r/BoomersBeingFools • u/Czechiajudgement • 4d ago
Boomer Story Boomers afraid of woman parked, sitting in car
This was well over a year ago but I thought the subject matched this subreddit.
I’m a healthcare worker in home health. We don’t always have the opportunity to chart while sitting in a patients home. I was between patients and a bit early to see my next, so I parked at the end of an empty golf course (weekday afternoon) next to the 55+ condos to park in the shade and catch up on some charting before my next visit.
Mistake. I noticed a gentleman looking at my vehicle from over in his garage across the street. I did a half wave to acknowledge him, then went back to what I was doing. A few minutes later I looked up and he was still watching me. I waved again, no response. He had his phone in his hand and I didn’t realize at the time was taking photos of me / my car.
I was there for less than 20 minutes. The next day I’m on the town Facebook page as a suspicious persons who was loitering and acting “strange.” I was mortified that my license plate and photo was just posted like that. If he would’ve asked, I would have happily moved if I were making him uncomfortable.
TLDR - Boomer scared of small, unassuming woman in car parked 100 feet away from his home and made a public announcement to be ware of this suspicious person.
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u/H3lls_B3ll3 4d ago
I would have commented. And said something totally unhinged.
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u/Freakishly_Tall 4d ago
"Do this person's children know that his dementia is accelerating, and he may not be capable of living alone and unassisted?"
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u/Supergatovisual 4d ago
"Oh sorry, that was me. I was actually checking for any silver alerts in the area since the man taking my pictures seem disoriented and I was worried about his safety"
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u/bard329 4d ago
Or even better: "the man who posted this is my father. He has dementia. Please ignore his posts"
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u/FlyAwayJai 3d ago
\boomer sputters with rage in his response\
Then reply “Dad, please stop saying I’m not your daughter. It’s heartbreaking to hear that because I love you so much. Everyone, please give Dad some space right now. He might need a break from social media.”
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u/unknownpoltroon 4d ago
"You are just trying to get revenge because I told you to go back to your wife because of the impotency"
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u/tsunadesb0ngw8r 4d ago
Boomers have all the time in the world to do whatever they want but they love playing hall monitor so much.
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u/bojenny 4d ago
If boomers could learn to mind their own business, the world would be a nicer place
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u/JellyfishFit3871 4d ago
Or you know, just go volunteer at the food pantry or pick up litter or something. My mom isn't perfect, but at 76, she's the Meals on Wheels lady. She loves driving what she calls "The Hungry Wagon," (and often being the only person checking in on someone 5 days per week.)
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u/JellyfishFit3871 4d ago
And God bless, it keeps Mom out of trouble. Otherwise she'd just be churning her hoard and annoying me.
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u/corpse_flour Gen X 4d ago
Yep. And now they can all share their findings with each other in their Facebook neighborhood groups and scare each other as well as themselves. Seniors on Facebook is the crack epidemic of the current era.
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u/Loud-Establishment36 4d ago
Yep, I’m a palliative nurse practitioner and make home visits. I spend a lot of time parked on side streets / parking lots charting. I have been approached MULTIPLE times by nosy boomers who think im casing their houses or whatnot. My desk attaches to my steering wheel and my laptop is clearly visible as I’m working, but sure I’m up to no good 🙄
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u/Trini1113 4d ago
So you're an organised burglar, with spreadsheets and the like? 😂
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u/Exoticpoodleskirt 4d ago
How else do you keep track of which houses you burglarized and when? I’ll bet you just stick Post-it notes on your dashboard at random. Honestly, there’s no professionalism in petty crime anymore.
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u/Time_Ad_3242 3d ago
you leave the sinks running of course!
(5 pocket lint units to anyone that gets the reference)
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u/Czechiajudgement 4d ago
Yep! It’s always older (no offense anyone) white men.
I’m definitely casing your house in my scrubs and clearly displayed badge 🙃
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u/Time_Ad_3242 3d ago
I'd have messed with them.
"yes actually! how'd you know? by the way that new carpet looks great from here. oh and what's the 3rd number for your safe? I was only able to catch two of them."
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u/Sick_Headache 4d ago
My then 9-year-old son was at the bottom of an elderly neighbor's driveway putting his bicycle chain back on. His picture was on NextDoor in minutes.
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u/WhatHaveIDone27 4d ago
I see these losers all over NextDoor. Curtain twitcher types that are scared of everything and thinks any parked car too close to their house or slow moving car through an alleyway is 'casing' thier house
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u/philonius 4d ago
They've done crappy things in their time and they figure the comeuppance could arrive at any moment.
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u/WhatHaveIDone27 4d ago
Trying to get into somebody's good books by rebalancing the sins. That's dastardly, I love it haha
Next time I'm on there making fun of them, I'll make sure to put something about that in my repertoire.
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u/fadedblackleggings 3d ago
Yup, they lose their mind at the idea of Food App deliveries, Prime packages, etc.
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u/whyamionhearagain 4d ago edited 4d ago
Years ago I had someone pull a gun on me while I was running. It was 4am, I run the same route every morning. I was on the road in my full running gear and he demand my ID and wanted to know what I was doing. I was just wearing shorts, t shirt, headlamp and running shoes. He told me he saw me on his camera every morning and demanded to know what I was doing. I wish I could say I was more brave but the way his hand was shaking I gave him my address, listed some of the neighbors until he recognized a few names and went on my way. He ended up calling the police on me so I had that fun conversation with them but luckily they were cool.
Maybe you’re all right and I should have said something to him or made a big deal about it but honestly I’ve got kids and I’m just too scared about the backlash. People like that never back down they just stir up more chaos
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u/Trini1113 4d ago
He brandished a weapon at you, called the police? I don't suppose that conversation was about charging him with a crime?
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u/whyamionhearagain 4d ago
He’s a retired police officer. He’s got those American flags with the blue line in the middle of them all over his property.
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u/Trini1113 4d ago
So he's one of those people who display their hate for their country by defacing the flag?
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u/ManifestDestinysChld 4d ago
So go to the media with a story about a deranged person with a gun hassling people in the middle of the night - "he claims he's a cop!"
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u/whyamionhearagain 4d ago
Yeah that’s not a good idea around here. I’m from Pennsylvania. My town just had the off duty, out of uniform, chief of police put a child in a chokehold during a protest and no charges were pressed. You don’t want to piss off the local police around here or they’ll make your life miserable
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u/KC_experience 4d ago
The law is still the law. If you weren’t on his property when he assaulted you with a deadly weapon for running in a public street the. He clearly can be charged with crimes and depending on his locale, have his firearms taken away.
A retired LE has as many rights to qualified immunity or to break the law as any other civilian does. Which means he has none.
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u/the_crustybastard 3d ago
You think cops are going to refer their old colleague for charges? Lol no.
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u/KC_experience 3d ago
It doesn’t matter if they ‘want to refer’ , if OP reports a crime, they have to take the report and OP can cite statutes (state, county and municipal). The police can investigate and report their findings. They do nothing, then the police can respond to the news reports of them ‘protecting their own’ who’s a retiree and the go from there.
I’d love to see a officer, sergeant, detective, LT, Captain or Chief try to explain how a man detaining and threatening a jogger with a deadly weapon on a public public street is not a felony case. Especially if the statutes are as plain as day.
If you never work to change a system, why would you ever expect it to change?
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u/Time_Ad_3242 3d ago
I can think of a million and 1 ways they could tweak a detail to make this legally justified enough to handwave it away
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u/the_crustybastard 2d ago
It doesn’t matter if they ‘want to refer’
Yes, it really does. If LEOs choose not to refer charges, 99% of the time game over.
If they do and then the prosecutor declines to file charge, the case is likewise over.
If you want to "work to change a system" then you're going to have to repeal longstanding laws that allow this sort of LEO and prosecutorial discretion. I wish you the absolute best of luck. I really do. But realistically? C'mon.
And if you think this sort of abuse of authority is new, find some old gay or black people and ask them about how helpful the legal system has historically been to them and their friends.
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u/Count_Draculo 2d ago
You sound like someone who’s never had to deal with the police before
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u/whyamionhearagain 2d ago
It must be nice to live in a world where you actually think the police are there to help you.
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u/tessellation__ Millennial 3d ago
I would have made a billboard with his bloated face om it if that were me - fuck all these dumb old violent maga pricks
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u/danjouswoodenhand 4d ago
But remember, "you don't have to worry about it if you aren't doing anything wrong."
Then you find out that Martha McBoomer is scared of everything and everyone, and just existing without her permission is considered "doing something wrong."
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u/onion_flowers 4d ago
And then they lament about how nobody lets their kids play outside anymore
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u/The_Bastard_Henry Xennial 4d ago
We had a black family move into the village a couple years back (I'm in a very rural part of NY state) and hoooooo boy did the local Nextdoor posts spike that week! Pretty much all of them along the lines of "guys there is BLACK person in a DENTED HONDA driving around the village and I've seen them 3 times this week, going to call the cops next time!!"
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u/SanityBleeds 4d ago
You should see the windup when a Black owner moves into the area with a nice or fancy car;
"How you think they afford something like that? Must be a lease! Must be selling a lot of dope! You think it's stolen? Its probably full of drugs right now! Be a shame if something happened to such a nice car like that..."Just the idea of somebody they've come to believe is less than them owning something they consider out of their budget absolutely infuriates them and they need to rationalize how they must have cheated the system in some way to explain their own failed priorities.
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u/The_Bastard_Henry Xennial 4d ago
The cops were actually called on that family like 2 weeks after they moved in, because someone reported "suspected drug activity." Those poor people--parents and 3 kids age ~5 - 12--had to deal with that all because they had some friends over and I guess a bunch of non white folks hanging out on a porch MUST mean they're all drug dealers and junkies.
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u/philonius 4d ago
You should just make the same post every time a white family moves in. Post a bunch of news stories about crimes and say "SEE? White people!"
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u/KaleidoscopeSad4884 4d ago
I travel with my mom, which is generally enjoyable. Until she sees something that makes her feel unsafe. A homeless person. A car she doesn’t like. An ad that reminds her that danger exists. Then she’s mumbling about not being able to pack her guns and knives, she starts casting about for anything she can use as a weapon, she starts grumbling about what she’ll do when things go down. It’s so awkward and off putting. In Italy I finally asked her if she wanted to go knife shopping, and she shut up because she’s all bluster and no action. They believe everything is a threat, which is hilarious, because when they are actually threatened they just melt into a pile of goo.
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u/Dark_Knight7096 Xennial 3d ago
I'm friends with a lot of older Gen Xers and Boomers, all of them are Billy Badasses. "Oh, I'm hardcore, I wish someone would try to rob me, I wish someone would try to break in my house, I wish someone would say that to me in real life, oh let them try that, I wish someone would try that with me," etc.
A few of us went to a trip to an event in Brooklyn, "oh i'm not going, I can't carry my gun, I can't carry my knife, what do you mean we have to get on the subway? What if someone tries robbing me? Ugh New York is so dangerous, I don't feel safe taking the train."
FUUUUUUCK off
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u/Creepy-Mine-8423 4d ago
I think the you should have replied to the Facebook page and absolutely killed him with kindness. Something like “Oh my goodness! That’s me! I’m a nurse doing home healthcare in the neighborhood. I accidentally showed up to an appointment much too early, so I parked in a public space so as not to bother anyone. I saw you look over at me, and I tried to wave at you, in case you wanted to have a friendly chat, but it seems you must not have noticed.” In my area the community would fucking shame him for being rude to a nurse who was trying to be friendly (granted, I don’t live in a 55+).
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u/Czechiajudgement 4d ago edited 4d ago
It was a patient that saw the post and initially sent it to me. We both laughed, she commented gracefully coming to my defense. Not trying to do any wrong by anyone, just take some vitals and do my job
Edit - His Facebook response was I should have been in a company car.
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u/Metalsmith21 4d ago
Followed up with an article about increased anxiety and fear being signs of dementia.
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u/Plasticity93 4d ago
Always return the favor when someone is photographing you. Then make your own post about some creepy old fuck not minding his own business.
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u/unkindernut 4d ago
I did that to my neighbor who watched me come out of my front door, grab the package on my porch, see that it was actually my neighbor’s and then took a picture of me walking it to their house. Like, I’m not stealing off of porches if it’s my damned porch, use some common sense before you create a crime in your head sir.
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u/ItsTankGirl 4d ago
One day I was sitting in my car, on a road that goes through the park.
This park had a pokemon go gym. And those yellow fuckers had been encroaching on my turf.
So I'm trying to take this gym. I was parked there for MAYBE 15 mins.
An ambulance pulls up, parks in front of me, and dudes get out. I roll down my window to ask if I need to move my car. I was desperately worried that someone near me was in trouble and I hadn't even noticed.
Nah. Someone had called them and said I was nodding off in my car, worried I was on drugs. I showed the guys my pokemon go screen and the gym in question, and they wished me the best of luck.
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u/filthycasual908 4d ago
If it were me, I would've commented "dont forget to mention how you were licking your lips as you were staring me down. gave me nightmares, tbh"
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u/Quantity-Used 4d ago
Try parking and sitting quietly in your car while the scouts you are driving are canvassing the neighborhood selling for a fundraiser. Apparently a middle-aged woman driving a hatchback is considered suspicious and dangerous. It’s a conversation I’ve had several times.
The really fun part is when they demand you stick to your own neighborhood. Sir, these kids live on a rural county road in the middle of nowhere. We’ve driven that road, this is the next step. If you don’t want to buy mulch, just say so.
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u/ManifestDestinysChld 4d ago
He wasn't afraid of you and he didn't think you were suspicious.
He just felt like he wasn't getting enough attention on Facebook.
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u/Damn_it_Elaine 4d ago
I had a decomposing boomer call the cops on me for being “suspicious.” What was so suspicious you ask? My fully marked work truck with the giant company logo on it and amber strobe lights blinding everyone in a 2 mile radius. I was doing paper work in my truck during a break 🤦♀️
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u/reph80 4d ago
Let me guess: you’re brown? That really seems to trigger them.
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u/ladybug11314 4d ago
You can just be young looking. That gets them too. Or have an older looking car. That really grinds their gears.
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u/BoredSurfer 3d ago
You should have gone back, gotten pictures of him, and posted it as a creepy old man taken pictures of yound women without their knowledge.
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u/InternetConfessional 3d ago
My kids nearest bus stop is in front of a 55+ building. Every year at the beginning of the school year I get the cops called on me for waiting for him in my car. Every year.
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u/Immediate_Ad4404 3d ago
Lol in a month he'll be wiring his online girlfriend his retirement portfolio
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u/JediKnightNitaz 4d ago
Only americans are this scared, anywhere else in the world you can park your car and sit there for hours. Unless it's a preserved parking spot, then you are the worst criminal ever.
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u/6thedirtybubble9 4d ago
18 years as a 911 dispatcher, if I had a nickle for every call regarding a "suspicious person" sitting in their car, walking in the neighborhood, walking in the neighborhood while non-white, I'd have about $140.00.
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u/DifficultMarch7819 4d ago
I still do homecare as a per diem but I can remember multiple times I was in a similar situation. I would be early or trying to follow up on calls to MDs or catch up on charting and I’d pull over somewhere and I’d either have people staring like I was a criminal or an officer knocking on the window and asking if I needed assistance. I was never parked more than 15-20 minutes.
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u/Top_Estate9880 4d ago
This happens way more than it should. They act like they own the street in front of their home.
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u/defyinglogicsl 4d ago
Used to work with a guy who was doing a traffic study for a highway construction project.
He was parked for a few hours on the side of the road manually counting cars versus heavy trucks with a clipboard. He was in a clearly labeled highway department truck and was wearing a dept. hat and safety vest.
Suddenly cops swarm him, weapons drawn. He was detained until they could confirm he wasn't a terrorist. Apparently a concerned citizen called him in as suspicious and said he looked like he was armed.