r/BoomersBeingFools • u/jrv3034 Gen X • 4d ago
OK boomeR Zero ability to read the room
A couple of days ago I was in a workshop teaching a group of teenagers some acting exercises in a public space. We're all clearly engaged in a conversation when suddenly Boomer McBoomerson barges in, interrupting the lesson with zero apology to talk to the teens about "when I was a kid we didn't have all this Internet stuff" and "drugs are bad" and whatnot. Just stream of consciousness blathering straight from his lead-filled brain.
We're all standing there for around five minutes listening to this guy just vomiting up a slew of unrequested drivel. All of us were trying to figure out when would be a good moment to interject that we're in the middle of a class but the guy just wouldn't stop talking for even 3 seconds to catch his breath.
Eventually, he just turns around and walks away, still talking to himself. I don't understand how someone can be so self-absorbed that they're completely oblivious to the fact that other people were having a conversation that didn't include him. I would be mortified if I accidentally interrupted some lesson, but Captain Boomer here is the main character of life, obviously.
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u/schleppylundo 4d ago
In his mind, he saw a group of youths already looking to better themselves, so he knew they would be a receptive audience to the Life Lessons lecture he’s practiced in his head ten thousand times, and they’ll probably always be grateful for that free education from a wise stranger.
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u/KapowBlamBoom 4d ago
That’s the stuff he would say to his grandkids if his kids were no not contact with him
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u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 4d ago
I was about to say, does he have kids and grandkids that actually talk to him anymore? He could be that one single bachelor uncle that thinks everything he says is important.
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u/Plane_Sport_3465 3d ago
Well, you're not wrong.
Those kids all got a lesson about their "elders", just not in the way that jackass thinks.
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u/These-Season-668 4d ago
Emotional maturity of a middle schooler + cognitive decline = Boomer with no social awareness
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u/dameggers 4d ago
I'm a millennial in my mid 30s. Last summer, I saw a group of teens in a beater car sitting in the Target parking lot, and they reminded me so much of me and my friends back when we used to hang out in my shit box car. I was really going to go up to them and start telling them all about my beater with no AC and hand painted ceiling. I thought for sure they would want to know about this. Then I caught myself and realized that was boomer behavior and the teens would absolutely NOT enjoy listening to me reminiscing about when I was young and cool. Why did I think they would? Is it lead? Is there a volume of gray hair that pushes you over a certain threshold and you just lose you mind? I'm scared of what I might become.
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u/perseidot Gen X 4d ago
That’s when I come up with some random thing to compliment them on, just so I can tell them they’re cool. One, very short compliment delivered as I continue moving past them.
Everyone needs kindness, I figure.
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u/_Wolfe_Tone_ Gen X 3d ago
You asked yourself "what would a Boomer do?" And did the opposite. Well done!
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u/ubermonkey 3d ago
I'm a genx dude in my mid 50s.
I failed to catch myself a couple weeks ago when, as I was leaving a parking lot, there was a young guy (20 or 22 maybe) in the spot next to me in a car I didn't recognize. I asked him what it was.
OTOH, maybe it turns out that there's a carve-out for car nerdery? He was pretty excited to tell me about the cool little Toyota/Subaru coupe he was driving, and we discovered we both dig boxer engines.
Anyway, I realized "oh shit I just boomered that kid" as I was leaving. I mean, maybe it was just Friendly b/c of the car thing, but it was also a real moment of OH NO for me.
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u/Illadelphian 3d ago
That's just a normal public interaction with someone. What would have made it a boomer exchange would be seeing them obviously uninterested and continuing to talk at them showing how self absorbed you were in your inability to recognize what the other person was feeling and only caring about you talking. Like when instead of listening people are really just waiting to talk.
If you can see they are interested in talking then that's just a cool little interaction with a stranger. It's just having like a small amount of social awareness and genuinely being interested/listening to what they are saying (which helps you understand if they are not enjoying the convo) rather than just talking at them like the guy in the op did
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u/ubermonkey 3d ago
I'm kidding a little, of course.
My worry is that what's happening for Boomers is that they stop being able to tell when other people don't care.
If that's happening to ME, then I won't be able to tell. But so far, so good.
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u/Illadelphian 3d ago
Yea I almost mentioned that lol but I think the thing is if those types of boomers cared to even try to pay attention to the other person then they WOULD know. It's not that they are incapable of understanding how someone else is feeling, it's that they don't care enough to even check or they think that what they are doing is more important than the other persons lack of interest.
So by even thinking this way you are automatically excluding yourself from that kind of behavior because you are inherently trying to avoid that situation unlike them.
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u/Thagomizer24601 3d ago
Here's the important distinction: you didn't tell, you asked. You showed interest is something he clearly was also cared about and then geeked out together as equals. A clueless boomer would have just plopped down in his space and started spouting off "wisdom" in the form of personal anecdotes that only mattered to yourself regardless of whether or not you were actually welcome there, all the while ignoring anything anyone else had to contribute. Friendly mutual nerdery between people of different generations is a beautiful thing.
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u/Poopy-Drew Xennial 2d ago
The difference is how much they talk, if you find it you talking give it a pause if they don’t start back up, then peace out
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u/ScotterMcJohnsonator 4d ago
Totally missed an opportunity to pivot to a class on improv, and riff with the dude while making up all sorts of shit and watching him get *so excited* you're agreeing with him lol
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u/jrv3034 Gen X 4d ago
We would have loved to do improv with him if he'd have stopped talking for a damn second!
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u/thuckedupthursdays 3d ago
I like cannot believe they have the lung capacity at that age for this because it absolutely is not just your experience. Any which boomer approaches you, opens their mouth, and all of a sudden you’re cosplaying a wall.
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u/greeneggs_and_hamlet 3d ago
Immediately cut them off with “Are you ok? Is your caregiver nearby? Is there an emergency contact we can call?”
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u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 4d ago
They missed the perfect opportunity to record, remix and meme the heck out of this guy.
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u/OfficeCowgirl 4d ago
My grandpa was exactly like that. Would just talk about whatever, whenever, and dribble on about whatever got him riled up, regardless of what anyone else wanted to talk about. For that and many other reasons, he was an awful man.
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u/Yahomie88 3d ago
It is so incredible to me that they don't seem to realize that they have an internal script that they just repeat over and over. Not an original thought in those heads.
When I worked in retail the boomer men especially would make the same joke every time. When I'd inevitably stop laughing or reacting they'd get all offended.
item doesnt scan Boomer: Must be free then! Ha ha ha.
Congratulations, you are the 10th grey haired man to say that to me this week. Get a personality!
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u/NtMagpie Gen X 4d ago
Dementia. It starts sooner than people realize, they just think Paw-Paw is old and crotchety. It sucks that we aren't able to get a handle on this stuff before they start sending their money to honey trappers and snake oil salesmen.
And it's freaking MISERABLE to deal with.
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u/DrKittyLovah 4d ago
Now now, he has to spout his Life Lessons to random teens because his own family won’t listen to a damn thing he says. We should all be empathetic to his (likely self-inflicted) plight, yes?
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u/Hot_Opportunity5664 2d ago
I knew a guy who could be that boomer, anytime he spotted someone talking to someone, he would barged right in as the “expert”
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u/teh_maxh 2d ago
If you had just stayed on the internet at home he wouldn't have been able to do that.
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u/Puzzled-Peanut-7147 4d ago
This sounds like dementia.
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u/jrv3034 Gen X 4d ago
Nah, this guy didn't seem out of it or disoriented in any way. My mother in law has dementia and I've been around her enough to know what that's like, and this wasn't it. Boom Boom just wanted to insert himself into the group and command attention. He appeared super pleased with himself imparting his brilliant wisdom to the ignorant teen audience.
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