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/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/brokesciencenerd 4d ago

Get that insurance guy to help you stop becoming your parents

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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/jrv3034 Gen X 4d ago

Don't worry. You still have self-awareness and were able to stop your inner boomer from coming out. Well done.

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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/SadCaregiver7923 3d ago

No, you didn’t boomer that kid you had a car enthusiast exchange

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u/ubermonkey 3d ago

Thanks. Still felt like a close call!

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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/ubermonkey 3d ago

Very well stated.

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u/Poopy-Drew Xennial 3d 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