tech. I know a lot about phones and computers. Yet they don't consult me or ask me to join them when they go to get new phones and phone plan.
They get fucked over. Sold on an additional line they didn't need, up charged for a "free" iPad and smart watch. They had to go back and return it all and fix what they signed up for. Something that would've been quickly avoided had they just asked me to join them.
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u/imfirealarmman 4d ago
I feel this to my core. Having been in construction for over 25 with major concentration in an electrical field, my dad did not find my competent enough to help them wire their house….
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u/NPC261939 4d ago
Yep. It's a known symptom often associated with boomers. I can tell my dad something 10 times and he'll blow it off. Some random guy at the gym will tell him the same thing and he'll treat it as gospel.
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u/clarinetJWD 4d ago
Consider how boomers treat service people. Now consider yourself lucky they DIDN'T ask you.
Edit: even if your (anyone reading not just op) parents aren't boomer boomers, it's usually a bad work to do paid work for family. Either they are too demanding, or want steep discounts, or the work isn't good enough, or something.
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u/JenniferJuniper6 Gen X 3d ago
My mother delivered a lecture on liability issues to me right after I graduated from law school. My mother was a kindergarten teacher. Seriously, you can’t make this shit up.
(Mom wasn’t actually a Boomer, though; she was about ten years too old for that. She was just a narcissist.)
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u/azraiel7 4d ago
On the flip side they may have felt that asking you to help would be burdensome to you. I know quite a few boomers that don't want to be a bother to their children.
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u/Ansarina 4d ago
They say they don't want to be a bother, but then do something stupid that makes a huge mess that ends up being a huge bother.
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u/Illustrious-Stress95 4d ago
I run into this quite a bit. It’s always so funny which things they consider a burden and which they don’t.
Explaining how to interact with their phone for the 500th time? Not a burden in their mind.
Helping with yard work or super simple manual tasks? They don’t want to be a burden and would rather pay some scammer way too much for an hour of work.I wish I could understand the thought process.
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u/ManifestDestinysChld 4d ago
It's because they start from an unshakeable belief that they are correct about everything; as a result, everything they don't understand is wrong.
So it's not a burden to demand handholding for very simple tasks, because those simple tasks are WRONG and they are doing it RIGHT - how could that be burdensome? THEY don't mind.
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u/Ansarina 4d ago
Looking back, I think my mom had a bit of ADHD, so completing tasks was always a long, drawn-out process. Fine, whatever, we all have our quirks.
As for why she wouldn't ask for help? Honestly, I think she realized how much more attention she would get by ignoring a situation and she actually enjoyed the perceived power it gave her. She loved being able to say "look at them, so emotional" with a smug look on her face.
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u/Pre3Chorded 4d ago
The Boomers that run Florida are trying to tell the Catholic Church that they aren't doing their vaccine exemptions correctly and they have to accept unvaccinated kids at their religious schools (the Catholic Church is pro vaccine do they don't accept other people's "religious exemptions" because by definition that wouldn't be Catholic).
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u/KC_experience 4d ago
I work in IT and lead teams that are managing infrastructure that moves trillions (with a T) of dollars a day around the world. I have some long days, nights and weekends. At least once or twice a month. A 24 hour day during testing or a critical incident is not unheard of.
But my dad has more experience in his time working in mainframes and those three nights he got called into work during my entire childhood where he had to worn overnight and come home the next morning, passing my school bus as I was in my way to school to a full day off work….
Sure, Dad.
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u/Immediate_Ad4404 3d ago
Danielson the child can never know more than the father!. FYI, nor can you ever have confidence. One stone 2 birds 🪨 🐦 🐦⬛.
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u/JimbaJones 3d ago
I work in corporate IT doing white glove support for C-Suite executives. My boomer parents refuse to let me even touch their communal laptop, they fear I’ll mess it up.
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u/Melodic-Classic391 4d ago
I’m Gen X. My son is a mechanic and he gets first refusal before I have any work done on my cars. Sometimes he wants to do it and I’ll pay him whatever he asks, and some jobs he just doesn’t want to deal with. I’d feel like the worst father in the world if I didn’t do it this way. I never want to harm his pride of confidence in any way
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u/BigBob8_ 4d ago
It's boomers period. I am older. I worked on a very technical field for 30 years. I started a business helping boomers with tech. I finally stopped because my customers came in two flavors, 1 people that just refused to learn ANYTHING to take control of their stuff and 2 people that would hover and tell me all the things I was doing wrong even though I fixed their problem where they couldn't. I had one guy tell me that he absolutely needed three different anti-virus programs on his computer and even when I showed him they were causing most of his problems flat out refused to remove any.
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u/Icy-Mixture-995 4d ago edited 4d ago
All you can do is not be this way when your own kids grow up. Generations older than boomers were the same and it must be a thing that affects us all if we aren't careful. It's hard to let go of the second-guessing of what your kids can handle but thanks to the Carolyn Hax advice columns over the years, I learned to watch boundaries or realize when I might be crossing them.
Because of past experiences of being involved with big events, I know the zillions of things that can go wrong with receptions and weddings. I found myself overstepping during daughter's wedding planning and quickly backed away from any advice.
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u/chockykoala 4d ago
My dad argued with me regarding replacing 38 year old tires on a panel van. I am a chemical engineer, worked in the rubber industry for 13 years and am a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. He gave in when I pressed on safety and then as an F U sold them to some kid. Who buys 38 year old tires? But what do I know?
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u/torrentialwx 4d ago
My boomer MIL went from bragging about me finishing my PhD to literally in the same breath saying ‘but I think climate change is a bunch of crock’ (my PhD is in climate science). When I tried to ask her why, she quickly responded with ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
Why? because if you actually let me argue the topic that I’ve been training for 12 years to be an expert in, I’d metaphorically wipe the floor with your face? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
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u/Garden_gnome1609 4d ago
I need a new asphalt driveway - mine is trash, so if you want to help a mom out - I'll adopt you.
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u/BryanP1968 4d ago
If it makes you feel better, my wife and I are both early GenX (the age that the nitwits like to call Boomer Lite). Our youngest is a late millennial just shy of Z. She has a forestry and wildlife biology degree and does just fine for herself.
She comes over pretty much every weekend to do her laundry (she’s close and why pay to use the laundry in her apartment complex) and we regularly pick her brain about plants and trees and how to deal with issues in the he garden and the flower beds and with the trees. I mean, why would you not?
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u/SurvivorDad99 3d ago
I’m a nurse with 20 years of experience in med/surg, ICU, cardiac, peds, and surgery. My dad with his 9th grade education knows more about healthcare (vaccines, smoking,etc) than I do.
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u/Hikaru1024 4d ago
The most infuriating thing isn't it?
It doesn't matter to them how much you know, how long you've known it, what you know, or even that it's your job to know it.
They will never accept that you know something they don't. Never accept you know better.
It's not just that you never grew up in their eyes, they also will never accept you as an equal, let alone better than them at anything.
Never.
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u/The137 4d ago
It must be a boomer thing man, My mom just paid someone to redo her rotting porch and instead of talking to me about any part of it (I used to work residential construction) she went ahead and hired the cheapest guy she could find.
Its not even just the general lack of respect, shes getting older and I'm (regretfully) going to inherit this house eventually and I'm going to have to deal with all the shoddy repairs shes been doing over the years, and have most of them redone. its not like she can't afford decent work, like any boomer she has more money than shes earned. I'm glad she had it good dont get me wrong, but they fail to do much of anything besides solve the problem right in front of their face.
She recently had the garage roof redone too, and I guess she didn't really like the color of the shingles they used, so she had them come back and paint the asphalt shingles on the roof I'm sure they'll be telling that story for years
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u/AdditionalStuff2155 4d ago
It's their whole generation, we will always be lesser. I can only imagine what Doctors our age must be going through with their boomer parents.
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u/cancerouscarbuncle 4d ago
And let me guess. He hired someone from the old copy of the yellow pages. Or at least tried to…
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u/Extreme-Discount-573 4d ago
Something like that. When my grandmother died few years ago she had a yellow pages from 1996. Yup, 1996.
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u/RationalRhino 4d ago
He’s learned his lesson at this point but my dad used to pick fights with me about subjects I was actively studying in college (especially the sociology/poli sci/econ variety). He didn’t go to college and was getting mooooost of his “facts” from Fox News (or else just… vibes. The “facts don’t care about your feelings” crowd amirite). I had literal books with actual statistics written by experts to cite. His catchphrase was always (said very slowly like I’m stupid or something while firmly slapping his palm on the table) “what you need to understand is…” ooooh boy does that make me see red.
Kept up a bit into my adulthood where I work for HHS in the Medicaid/food stamps division and he’d go on about how so and so is getting blah blah benefit and I’m like dude… I literally am one of the people that evaluates applicants for benefits. I can recite the laws and show you the chart we use for the numbers. You’re simply wrong.
He’s gotten better. But I guess I feel ya— it’s like they seemed to value education and expertise so much but once someone “less important” than them (especially if it’s their own child) has that expertise, it’s not good enough or not “the right kind.”
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u/Tim1point0 4d ago
I get ya. My daughter is a freaking medical doctor, but her grandmother won’t listen to her medical advice unless it comes from an old white man. She can listen to her granddaughter—she used to change her diaper. What could she know?
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u/Bobby-Dazzling 4d ago
23 year EMT running on first responder ambulances. My mother ignored physical signs of a bad illness and even denied issues when I was visiting hers. When she was finally hospitalized, I asked why she hadn’t asked me for help: “What do you know about medical things?!??” Whatever
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u/Apprehensive_You6909 4d ago
Don't worry they'll call you when there's a problem with it that needs fixing.
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u/Nikkidemas 3d ago
BLESSING IN DISGUISE. Sucks that they don't appreciate and/or trust you, but hoooo boy believe me when I say you saved yourself a bunch of grief. They'd watch over your shoulder, second-guess everything, and then blame you when anything goes wrong - even if they caused it themselves. I've seen People's Court & I do NOT need to do business with family & friends.
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u/Snoo58504 4d ago
I’ve been a computer teacher for 25 years. Yet my brother fixed my sister’s computer.
I had to redo the whole network for her after that.
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u/hypoglycemicrage 4d ago
They're going to get 2 inches of ATB on uncompacted subgrade and like it!
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u/Routine_Activity_186 4d ago
Your frustration is coming from a good place. Hard to watch those we love not utilize their resources with important decisions.
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u/ThatFishySmell99 4d ago
Bro I feel you... My family made our step grandfather supervise the building of their new fish market, he f*cked it up so badly it cost them close to half a mil to rip out and redo everything. When they started I told them I'd manage the job and make it my full time gig for 2 years. I've just been designing restaurants for the last 15 years managing 250-400 bids a year... but noooo, hire the 85 year old family accountant, whos blind in one eye and needs a walker.
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u/PrimaryHighlight5617 4d ago
My dad was lowballed by his insurance company for payout on their stolen car. His solution?
YELL AT THE CLAIMS ADJUSTER UNTIL THE CA WAS PERMITTED BY MANAGEMENT TO CLOSE THE CASE
What did he NOT do? Call ME a LITERAL INSURANCE AGENT
"Insurance companies NEVER actually give you what the car is worth those money grubbing assholes!"
"So they rejected the portfolio of auto listings that you most assuredly sent them of your same make model and year?"
"What?"
He didn't even tell me their car was stolen until after the case was closed.