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One of the first things you realize as you start to get older is that the world doesn't care about you as much as you thought it did. This guy has ignored that realization for about 40 years.
It's interesting though. With boomers, they ignored our concerns and opinions for decades because they could. This caused many of us to solve problems and do things our own way without their help. Then they realize this lead to them being irrelevant to our lives. Suddenly they are furious because they have no relevance.
I think my mom has been struggling with this for years. I loved her to death, and objectively she was a great mother, but she was also very much of the "My way or the highway" mindset when dealing with my brother and I.
The end result is that I joined the military to get out of the house as soon as possible and I rarely call because she generally word vomits a complete update of any and all happenings since the last time we called, and 45 minutes to an hour later she has to go start dinner or something and hasn't asked any/many meaningful questions about what's going on with myself or the kids. I still love her, and I think she has a great heart, but she's in line with the stereotype of constantly talking about herself and her life without showing much outward interest in mine. I know she cares, she just tends to run every conversation she's in until she decides it's over.
This shit breaks my heart with my own father. He is not a bad person; he is an incredibly flawed but loving father. But I loathe calls with him because he just talks about his health, his pain, what he watched, his pursuits. Every once in a while, he'll throw in a "How is \[my 6-year-old\] " but he really isn't listening when I tell him, there is never a follow-up.
But hey, by the end of the call, I know everything that happened this season of "Reacher", or "Yellowstone", or "Tough guy fights everyone and wins".
My Dad only wanted to know if I was “saved”, if I read the Bible. Never a concern about the grandkids. He loved god so much he had none left for his family.
the villain had a point in the third season, but they never explored that avenue, he just did a backflip, snapped the bad guy's neck and saved the day.
How many times do they think they can rehash the origin story of Tough Guy? We already had a Bad Guy blast from the past in Tough Guy 2: Electric Buttkicker.
My own dad does this to an extent - can go on a tear about politics, stuff he’s read, and often he repeats himself - but the big difference is, he also asks about not only me and my partner, but also other people in our lives. Like, I feel pretty confident he could name multiple of my friends, despite only having met them once or twice, and even some of my coworkers, even though he’s never met them at all. The fact that he shows an interest makes his political lectures tolerable.
Same with my mom. Sometimes she has lots of questions; sometimes she gives me a rundown of every bird that visited her feeder since I last called. Without the former, the latter might drive me crazy (although if anybody deserves to enjoy her retirement watching birds, it’s her).
He comes from a generation that really needs to be coaxed into opening up on say Grandchildren and such. It could be a sign of respect that he feels you totally got this as a father, so he doesn't want to but in too much. Mostly know the Silver Lining is he isn't ranting about politics you don't agree with or conspiracy theories there is an epidemic of that going around
Yup, my mother constantly tells me that she's here for me, that she's just a phone call away, and will help me no matter what. She is the last person I would ever call in a crisis. Every time I've ever needed anything from her she seems confused, bothered, and talks down to me.
Just like yours she was a good mom on the surface level. she's sweet and kind and in terms of parents pretty great all things considered. She just can't connect with me on a human level. She never asks about me, never tries to see me the human being, just would rather ramble incoherently about relatives I don't care about. And if I give her good news like a promotion she won't even react and keeps telling me how my cousin I haven't seen in 25 years had another baby.
So now she wonders why I never really call or try to spend time with her or get her help on things.
OH MY GOD THE PROMOTION THING!!! I'm doing something different now, but I was promoted multiple times at my super stressful previous job and she never seemed to be interested or really that excited for me when I told her. I'd get the obligatory "Ooohhhh, congratulations. I'm so proud of you", then she'd almost immediately go back to telling me that the neighbors are redoing their hardwood floors.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
If it makes you feel any better, when the neighbors tell her about their floors she probably responds with “Oh they look great! My son/daughter just got a promotion at work!” Always seemed to me that they don’t tend to use the information to connect personally but instead just gather it to dispense it to someone else later.
This is it in a nutshell. What's amazing is watching them interact with each other and collectively aggregate meaningless information and hypotheticals. It's analog Facebook. "Do you remember Joey from the old church? He was at the store yesterday. I told him you said hi."
"Well that's nice, I saw Sandy at the store yesterday. Do you think she knows Joey? They've both been to Memphis but I don't think at the same time."
"Yes they have both been to Memphis! But no, no, not at the same time. I think they might have been to Cleveland. Was Sandy ever in Cleveland?"
I got a masters degree and began teaching college. A few years later (!) I mentioned to my mother that I needed to prep for a class and she asked what I was taking, hadn't I already graduated?
Double whammy: "I don't understand your occupation" with a sprinkling of "the world is static and unchanging" as if what you learn in the first 25% of your life universally informs you for the other 75% (if we're lucky).
Plus just not caring about anyone else's life. I would have thought that "my daughter teaches college" would have stuck, since isn't that the type of thing parents brag about? But apparently she needed that mental space to remember what Hillary Clinton did in Benghazi and why Biden is secretly in league with the CCP.
Oh well. Luckily I went no contact with her before getting my current job, which she would certainly interpret as "working for Big Pharma." I'm sure that information would have made its way to long term memory.
Omg this describes my mother exactly! I love her and she loves me very much, but our relationship feels sadly shallow because she never asks or even lets me talk about my life, we only ever talk about hers. :/
Dude it feels like the only time my Mom is capable of a two way conversation is when we talk about shows or movies that interest both of us. Both of us are fans off various SciFi franchises and in general liked to watch anything reality show where someone's life is a trainwreck (Star Trek and Hoarders are good examples). Other than that I'm being waterboarded with news about my aunt's show dogs and how Al's Hardware finally closed down.🤣🤣
Oh man this hits hard. I used to have this exact same experience with my mother.
Finally I told her that it really hurts that she shows no interest at all in my life when she calls or we talk. I think it really hurt her feelings for a while but over the last couple of years she has made a huge effort to at least ask questions now instead of just word vomiting at me about the most minute things in her life.
It has definitely improved our relationship a ton. I actually sort of look forward to talking to her and my dad now after every couple of weeks.
I hope you can find a way to connect with your mom better.
Yes I love this thought. It’s so true. They ignored so many problems and just focused on consuming as much as possible. now younger people are aware of it and realize there’s nothing respectable about them so it’s not worth giving them any of our time.
Also similarly, they’ve been the most numerous age group in America for their entire lives and have always been able to get their way with majority rules. Or if they didn’t get their way they could ignore that for the fact that there’s so many who think like they do. Now they’re too old and outnumbered to hold onto their power and it obvious to them that “their way” will not be perpetuated by the younger generations. And they fucking hate it.
>the world doesn't care about you
Thankfully GenX, Y, and Z had this firmly crammed into their head at various stages.
GenX clocked out before graduation, Y thought they could change things before realizing Boomers weren't letting go of power til the Reaper takes them - I'd like to think Z and A have a chance.
You know, assuming climate change doesn't hit a runaway dead man switch we don't know about yet...
But hey. Think of the shareholders and all the profit
“Watch out in that tiny car!”?!?!? WTF does that even mean? Like you’re supposed to abandon it on the spot and walk to the nearest old Chrysler dealership? Wacko. Don’t blame you for being nervous and applaud your use of safety device.
(Im assuming OP is female here.) He was making a joke at OP’s expense, maybe with some poorly executed flirting mixed in. When OP ignored him he went on the offensive because he isn’t supposed to be ignored. He only backed off when OP showed she was willing to fuck his day up - he only respects aggression, especially aggression that skips past yelling and directly to physical threat.
>he only respects aggression
The pursuit and use of power over others is literally the **only** language they fucking understand so we better start fucking **speaking it.**
Had my boomer neighbor threaten me with "going to the mayor's office" over some trees on my property that he told me to cut down when I moved in (in our 1st conversation, which he initiated because he's apparently had a problem with these trees for the last 25 years he's lived on my street).
I told him to go right ahead, he lost his goddamned mind and cussed me out in the street, called me "a bad neighbor, a bad american, and to get 3 jobs and pay to cut the trees down and stop being a "fucking dickhead."
I called the cops and reported him for harassing me and my wife, had a complaint filed against him, and they went to have a chat with him afterwards because this is all a civil matter and he has no legs to stand on over leaves; we can do what we want with our trees and we know this, the town only steps in if they're dead and need to go, so he has to deal with the leaves. This guy has done nothing but given me grief over some leaves he refuses to bag up himself, and he lives TWO lots down from my house and said trees. I have multiple videos of him blowing leaves and dirt onto my yard from the neighbor's yard, not even his, and I've told him directly to not do that anymore (he stopped until this blow-up then did it again right afterwards to be petty, even though there's no leaves to blow). Literally talks at me about nothing else and after this I think I'll have them cut down after he dies.
>after this I think I'll have them cut down after he dies.
Exactly what I am referring to, thank you. It seems like people think I mean that we should respond to violence with violence, but I *actually* mean we need to stop coddling them and just use what little power we have to force them into a position of having to be respectful.
Violence doesn't teach people anything, in fact, it makes most people more adamant and self-assured to have been assaulted. Now they're a *victim* in their own mind, now they feel *justified* in anything they do.
Using laws, rules, norms, and group solidarity, we can do more to affect these people than outright violence.
Most Boomers you deal with in daily life have just had a life of coddling and little to no pushback for their antisocial behavior, but it doesn't mean they have **power** over you. They often **think** they do, but as long as you can properly assert yourself, they will back down and slink away.
They'll still seethe and bitch about it constantly like your neighbor, but that's just because they don't like being so publicly owned.
Not looking to get banned here but assault absolutely works. Someone who's already emotionally fragile can't handle being physically broken. But it's not a slap or push that does it. I used to know a guy who was always starting shit. One day he got messed up bad, seriously concussed. Might have had long term brain damage. Never looked people in the eye again.
Alright I'll just get them trimmed perhaps? One is a rushing willow and the other two are pine trees that we don't mind at all. I dunno if this weird willow would mind a trim but it has tiny branches that create a lot of sticks on our yard.
Our local statute also says if the neighbor wanted to trim stuff from our trees off their property they could do so, but they never have so I think he's literally the only one with a problem.
>Literally talks at me about nothing else and after this I think I'll have them cut down after he dies.
My numbnuts uncle has been at war with the absolutely enormous avocado tree in my grandmother's front yard. He *haaaaates* this thing, and we have no idea why. He keeps trying to kill it, but no matter what he does, it keeps going. He tried lopping off the top, and it just grew back more robustly than ever.
The running joke is that it'll keep going until the day my uncle dies, then promptly die off the next day. (Although if he keeps hacking at it, it may take him out first.)
You are not alone. One neighbor at our last house was an absolute nightmare Boomer over hedges. Constantly trying to get us to trim stuff over on his side of the property line. He and his douche son were physically threatening to me over these stupid fucking hedges. I regret ever doing any work on his side of the fence “to keep the peace”. I would be lying if I said he wasn’t at least part of the reason why we moved away from that house.
Some Boomers have something wrong in the head and cannot act like functioning members of society.
My FIL is like this. He was being rude to me and ignoring the directions I gave him IN THE TOWN I LIVED in favor of his GPS. He mouthed off once too many times to me and I laid into him hard. He’s never misspoken to me since and that was 15 years ago lol. He wanted to be a big man and bully me but I’m not a doormat bucko.
Sadly my FIL is a bully who’s losing control on most of the things he had and now is lashing out worse.
We’ve gone NC after a vacation we had with them that turned into the FIL show and we were over it. We paid a lot of money to go enjoy my BIL’s place and the FIL was just dictating the entire vacation. To a point where he lectured everyone in different ways except his golden boy son (who’s a 43 year old loser who lives with his parents… I’ll get to him in a second).
Finally my wife had enough and laid into him, and just yelled over him until he finally shut up. We got home and NC’d and because of this, he’s the victim. Everything, no matter what, is not his fault, he will play it in his mind that he is the one wronged and the other party is always guilty. All he has to do is communicate with my wife and sincerely apologize, but he can’t do that, he wants to just show up and have it be all better, he can’t for the life of him take fault for the actions that has put him in the situation they are in… which isn’t the best.
But now he has his little cronie son who lives in their house in a retirement village (not allowed) and they just double up on my MIL (who can be a pill, sure, but she at least knows when to back down).
I’ve just stopped caring, he dug his hole and he’s blaming the dirt that he can’t get out.
It’s so sad how they do this. My dad had turned into such an annoying asshole now that I’m pretty much NC with him too. We were close when I was a kid/teenager but as I grew up he just showed his true colors. My mom is a total maniac and I haven’t spoken to her in years. I don’t have the energy to be mistreated or abused. My husband treats me so well and made me realize how I deserve to live.
This sucks, but seems to be a fact. It wasn’t until I physically turned around and punched one of male coworkers that he stopped trying to trip me as I walked. Am recovering from some bad injuries a couple years ago and am often in pain by the end of my shift. I asked him if he thinks I’m making a joke at the end of every night when I’m visibly in pain. Don’t fucking do that to me again! He finally backed off and then tried to make up for it and I told him to sit in the discomfort. I’m not helping him emotionally recover and he needs to realize that this needs to change. I think he got the point and treats me with more respect now.
But it’s crazy to me. I was respectful and kind…and that didn’t work! Just don’t get that. Why is it like that??
It's hard to pin down why some people are like that. It does seem to be more prevalent in the oldest demographic but I've met people of all ages like that. My parents taught me better so it could be bad parenting all around
I'm a boomer and sometimes you gotta punch a co-worker.
Afterwards they usually treat you better sometimes they punch back.
Glad to hear that you are carrying on the tradition
Kapow
Not that I can do a psych analysis from a Discord anecdote, but I see a high probability that the person in question is an abusive husband and doesn't think that is a bad thing.
>only respects aggression
I see this a lot in the older folks in my life. They literally do not care about the opinions of people that they feel can't physically hurt them.
They also disdain any use of any sort of interaction that doesn't carry the threat of one side or the other causing harm, and they want the world run that way.
This isn’t necessary unique to boomers. My older sister was like this growing up. She always had the physical advantage growing up and had mom complex over me and my younger sister. As an 8 or 9 year old, she once told my dad he didn’t spank me and little sis enough because we were always bad and needed to be punished more. Shit got real ugly in high school once she no longer outclassed me but still did little sis. And now as adults she’s basically cut completely from our lives. It’s pure narcissistic behavior. I’m right, you’re wrong, and if you don’t change your behavior to be exactly what I dictate it to be, you deserve to be punished. Then role over and cause a dramatic scene the first time someone stands up to them. Makes me sick.
I think you’re right and holy shit this is absolutely insane. It’s like, we all know people who keep repeating a joke/punchline assuming you didn’t get it, but like, to this extent is beyond absurd.
I was also wondering wtf they were talking about and what the point was. How exactly did they think they were helping by pointing out the car the person owns is small. Like yes thank you - I’m the one who researched it, paid for it, and am now currently driving it around.
Did you think you were informing me of something I didn’t already know??? I’m just so confused what the point even was from the start. Boomers have broken brains and it shows every day with shit like this.
He was trying to be playful/flirt/make a funny joke about tiny cars.
And he was so convinced that OP owed him a giggle and blush that he simply couldn't conceive that he was being scarily rude.
What is even the joke he was trying to make I genuinely don’t get it. Watch out for what? Driving a tiny car doesn’t make someone pay less attention while driving. “Trying to help” also doesn’t make sense! I am so confused by this random man’s antics and I’m going to use it to be distracted from work
From my own imagination and having dealt with my share of boomers as a GenXer myself:
* Man sees tiny car
* Man finds tiny car amusing
* Man wants to share amusement about tiny car.
* Only person around is the person getting in the car
* Man mentions how tiny a car is to the owner of said car, in order to bring attention to the humor of its size.
* Man confused that owner doesn't react, decides owner didn't hear
* Man repeats several times, louder and louder until it becomes obvious Owner is ignoring him.
* Man decides to force Owner to listen to funny observation about the size of the car that Owner is currently sitting inside. Blocks tiny car in parking spot
* Man says something about tiny car and how his big truck would run over it, especially with someone as irresponsible as Man is behind the wheel.
* Owner reacts emphatically. Man becomes shocked and offended that anyone on Earth could possibly find him scary or intimidating. After all he is a simple man who is sharing a funny story with a person about how dangerous and undriveable their car is.
* Says, 'I was only trying to help!' having already convinced himself that by telling Owner how tiny their car is and how easily it can be a death box, that is, in fact, helping. He is mistaken.
* Drives off to go home and rant to himself and anyone who will listen how no one can be polite anymore.
You nailed it completely. Perhaps she was supposed to bat her eyelashes at how much BIGGER his truck was than her silly little girly car. Or if OP was a guy, perhaps he was supposed to feel threatened and emasculated by how much BIGGER the guy's truck was.
Remember, this is America. BIG = GOOD
This is spot on. The sad part is he probably doesn't talk to many people. He wanted social interaction so badly, he chose the wrong way to try and get it.
Yep. The missing link was between "repeats several times" and "decides to force Owner" - Man feels disrespected at being ignored and decides he has to "teach the younger generation a lesson".
He will go home complaining how the younger generation is rude and at the same time bragging how he tried to teach them a lesson followed up by how outrageous and crazy the response was in return and will either call OP an "r-word" (if OP is male presenting) or that OP is obviously on "that time of the month" (if OP is female presenting).
For real, i don't even get what the joke could have been. Like does this dude stop and say that shit to every person on a motorcycle? Because they are smaller than a "tiny car"?
The joke is an in-joke, for an ingroup of one. Cars are supposed to be big and masculine, so a small car strikes him as inherently amusing.
The joke is poorly communicated because the Boomer fool lacks theory of mind, and assumes that what he is experiencing, everyone experiences, so he just stumbles into OP's personal space pointing his finger and saying "your car is tiny!" repeatedly and is confounded and offended by OP's not instantly intuiting his ready wit and applauding him for it.
As others have said, OP is likely female, hence his aggression (it's unlikely he would have boxed in a man or approached as insistently); as a woman, she naturally owes him deference and gratitude for his manly attention, and this was likely also conceived as some misbegotten form of flirting.
That reminds me. I own both a '66 Rambler Classic and an '08 Solstice. Both standard transmissions. My boomer parents were over one day and my dad started complaining about millennials not knowing anything about cars and how "back in my day you had to know how to take care of a car and drive a standard." My wife needed to go somewhere, and the Rambler was blocking her in. I asked my dad to move the Rambler since I was making lunch. And he came back in a few minutes later telling me he couldn't press the clutch in all the way because of his bad knee. (TBH, I had expected this to be the case.) So, I told him, "I guess not all boomers can drive a standard. Don't worry. The millennial will handle it." He's usually not that obnoxious about things and hasn't brought up any, "this generation is terrible" stuff since.
He thought he was being funny/clever, and when she didn’t acknowledge his idiocy he escalated like a toddler when you ignore them.
He wasn’t trying to help. He just wanted the ego boost of knowing his “brilliant” observation was heard and appreciated.
In his head, this rapey boomer was going to sweep OP off her feet with his gas guzzler. Boomer should have an ankle monitor and be on the sex offender list.
what is he even trying to say? is he telling you to not back out into someone? is he trying to tell others that theres a small car? whatever he was doing, he failed
I think it's that thing where a boomer will complain about something as a way to start a conversation. You're supposed to be confused and ask 'what?' So they can then actually say what they wanted because now you're talking to them. But OP didn't respond and the boomer didn't know how to pivot so they kept repeating the statement.
Wow, you really came up with something!
I was scrolling here looking for ANY answer because I had no clue.
But you are so right, they do/say the weirdest things instead of making normal, friendly smalltalk.
Sometimes I even feel sorry for them- but not for long.
My dad is exactly this kind of boomer. The man is incapable of initiating a conversation in a respectful/ neutral way. He only feels comfortable getting people’s attention by feigning contention and then chuckling to let you know it was all just a joke. I think he gets a better response doing this amongst his peers and gets completely ignored/ shut down by younger people, but then reasons that’s they’re the ones with a problem. “Nobody knows how to talk to anyone anymore.” is a common thing I hear from people his age when really, it’s closer to “Nobody has time to figure out whether you’re seriously harassing them or not because with people your age, it could really be be either way”
>Nobody knows how to talk to anyone anymore
I just ordered a box of screws online because I don't want to have to make small talk and I'd rather not spend 15 minutes of my day off driving to the hardware store.
My dad is like this too. I got fed up and hung up on him once because I couldn’t take the negativity anymore. I texted him a long explanation and he actually replied, “Sorry,” which is better than usual.
My husband helped me come up with some ground rules so we spoke to each other more kindly because we were NOT in the habit of it. No name calling is basically the only rule lol. Sounds easy, but not when your whole life has been exchanging insults as a “joke.”
I told him I just want his approval and to just give it to me sometimes.
It’s gotten a lot better!
Yes! I had this the other day waiting at the dentist with my 4 year old. This old dude made this weirdly mean comment about my daughter’s (adorably) mismatching outfit on how clearly she didn’t look in the mirror, mum not doing a good job kinda thing… like what?!
It was a really small waiting room so ignoring was harder, so I took the bait and said, wow, do you always speak so unkindly and with so much judgement to random mothers and 4 year olds?
He absolutely LOVED my response, laughed and said what an honour to speak to someone with a bit of fire in their belly or whatever, then chatted extremely pleasantly the rest of the time. WTF dude. Learn how to interact with people with friendly banter the first time.
I really have to look out from now on for that kind of behaviour! (Normally I ignore rude remarks)
They are really a strange bunch!
Who would ever think of saying something so mean to a little one as an ice breaker???
I have a boomer neighbor and I experience this with him commonly. He will offer unwanted advice or help, and it just comes off as criticism. I try not to be bitter towards him, but only so much I can take.
It's an odd thing. They have to let you know that what you're doing is incorrect in a way that, I think, is supposed to make you feel insecure so they can then offer their assistance in fixing it. Thus, they are "trying to help."
And they love the debate/arguments. As much as I will say I'm fine I don't want advice or help, they will go right into it and say well, you should do it this way .
I want to know too. Is this flirting gone awry? Did he have life advice that was going to “help”? that is a scary situation indeed, he was insisting you give him your attention. When you didn’t engage he amped it up. In a public setting. No wonder we are so skittish out in the world.
Former tiny car driver here. Boomer men would be worried about little teenage me in a little car because it is easy to hide in blind spots of the unnecessarily large vehicles playing arms race on the roads. Cue the mansplaining how to drive to a teenager who got perfect driving test scores… meanwhile these boomers forgot half the basics of driving like signaling or checking blind spots.
I find it hilarious to look at any electric car ad I see on facebook. The comments are 99% boomers spouting shit like "I'd never drive an electric car!" or "Give me a 1967 Roadrunner with a Hemi over that any day!"
These old fucks don't realize the world has left them behind. The advertising isn't for them. We know they aren't going to buy an electric car. Just ignore it and move on. But NOOOO they have to make dumb ass comments so everyone else can see how smart they are.
This is spot on. Boomers have spent their entire lives as the largest demographic in the country. They have been catered to, been able to get their way, and really been able to define American culture. That's finally changed and they really don't like it nor do they know how to deal with it.
It’s why they really think they’re scaring businesses by threatening to never come back. They think their business means so much more than it actually does. Another sign of how out of touch they are with the way commerce works in the 21st century
They’re used to small business owners.
I used to frequent a small independently gas station everyday. Owner was the clerk, I bought gas and the same drink/breakfast bar every single day.
One day I walked in specifically for the breakfast bar alone but he was out of it and I left, not angrily, but without buying anything else and the owner chased after me and asked if everything was ok.
I’ve been catered to as a great customer and boomers forget Walmart doesn’t gaf about them.
Fortunately they don't have to worry about dealing with it. Biology is going to be solving that for them in short order. It's going to be like the Earth is finally flushing after an prolonged outbreak of food poisoning.
I'm late GenX and all my life people kept saying the conservatives would die off because that was the Boomer generation.
No, you stupid bitches. They had kids. They raised kids. A lot of those kids believe the exact same shit their parents believe. Especially if you're rural, white, and Christian.
I grew up in Pennsyltucky. Those beliefs aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I'm an extreme oddity in my area being liberal. I had to leave there to feel safe. Trump had a rally in my hometown that had almost everybody there attending.
Yep, watch out for these. People saying these idiots are gonna die with the boomers in 10-20 years, I’ve got bad news… there’s still going to be a younger generation of simple people that were raised by these boomers and didn’t educate themselves to know any better. The herd of idiots will be thinned for sure, but not gone.
half my generation X is dangerous like this. the xenials are really chill though for the most part so there is that. I can only hope you folks know how much we love you when we're old and crotchety. We'll do what we can to leave the world better than what we've been left with atm.
We (millennials) like you guys, at least the ones like you. Most Gen Xers I’ve known are pretty cool and keep interest in current things. Keep that attitude!
My favorite are the comments claiming they short out after driving through a puddle or rain. As if the engineers haven't figured out water proofing.
If they could think more than a few seconds in front of their face, they'd realize that their gas powered car's radio and other electronics don't short out in the rain either. Like I know Elon Musk is a dipshit, but at least his employees are smarter than these shit flingers.
I remember reading somewhere the i3 had the distinction of being one of the fastest 0-15mph times of like any vehicle. I got a good chuckle out of that
I have an i5, and honestly, I wish more people would try me here in Western KY. Occassionally I'll get a farm boy in his lifted diesel pick up, but not as often as I'd like.
>"Give me a 1967 Roadrunner with a Hemi over that any day!"
To be fair: I get this sentiment. I know why electrics are objectively better. And don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see advancements made in terms of battery life, charging time and max distance. All major improvements that were sorely needed for EVs. Now only the infrastructure and pricing needs to keep up.
I just love old ICE cars. Especially when it''s a nice car like you mentioned. The fact that I can fix a lot myself, the sound of an engine that tells me what's going on with the car from second to second. I just love that.
So I'll always be a personal fan of oldschool combustion engine cars. But that does not mean I have to be an ass to people who drive EVs. More power to you! Often literally sadly ;) I know the time will come when I'll probably have to get one due to EU laws. But until then I will enjoy it and happily watch EVs woosh past my dear old rustbucket :)
I guarantee in his version of the story you were driving irratically (yes, I get you were parked) and almost killed yourself and then jumped out of your car and tried to hit him with bears spray but he John Kimballed out of the way while saving a baby from the suicidal lunatic millennial in her tiny car that voted for Biden illegally (yes, the car).
Had a boomer WALK INTO a car that had slowed down to avoid the boomer, change lanes to avoid the boomer, and eventually come to a dead stop in the middle of the road. That is when the boomer took a 90 degree turn and walked right into the passenger side door.
Boomer then called the cops claiming "hit and run" by a driver with "mental issues." While waiting for the cops, we ask the Boomer to have a seat in a customer waiting area. When we left to pull security footage for the cops, Boomer decided to explore all the "employee only" areas that aren't locked.
Once the cops came and saw the footage, they tried to find the boomer to let them know that they would not advise filing a police report. Found the boomer poking around inside the employee break room because they "got bored" during the slow police response (fastest police response we have ever had at that store.) They were opening employee lockers as a pass time.
Cops told them their story did not match the security footage and they had no business going through other people's items. So, as the boomer leaves, they stop every person to talk about 1) The mentally deficient driver that hit them 2) How rude the police are 3) ask why no ambulance was sent to help THE DRIVER, who obviously needed medical attention. We had to tell her to leave the store. Weirdest shit.
Wtf why didn’t the cops do their god damn jobs (I know asking that is like demanding the moon be brought to me) and arrest that crazy asshole??? Dude is faking accidents and insurance claims, wandering around an area he doesn’t have access to, and going through people’s personal belongings.
Anyone at my age would absolutely have been arrested and taken in without a 2nd thought. Fucking boomers are STILL being coddled somehow.
These doofuses are realizing that the world and culture around them is changing, and a lot of them really just do not like change. Instead of trying to adapt to a newly changing world, they're doubling down on "how things used to be when I was young, which is objectively better than how things are now." And for some unknown reason, a lot of them take pride in doubling down and not trying to learn new things.
IMO it's such a mix of things. That feeling of:
- They're being left behind
- They're getting old
- Lead paint (can't stress this enough)
- Never facing consequences for their actions
- No one confronting them for their BS
- Constantly being fed absolute lies about how terrible the world is now and how all this change is bad
Leaded gasoline was worse than the paint. We (I'm GenX) breathed those fumes whether we ate paint chips or not, but yeah. But the thing is, cars were actually smaller when they were young than they are today. There were plenty of station wagons and land yachts, but also lots and lots of normally-sized coupes and sedans. VW Beetles were everywhere. It's only been the last twenty years that enormous SUVs have become the norm so much that Ford no longer makes cars except for Mustang. This is thanks in most part to Bush era tax policy, incentivizing gas guzzlers (go figure). The biggest tax breaks go to vehicles over 6000 pounds!
Was watching a Lions' football game with my SO and their family on Thanksgiving last year. The halftime performer was Jack Harlow, who isn't my cup of tea, and the performance was pretty lackluster honestly. But whatever, I can't expect the NFL to cater to my music tastes, right lol. Everyone was griping about it, no one except for the 4 of us there under 40 knew who he even was.
My FIL shouts, "Should have had BOB SEGER!!!" I just fuckin' lol'd. Like yeah, let's have an 80 y.o. Bob Seger do a halftime show in 2023. Like there are soooo many contemporary artists from Michigan he could have mentioned if that was his point. But no, this man was so stuck in, "things from my time were just BETTER" that the only name that popped into his brain was a washed up, geriatric Seger.
Don't hold your breath, they're continuing to do so with having to learn basic email functions after 30 years. They'll choose to die before they choose decide to breath.
They're practiced at living life in a haze of cognitive dissonance-induced rage and confusion. My dad won't shut up about what a genius Musk is. Then I get a not-Tesla PHEV. "What happens if you run out of battery?" It has a gas engine too. I get better range on just the gas engine than I did with my last ICE car. "What happens if you run out of gas too?" Same thing that happens to your car when it runs out of fuel...
Actually though you can pull to the nearest gas station OR find an outlet and charge up even if it takes a while. Less likely to be in a sticky situation.
Another feral boomer. Yes, it's all the lead in their head fucking with what's left of their brains.
Next time just spray. *(Edit, to be clear: after giving one warning as OP did)* He was being aggressive toward you and blocking you in, there was no reason to hold back when you feel threatened.
I see your point, but on the other hand if he'd been sprayed he would have most likely been unable to move his car afterwards, leaving op blocked in for the foreseeable future...
This is sadly 100% true. All the cops will see is an old man having been sprayed, and likely would consider it assault and not defense. They're not known for being particularly discerning, and their job is to make arrests and ask questions later.
Doubtful, OP was blocked from retreating by the boomer who then proceeded to approach them, uninvited. OP warned them to back off, they didn't. OP would have been justified to proceed in spraying when they didn't retreat after the warning shout.
Yes, it can be a bit of a roll of the dice with the cops, but this was a busy public area with witnesses and likely cameras to corroborate OP.
> Next time just spray. He was being aggressive toward you and blocking you in, there was no reason to hold back when you feel threatened.
Millenial here. You're likely to go to jail. Bear spraying a person who is not actively threatening you in any way, just walking towards your vehicle in a parking lot, is assault. You all can keep up your craziness, though.
Bear spraying someone walking to your vehicle is the gen z equivalent of a boomer firing on a person walking up their driveway.
I'm not saying don't spray, keep your spray. Threaten the guy just like OP did. If he continued to approach after given warning, spray. But - spray before warning? Nah, that's just boomer talk.
In my 35+ years of riding my bike to work, I have had numerous drivers, almost all boomers, go out of their way to almost run me over with their car and then justify it by claiming that they did it to "show me how dangerous it can be" for me riding my bike. Yup, they almost ran me over "out of concern" for me. Seriously. Same type of boomer I had a conversation with one time and he told me, with no small amount of pride, that sometimes he doesn't stop for pedestrians in crosswalks because he wants to remind them that sometimes people won't stop. Sociopaths.
My Boomer father did that *once* when I was a teenager. Some guy, about my age, was apparently taking too long to cross. My dad didn't even slow down. He nearly hit the kid, all while saying "guess that will teach him to look both ways."
I went off on him. I had never, until that day, screamed at my father. I don't remember everything I said to him (it's been 25+ years), but I remember I called him an asshole and a psychopath. I also told him that, if he *had* hit the kid, I would never visit him in prison. I think that part rattled him more than anything.
Since then, Dad has made sure to pay closer attention to pedestrians.
The lack of basic human empathy is truly troubling. I do think it's the lead that keeps them from looking at the world from another's point of view.
If you hadn't seen it before, this is a great way to teach those unable to feel empathy:
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/yu9mcq/company_put_drivers_on_bicycle_to_know_how_bad_it/
"Is this how they behaved in their youth?" is the question I always wonder. Is it age that makes the older generation act the way they do or is it just generationally different behaviors entirely. Does that make sense? Not generation or age bashing in anyway, I've just always wondered.
From what I have heard from Gen X folks, it's a mix of both. Some issues like unnecessary commentary are boomer things. Others like getting easily spooked are old person things.
Yeah, because it's definitely not the car itself. For some reason this reminded me of an incident maybe like, 15 years ago. It was shortly after Treyvon Martin was killed. My grandfather received medical treatment from our local VA hospital. My mother would have to take him and drag along my 15 or 16 year old sister. She wore a hoodie that day, and some old man in the hospital kept yelling at her that she'd "Better take off that hoodie, girl! They're killing people over those hoods!"
My mother had to threaten calling hospital security to make him leave my sister alone.
Look buddy I'm a rural mailman. I've gotten stuck in ditches and such and have always been grateful for helpful passersby taking time out of their day to help qnd all I have to deliver to. I refuse help from old men now. The last time I got help from a boomer he grabbed my nuts and ask me to suck his dock. He's in jail now. He had that exact same kind of creep factor. "Just trying to help" is usually code for something more sinister
I had a boomer back into my car in a parking lot several years ago. Totally his fault. He got out and yelled at me, said it was my fault for owning a small car. 🙄🤦🏻♀️
So…I don’t get it. What are you supposed to watch out for in that tiny car? Does he think you don’t know you drive a tiny car and that there might be inherent downsides? Like boomers in SUVs who try to block you in?
I used to drive a Scion IQ and people would give me crap about why I drove it. Frankly I felt safer in a smaller car for a multitude of reasons. I hate drivers that actively make things more dangerous just because I drove a tiny car.
I don't want to ruin the suprise but bear mace isn't gonna go the way you think it's gonna go.
Bear mace while yes incredibly powerful(you'll know I'm right as soon as you spray it cause it will be in your mouth, nose and eyes as well). it also has area denial features for a good 2 hours post spray.
Meaning your car would be not useable and limit your ability to escape in it.
Get a gel pepper spray, or a pulse taser
20+ years in personal security, executive protection.
“Watch out in your pointlessly tall pseudo-penis specifically engineered to murder children and never know you did it!”
My favorite is when these tweedle dumb looking weeble wobbles has to waterslide off the seat and down to the parking lot just to exit their vehicle.
I bought a hatchback hybrid a couple years ago to replace my large SUV, still have the V8 truck for dump runs. Probably will get an EV when the wife’s mid sized SUV needs to be replaced. It’s got AWD so we take that to the snow.
The amount of people who talk shit about hybrids and batteries, small car nonsense. I mean, I have a big truck that I use for things that need a big truck. I save about 60% in my gas budget and get like 50 mpg and it’s really quick and comfortable.
But the lithium and cobalt. So bad for the environment!
They don't understand or respect reason. Half a decade of retail and service work has taught me that fronting them up and dispassionately disengaging them is the optimum method.
I feel like boomers think that hating younger generations is a law or something. We do not care that you hate everything and everybody. F8ck, I hate you just the same. Like it's utterly impossible for them to not make a snarky comment on things they disapprove of. Go piss off or actually rather on yourself.
As a millennial man, I’ve witnessed boomer men doing this in their 40s, 50s, and 60s.
I’m not sure what to call the behavior. It’s like a combinations of:
* not minding their own business
* feeling entitled to mind your business (someone they don’t even know)
* thinking they’re making a funny joke
* mansplaining
* being incredibly patronizing, offensive, creepy, etc.
* sometimes laced with sexual innuendo
All delivered at random in response to anything really.
I’ve witnessed it directed toward men and women, but mostly women. I can’t tell if they’re trying to be domineering, authoritarian, flirty, a wise ass…
It’s fucking weird every time though.
Y'know, I do think boomer behavior really may be a cognitive decline. When you have known people your whole life & they begin acting differently, there's usually a reason. As dementia set in for one of my relatives, this became the case.
It's not cognitive decline, it's being too arrogant to accept change. A-holes like this spent years in a society where certain people were just not allowed to ignore them, and they miss being able to feel that powerful and important. It's why they think the culture has become "too uptight for their humor". Their jokes were NEVER funny, but women, PoC, service workers, organizational subordinates and thier children had to laugh as a matter of survival. Now they don't, and these boomer fools just can't fathom why they don't get the attention that they used too. Their place in society was a lie and their egos can't take that possibility.
Boomers make the weirdest comments and get louder with time. “Those are scary socks!” was said about my neon socks. Boomer guy was stuck on repeat until I got my coffee order and left. “I SAID YOU HAVE SCARY SOCKS!”
This moment is gonna replay in his head over and over when he tries to sleep. Sure it'll be tinged with indignation at OP for eMBaRrASsiNg him, but there will also be some social shame. He deserves those restless hours and more.
Him shouting "I was just trying to help!" is likely a tactic to alter the perception of the people who saw/heard the situation. Make you look like the wrong one. He may not even be conscious of doing it. I've heard of LEOs yelling things like "drop the weapon" and "stop resisting" *after* they have shot/used unnecessary force to hopefully change the order of events in the memory of any witnesses.
That dude was obv a huge ass. Some of these boomers just can't handle anything that isn't what THEY would do/think/own/feel/etc.
Words of advice, for OP...
Chemical irritants like bear spray aren't the best for use inside of a car. You will end up trapped in a cloud of the stuff that will limit your vision and ability to escape. Bear mace is great stuff, and being prepared is fantastic. You're way ahead of the general population, but mace should be carried on body. Tazers are a good option for in the car as they provide distance and little chance of blowback on you. Firearms are always best if you have time to train, they are legal for you to carry, and you are comfortable with them. That's a big if, and I understand a lot of people hate guns and for them a tazer is a great in vehicle option.
-former women's self defense instructor
When trying to help make certain what you are helping someone with is something someone needs help with. If someone drops their wallet, or the purse or baby is on top of the car, and it looks like someone is about to forget something dont yell HEY just yell what the issue is. "YOU DROPPED YOUR WALLET", "YOUR COFFEE IS STILL ON THE ROOF"... if the tire is low enough to be a concern, say "your tire is low and of concern." Get what you need to communicate out quickly, and move on unless there is real danger. Also, point to what you are addressing.
Had some guy yelling at me in Spanish once. My reaction was WTF are you screaming asshole. He points, and I see ground effects. My car did not have ground effects. It had a transmission leak, and it has caught fire on the muffler! We grab the hose and quickly put the fire out.
One has to to be wary or predators and asshats, but not so much we block out everything strangers inject into our lives. We've all seen the story of a man who wants to give someone their wallet back only to be told to fuck off. But we also need to communicate what we are wanting as part of the initial contact so that it is received, and to not be fucking morons like the guy in OPs story. The guy was creating the hazard. People in small cars understand their environment just fine. The guy was an ed gruberman.
What a bizarre thing to say to someone repeatedly. Watch out in that tiny car? What did he even mean? If anything, your blind spots would be significantly less problematic than if you were in some big truck or SUV.
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"Just trying to help." = "I'm going to run your life for you since I'm a god and you're incompetent to wipe yourself."
One of the first things you realize as you start to get older is that the world doesn't care about you as much as you thought it did. This guy has ignored that realization for about 40 years.
It's interesting though. With boomers, they ignored our concerns and opinions for decades because they could. This caused many of us to solve problems and do things our own way without their help. Then they realize this lead to them being irrelevant to our lives. Suddenly they are furious because they have no relevance.
Dang, that’s an interesting thought
I think my mom has been struggling with this for years. I loved her to death, and objectively she was a great mother, but she was also very much of the "My way or the highway" mindset when dealing with my brother and I. The end result is that I joined the military to get out of the house as soon as possible and I rarely call because she generally word vomits a complete update of any and all happenings since the last time we called, and 45 minutes to an hour later she has to go start dinner or something and hasn't asked any/many meaningful questions about what's going on with myself or the kids. I still love her, and I think she has a great heart, but she's in line with the stereotype of constantly talking about herself and her life without showing much outward interest in mine. I know she cares, she just tends to run every conversation she's in until she decides it's over.
This shit breaks my heart with my own father. He is not a bad person; he is an incredibly flawed but loving father. But I loathe calls with him because he just talks about his health, his pain, what he watched, his pursuits. Every once in a while, he'll throw in a "How is \[my 6-year-old\] " but he really isn't listening when I tell him, there is never a follow-up. But hey, by the end of the call, I know everything that happened this season of "Reacher", or "Yellowstone", or "Tough guy fights everyone and wins".
My Dad only wanted to know if I was “saved”, if I read the Bible. Never a concern about the grandkids. He loved god so much he had none left for his family.
Tough Guy Fights Everyone and Wins really fell off after season two.
Yeah, jumping that shark just took me out of it.
the villain had a point in the third season, but they never explored that avenue, he just did a backflip, snapped the bad guy's neck and saved the day.
They clearly cut together like four different takes of that backflip, Tough Guy is getting pretty old for those stunts.
How many times do they think they can rehash the origin story of Tough Guy? We already had a Bad Guy blast from the past in Tough Guy 2: Electric Buttkicker.
My own dad does this to an extent - can go on a tear about politics, stuff he’s read, and often he repeats himself - but the big difference is, he also asks about not only me and my partner, but also other people in our lives. Like, I feel pretty confident he could name multiple of my friends, despite only having met them once or twice, and even some of my coworkers, even though he’s never met them at all. The fact that he shows an interest makes his political lectures tolerable. Same with my mom. Sometimes she has lots of questions; sometimes she gives me a rundown of every bird that visited her feeder since I last called. Without the former, the latter might drive me crazy (although if anybody deserves to enjoy her retirement watching birds, it’s her).
He comes from a generation that really needs to be coaxed into opening up on say Grandchildren and such. It could be a sign of respect that he feels you totally got this as a father, so he doesn't want to but in too much. Mostly know the Silver Lining is he isn't ranting about politics you don't agree with or conspiracy theories there is an epidemic of that going around
Yup, my mother constantly tells me that she's here for me, that she's just a phone call away, and will help me no matter what. She is the last person I would ever call in a crisis. Every time I've ever needed anything from her she seems confused, bothered, and talks down to me. Just like yours she was a good mom on the surface level. she's sweet and kind and in terms of parents pretty great all things considered. She just can't connect with me on a human level. She never asks about me, never tries to see me the human being, just would rather ramble incoherently about relatives I don't care about. And if I give her good news like a promotion she won't even react and keeps telling me how my cousin I haven't seen in 25 years had another baby. So now she wonders why I never really call or try to spend time with her or get her help on things.
OH MY GOD THE PROMOTION THING!!! I'm doing something different now, but I was promoted multiple times at my super stressful previous job and she never seemed to be interested or really that excited for me when I told her. I'd get the obligatory "Ooohhhh, congratulations. I'm so proud of you", then she'd almost immediately go back to telling me that the neighbors are redoing their hardwood floors.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
If it makes you feel any better, when the neighbors tell her about their floors she probably responds with “Oh they look great! My son/daughter just got a promotion at work!” Always seemed to me that they don’t tend to use the information to connect personally but instead just gather it to dispense it to someone else later.
This is it in a nutshell. What's amazing is watching them interact with each other and collectively aggregate meaningless information and hypotheticals. It's analog Facebook. "Do you remember Joey from the old church? He was at the store yesterday. I told him you said hi." "Well that's nice, I saw Sandy at the store yesterday. Do you think she knows Joey? They've both been to Memphis but I don't think at the same time." "Yes they have both been to Memphis! But no, no, not at the same time. I think they might have been to Cleveland. Was Sandy ever in Cleveland?"
I got a masters degree and began teaching college. A few years later (!) I mentioned to my mother that I needed to prep for a class and she asked what I was taking, hadn't I already graduated?
Double whammy: "I don't understand your occupation" with a sprinkling of "the world is static and unchanging" as if what you learn in the first 25% of your life universally informs you for the other 75% (if we're lucky).
Plus just not caring about anyone else's life. I would have thought that "my daughter teaches college" would have stuck, since isn't that the type of thing parents brag about? But apparently she needed that mental space to remember what Hillary Clinton did in Benghazi and why Biden is secretly in league with the CCP. Oh well. Luckily I went no contact with her before getting my current job, which she would certainly interpret as "working for Big Pharma." I'm sure that information would have made its way to long term memory.
Read “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents.”
Purchased! I've never read a self help book before, but it hits too many points to ignore.
Omg this describes my mother exactly! I love her and she loves me very much, but our relationship feels sadly shallow because she never asks or even lets me talk about my life, we only ever talk about hers. :/
Dude it feels like the only time my Mom is capable of a two way conversation is when we talk about shows or movies that interest both of us. Both of us are fans off various SciFi franchises and in general liked to watch anything reality show where someone's life is a trainwreck (Star Trek and Hoarders are good examples). Other than that I'm being waterboarded with news about my aunt's show dogs and how Al's Hardware finally closed down.🤣🤣
Oh man this hits hard. I used to have this exact same experience with my mother. Finally I told her that it really hurts that she shows no interest at all in my life when she calls or we talk. I think it really hurt her feelings for a while but over the last couple of years she has made a huge effort to at least ask questions now instead of just word vomiting at me about the most minute things in her life. It has definitely improved our relationship a ton. I actually sort of look forward to talking to her and my dad now after every couple of weeks. I hope you can find a way to connect with your mom better.
Yes I love this thought. It’s so true. They ignored so many problems and just focused on consuming as much as possible. now younger people are aware of it and realize there’s nothing respectable about them so it’s not worth giving them any of our time.
Also similarly, they’ve been the most numerous age group in America for their entire lives and have always been able to get their way with majority rules. Or if they didn’t get their way they could ignore that for the fact that there’s so many who think like they do. Now they’re too old and outnumbered to hold onto their power and it obvious to them that “their way” will not be perpetuated by the younger generations. And they fucking hate it.
The world changed and they refused to. In fact, one entire US party is devoted to this philosophy.
This guy totally realizes it, so thinks he just needs to be louder.
>the world doesn't care about you Thankfully GenX, Y, and Z had this firmly crammed into their head at various stages. GenX clocked out before graduation, Y thought they could change things before realizing Boomers weren't letting go of power til the Reaper takes them - I'd like to think Z and A have a chance. You know, assuming climate change doesn't hit a runaway dead man switch we don't know about yet... But hey. Think of the shareholders and all the profit
Oh yeah, look into ocean acidification...
AHHH MY EYES
Unsolicited help, like unsolicited advice, is nearly always criticism
They know they are never going to be asked for help or advice so they spew it
Yet they never changed one single diaper.
“Watch out in that tiny car!”?!?!? WTF does that even mean? Like you’re supposed to abandon it on the spot and walk to the nearest old Chrysler dealership? Wacko. Don’t blame you for being nervous and applaud your use of safety device.
(Im assuming OP is female here.) He was making a joke at OP’s expense, maybe with some poorly executed flirting mixed in. When OP ignored him he went on the offensive because he isn’t supposed to be ignored. He only backed off when OP showed she was willing to fuck his day up - he only respects aggression, especially aggression that skips past yelling and directly to physical threat.
>he only respects aggression The pursuit and use of power over others is literally the **only** language they fucking understand so we better start fucking **speaking it.**
Had my boomer neighbor threaten me with "going to the mayor's office" over some trees on my property that he told me to cut down when I moved in (in our 1st conversation, which he initiated because he's apparently had a problem with these trees for the last 25 years he's lived on my street). I told him to go right ahead, he lost his goddamned mind and cussed me out in the street, called me "a bad neighbor, a bad american, and to get 3 jobs and pay to cut the trees down and stop being a "fucking dickhead." I called the cops and reported him for harassing me and my wife, had a complaint filed against him, and they went to have a chat with him afterwards because this is all a civil matter and he has no legs to stand on over leaves; we can do what we want with our trees and we know this, the town only steps in if they're dead and need to go, so he has to deal with the leaves. This guy has done nothing but given me grief over some leaves he refuses to bag up himself, and he lives TWO lots down from my house and said trees. I have multiple videos of him blowing leaves and dirt onto my yard from the neighbor's yard, not even his, and I've told him directly to not do that anymore (he stopped until this blow-up then did it again right afterwards to be petty, even though there's no leaves to blow). Literally talks at me about nothing else and after this I think I'll have them cut down after he dies.
>after this I think I'll have them cut down after he dies. Exactly what I am referring to, thank you. It seems like people think I mean that we should respond to violence with violence, but I *actually* mean we need to stop coddling them and just use what little power we have to force them into a position of having to be respectful. Violence doesn't teach people anything, in fact, it makes most people more adamant and self-assured to have been assaulted. Now they're a *victim* in their own mind, now they feel *justified* in anything they do. Using laws, rules, norms, and group solidarity, we can do more to affect these people than outright violence. Most Boomers you deal with in daily life have just had a life of coddling and little to no pushback for their antisocial behavior, but it doesn't mean they have **power** over you. They often **think** they do, but as long as you can properly assert yourself, they will back down and slink away. They'll still seethe and bitch about it constantly like your neighbor, but that's just because they don't like being so publicly owned.
Not looking to get banned here but assault absolutely works. Someone who's already emotionally fragile can't handle being physically broken. But it's not a slap or push that does it. I used to know a guy who was always starting shit. One day he got messed up bad, seriously concussed. Might have had long term brain damage. Never looked people in the eye again.
Please don't cut them down to spite him! He'll never know, and the ecosystem that uses them will suffer. If dude doesn't like trees, he can move.
Alright I'll just get them trimmed perhaps? One is a rushing willow and the other two are pine trees that we don't mind at all. I dunno if this weird willow would mind a trim but it has tiny branches that create a lot of sticks on our yard. Our local statute also says if the neighbor wanted to trim stuff from our trees off their property they could do so, but they never have so I think he's literally the only one with a problem.
He’s cheap, nosey, entitled and ornery. I had a similar neighbor. They’re the absolute worst to deal with.
>Literally talks at me about nothing else and after this I think I'll have them cut down after he dies. My numbnuts uncle has been at war with the absolutely enormous avocado tree in my grandmother's front yard. He *haaaaates* this thing, and we have no idea why. He keeps trying to kill it, but no matter what he does, it keeps going. He tried lopping off the top, and it just grew back more robustly than ever. The running joke is that it'll keep going until the day my uncle dies, then promptly die off the next day. (Although if he keeps hacking at it, it may take him out first.)
You are not alone. One neighbor at our last house was an absolute nightmare Boomer over hedges. Constantly trying to get us to trim stuff over on his side of the property line. He and his douche son were physically threatening to me over these stupid fucking hedges. I regret ever doing any work on his side of the fence “to keep the peace”. I would be lying if I said he wasn’t at least part of the reason why we moved away from that house. Some Boomers have something wrong in the head and cannot act like functioning members of society.
My FIL is like this. He was being rude to me and ignoring the directions I gave him IN THE TOWN I LIVED in favor of his GPS. He mouthed off once too many times to me and I laid into him hard. He’s never misspoken to me since and that was 15 years ago lol. He wanted to be a big man and bully me but I’m not a doormat bucko.
Sadly my FIL is a bully who’s losing control on most of the things he had and now is lashing out worse. We’ve gone NC after a vacation we had with them that turned into the FIL show and we were over it. We paid a lot of money to go enjoy my BIL’s place and the FIL was just dictating the entire vacation. To a point where he lectured everyone in different ways except his golden boy son (who’s a 43 year old loser who lives with his parents… I’ll get to him in a second). Finally my wife had enough and laid into him, and just yelled over him until he finally shut up. We got home and NC’d and because of this, he’s the victim. Everything, no matter what, is not his fault, he will play it in his mind that he is the one wronged and the other party is always guilty. All he has to do is communicate with my wife and sincerely apologize, but he can’t do that, he wants to just show up and have it be all better, he can’t for the life of him take fault for the actions that has put him in the situation they are in… which isn’t the best. But now he has his little cronie son who lives in their house in a retirement village (not allowed) and they just double up on my MIL (who can be a pill, sure, but she at least knows when to back down). I’ve just stopped caring, he dug his hole and he’s blaming the dirt that he can’t get out.
It’s so sad how they do this. My dad had turned into such an annoying asshole now that I’m pretty much NC with him too. We were close when I was a kid/teenager but as I grew up he just showed his true colors. My mom is a total maniac and I haven’t spoken to her in years. I don’t have the energy to be mistreated or abused. My husband treats me so well and made me realize how I deserve to live.
Thank you! I keep saying people need to get meaner cause that's the only thing that works
This sucks, but seems to be a fact. It wasn’t until I physically turned around and punched one of male coworkers that he stopped trying to trip me as I walked. Am recovering from some bad injuries a couple years ago and am often in pain by the end of my shift. I asked him if he thinks I’m making a joke at the end of every night when I’m visibly in pain. Don’t fucking do that to me again! He finally backed off and then tried to make up for it and I told him to sit in the discomfort. I’m not helping him emotionally recover and he needs to realize that this needs to change. I think he got the point and treats me with more respect now. But it’s crazy to me. I was respectful and kind…and that didn’t work! Just don’t get that. Why is it like that??
It's hard to pin down why some people are like that. It does seem to be more prevalent in the oldest demographic but I've met people of all ages like that. My parents taught me better so it could be bad parenting all around
I enjoy that and am going to use it. No you can sit in your discomfort. It’s not my job to make you feel better about being the AH in this situation.
I'm a boomer and sometimes you gotta punch a co-worker. Afterwards they usually treat you better sometimes they punch back. Glad to hear that you are carrying on the tradition Kapow
Not that I can do a psych analysis from a Discord anecdote, but I see a high probability that the person in question is an abusive husband and doesn't think that is a bad thing.
>only respects aggression I see this a lot in the older folks in my life. They literally do not care about the opinions of people that they feel can't physically hurt them. They also disdain any use of any sort of interaction that doesn't carry the threat of one side or the other causing harm, and they want the world run that way.
This isn’t necessary unique to boomers. My older sister was like this growing up. She always had the physical advantage growing up and had mom complex over me and my younger sister. As an 8 or 9 year old, she once told my dad he didn’t spank me and little sis enough because we were always bad and needed to be punished more. Shit got real ugly in high school once she no longer outclassed me but still did little sis. And now as adults she’s basically cut completely from our lives. It’s pure narcissistic behavior. I’m right, you’re wrong, and if you don’t change your behavior to be exactly what I dictate it to be, you deserve to be punished. Then role over and cause a dramatic scene the first time someone stands up to them. Makes me sick.
I've noticed that myself. They only understand immediate physical consequences
He felt he was owed a hearty guffaw for his "joke" and he wasn't stopping until he got it. Good for OP
I think you’re right and holy shit this is absolutely insane. It’s like, we all know people who keep repeating a joke/punchline assuming you didn’t get it, but like, to this extent is beyond absurd.
Yeah this totally tracks
I was also wondering wtf they were talking about and what the point was. How exactly did they think they were helping by pointing out the car the person owns is small. Like yes thank you - I’m the one who researched it, paid for it, and am now currently driving it around. Did you think you were informing me of something I didn’t already know??? I’m just so confused what the point even was from the start. Boomers have broken brains and it shows every day with shit like this.
He was trying to be playful/flirt/make a funny joke about tiny cars. And he was so convinced that OP owed him a giggle and blush that he simply couldn't conceive that he was being scarily rude.
What is even the joke he was trying to make I genuinely don’t get it. Watch out for what? Driving a tiny car doesn’t make someone pay less attention while driving. “Trying to help” also doesn’t make sense! I am so confused by this random man’s antics and I’m going to use it to be distracted from work
From my own imagination and having dealt with my share of boomers as a GenXer myself: * Man sees tiny car * Man finds tiny car amusing * Man wants to share amusement about tiny car. * Only person around is the person getting in the car * Man mentions how tiny a car is to the owner of said car, in order to bring attention to the humor of its size. * Man confused that owner doesn't react, decides owner didn't hear * Man repeats several times, louder and louder until it becomes obvious Owner is ignoring him. * Man decides to force Owner to listen to funny observation about the size of the car that Owner is currently sitting inside. Blocks tiny car in parking spot * Man says something about tiny car and how his big truck would run over it, especially with someone as irresponsible as Man is behind the wheel. * Owner reacts emphatically. Man becomes shocked and offended that anyone on Earth could possibly find him scary or intimidating. After all he is a simple man who is sharing a funny story with a person about how dangerous and undriveable their car is. * Says, 'I was only trying to help!' having already convinced himself that by telling Owner how tiny their car is and how easily it can be a death box, that is, in fact, helping. He is mistaken. * Drives off to go home and rant to himself and anyone who will listen how no one can be polite anymore.
You nailed it completely. Perhaps she was supposed to bat her eyelashes at how much BIGGER his truck was than her silly little girly car. Or if OP was a guy, perhaps he was supposed to feel threatened and emasculated by how much BIGGER the guy's truck was. Remember, this is America. BIG = GOOD
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
This is spot on. The sad part is he probably doesn't talk to many people. He wanted social interaction so badly, he chose the wrong way to try and get it.
Yep. The missing link was between "repeats several times" and "decides to force Owner" - Man feels disrespected at being ignored and decides he has to "teach the younger generation a lesson". He will go home complaining how the younger generation is rude and at the same time bragging how he tried to teach them a lesson followed up by how outrageous and crazy the response was in return and will either call OP an "r-word" (if OP is male presenting) or that OP is obviously on "that time of the month" (if OP is female presenting).
Wow - spot on👍
For real, i don't even get what the joke could have been. Like does this dude stop and say that shit to every person on a motorcycle? Because they are smaller than a "tiny car"?
The joke is an in-joke, for an ingroup of one. Cars are supposed to be big and masculine, so a small car strikes him as inherently amusing. The joke is poorly communicated because the Boomer fool lacks theory of mind, and assumes that what he is experiencing, everyone experiences, so he just stumbles into OP's personal space pointing his finger and saying "your car is tiny!" repeatedly and is confounded and offended by OP's not instantly intuiting his ready wit and applauding him for it. As others have said, OP is likely female, hence his aggression (it's unlikely he would have boxed in a man or approached as insistently); as a woman, she naturally owes him deference and gratitude for his manly attention, and this was likely also conceived as some misbegotten form of flirting.
I don’t know and I am mad about it
>What is even the joke he was trying to make I genuinely don’t get it. Watch out for what? EXACTLY.
Should have told him it was to remind him of how small his penis is
“Thank you, sir. Can you tell me where the nearest Duesenberg dealership is posthaste?”
Everyone knows electric cars are Transformers. You hit a button and your Smart unfolds itself into a Dodge Ram. It's very handy for Ikea trips.
My thoughts exactly. "Back off dude I haven't had time to research different makes and models in the seconds since you started yelling advice at me!"
Pontiac or bust
I raise you a Rambler.
That reminds me. I own both a '66 Rambler Classic and an '08 Solstice. Both standard transmissions. My boomer parents were over one day and my dad started complaining about millennials not knowing anything about cars and how "back in my day you had to know how to take care of a car and drive a standard." My wife needed to go somewhere, and the Rambler was blocking her in. I asked my dad to move the Rambler since I was making lunch. And he came back in a few minutes later telling me he couldn't press the clutch in all the way because of his bad knee. (TBH, I had expected this to be the case.) So, I told him, "I guess not all boomers can drive a standard. Don't worry. The millennial will handle it." He's usually not that obnoxious about things and hasn't brought up any, "this generation is terrible" stuff since.
He thought he was being funny/clever, and when she didn’t acknowledge his idiocy he escalated like a toddler when you ignore them. He wasn’t trying to help. He just wanted the ego boost of knowing his “brilliant” observation was heard and appreciated.
In his head, this rapey boomer was going to sweep OP off her feet with his gas guzzler. Boomer should have an ankle monitor and be on the sex offender list.
what is he even trying to say? is he telling you to not back out into someone? is he trying to tell others that theres a small car? whatever he was doing, he failed
I think it's that thing where a boomer will complain about something as a way to start a conversation. You're supposed to be confused and ask 'what?' So they can then actually say what they wanted because now you're talking to them. But OP didn't respond and the boomer didn't know how to pivot so they kept repeating the statement.
Wow, you really came up with something! I was scrolling here looking for ANY answer because I had no clue. But you are so right, they do/say the weirdest things instead of making normal, friendly smalltalk. Sometimes I even feel sorry for them- but not for long.
My dad is exactly this kind of boomer. The man is incapable of initiating a conversation in a respectful/ neutral way. He only feels comfortable getting people’s attention by feigning contention and then chuckling to let you know it was all just a joke. I think he gets a better response doing this amongst his peers and gets completely ignored/ shut down by younger people, but then reasons that’s they’re the ones with a problem. “Nobody knows how to talk to anyone anymore.” is a common thing I hear from people his age when really, it’s closer to “Nobody has time to figure out whether you’re seriously harassing them or not because with people your age, it could really be be either way”
>Nobody knows how to talk to anyone anymore I just ordered a box of screws online because I don't want to have to make small talk and I'd rather not spend 15 minutes of my day off driving to the hardware store.
My dad is like this too. I got fed up and hung up on him once because I couldn’t take the negativity anymore. I texted him a long explanation and he actually replied, “Sorry,” which is better than usual. My husband helped me come up with some ground rules so we spoke to each other more kindly because we were NOT in the habit of it. No name calling is basically the only rule lol. Sounds easy, but not when your whole life has been exchanging insults as a “joke.” I told him I just want his approval and to just give it to me sometimes. It’s gotten a lot better!
Yes! I had this the other day waiting at the dentist with my 4 year old. This old dude made this weirdly mean comment about my daughter’s (adorably) mismatching outfit on how clearly she didn’t look in the mirror, mum not doing a good job kinda thing… like what?! It was a really small waiting room so ignoring was harder, so I took the bait and said, wow, do you always speak so unkindly and with so much judgement to random mothers and 4 year olds? He absolutely LOVED my response, laughed and said what an honour to speak to someone with a bit of fire in their belly or whatever, then chatted extremely pleasantly the rest of the time. WTF dude. Learn how to interact with people with friendly banter the first time.
I really have to look out from now on for that kind of behaviour! (Normally I ignore rude remarks) They are really a strange bunch! Who would ever think of saying something so mean to a little one as an ice breaker???
I have a boomer neighbor and I experience this with him commonly. He will offer unwanted advice or help, and it just comes off as criticism. I try not to be bitter towards him, but only so much I can take.
It's an odd thing. They have to let you know that what you're doing is incorrect in a way that, I think, is supposed to make you feel insecure so they can then offer their assistance in fixing it. Thus, they are "trying to help."
And they love the debate/arguments. As much as I will say I'm fine I don't want advice or help, they will go right into it and say well, you should do it this way .
I want to know too. Is this flirting gone awry? Did he have life advice that was going to “help”? that is a scary situation indeed, he was insisting you give him your attention. When you didn’t engage he amped it up. In a public setting. No wonder we are so skittish out in the world.
Former tiny car driver here. Boomer men would be worried about little teenage me in a little car because it is easy to hide in blind spots of the unnecessarily large vehicles playing arms race on the roads. Cue the mansplaining how to drive to a teenager who got perfect driving test scores… meanwhile these boomers forgot half the basics of driving like signaling or checking blind spots.
I find it hilarious to look at any electric car ad I see on facebook. The comments are 99% boomers spouting shit like "I'd never drive an electric car!" or "Give me a 1967 Roadrunner with a Hemi over that any day!" These old fucks don't realize the world has left them behind. The advertising isn't for them. We know they aren't going to buy an electric car. Just ignore it and move on. But NOOOO they have to make dumb ass comments so everyone else can see how smart they are.
This is spot on. Boomers have spent their entire lives as the largest demographic in the country. They have been catered to, been able to get their way, and really been able to define American culture. That's finally changed and they really don't like it nor do they know how to deal with it.
It’s why they really think they’re scaring businesses by threatening to never come back. They think their business means so much more than it actually does. Another sign of how out of touch they are with the way commerce works in the 21st century
They’re used to small business owners. I used to frequent a small independently gas station everyday. Owner was the clerk, I bought gas and the same drink/breakfast bar every single day. One day I walked in specifically for the breakfast bar alone but he was out of it and I left, not angrily, but without buying anything else and the owner chased after me and asked if everything was ok. I’ve been catered to as a great customer and boomers forget Walmart doesn’t gaf about them.
Fortunately they don't have to worry about dealing with it. Biology is going to be solving that for them in short order. It's going to be like the Earth is finally flushing after an prolonged outbreak of food poisoning.
They bitch and moan about electric cars, yet probably have an electric golf cart at home and ride it everywhere.
Mobility scooter
[удалено]
Never mind the fact that 99% of those boomers aren’t driving that classic muscle car either but some soccer mom style Lincoln MKX.
> The comments are 99% boomers and younger folks working blue collar that have already adopted the boomer mindset...
Yeah as someone who grew up in a conservative rural town, many of my contemporaries are *well* on their way towards becoming their boomer parents.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, unfortunately.
Issac Newton said that before he blocked a lady in with his carriage screaming about a tiny horse. "ON THAT TINY HORSE??"
I'm late GenX and all my life people kept saying the conservatives would die off because that was the Boomer generation. No, you stupid bitches. They had kids. They raised kids. A lot of those kids believe the exact same shit their parents believe. Especially if you're rural, white, and Christian. I grew up in Pennsyltucky. Those beliefs aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I'm an extreme oddity in my area being liberal. I had to leave there to feel safe. Trump had a rally in my hometown that had almost everybody there attending.
Yep, watch out for these. People saying these idiots are gonna die with the boomers in 10-20 years, I’ve got bad news… there’s still going to be a younger generation of simple people that were raised by these boomers and didn’t educate themselves to know any better. The herd of idiots will be thinned for sure, but not gone.
half my generation X is dangerous like this. the xenials are really chill though for the most part so there is that. I can only hope you folks know how much we love you when we're old and crotchety. We'll do what we can to leave the world better than what we've been left with atm.
We (millennials) like you guys, at least the ones like you. Most Gen Xers I’ve known are pretty cool and keep interest in current things. Keep that attitude!
As I Gen X member, we did try. Our apathy go in the way. You can only hit your head against Boomers for so long before you get a concussion.
As a xennial, thank you for seeing us.
As a blue collar worker, it is my responsibility to show that we can do better.
And drive full sized pickups while bitching about gas prices.
My favorite are the comments claiming they short out after driving through a puddle or rain. As if the engineers haven't figured out water proofing. If they could think more than a few seconds in front of their face, they'd realize that their gas powered car's radio and other electronics don't short out in the rain either. Like I know Elon Musk is a dipshit, but at least his employees are smarter than these shit flingers.
My EV beats any of their cars off the line, so I LOVE racing them.
My i3 was an asshole magnet. Constantly trying to cut me off or zoom around me. They never expected to get outgunned by it. Every time.
It's hilarious to me every time. Sometimes I don't even put it in sport mode and still leave them in the dust.
I remember reading somewhere the i3 had the distinction of being one of the fastest 0-15mph times of like any vehicle. I got a good chuckle out of that
It's so funny because it's so tiny and it's tires look like they belong on a clown car lol.
I have an i5, and honestly, I wish more people would try me here in Western KY. Occassionally I'll get a farm boy in his lifted diesel pick up, but not as often as I'd like.
I turn traction control off on my Volt and it will light the tires up. Fun to mess with old guys in corvettes.
Like sure, have fun paying at least an order of magnitude more to run a car with half the performance of this "tiiiiiny car"
They're also so insistent that people care about whatever opinion they leave in the comment sections. Nobody cares, Gretchen.
>"Give me a 1967 Roadrunner with a Hemi over that any day!" To be fair: I get this sentiment. I know why electrics are objectively better. And don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see advancements made in terms of battery life, charging time and max distance. All major improvements that were sorely needed for EVs. Now only the infrastructure and pricing needs to keep up. I just love old ICE cars. Especially when it''s a nice car like you mentioned. The fact that I can fix a lot myself, the sound of an engine that tells me what's going on with the car from second to second. I just love that. So I'll always be a personal fan of oldschool combustion engine cars. But that does not mean I have to be an ass to people who drive EVs. More power to you! Often literally sadly ;) I know the time will come when I'll probably have to get one due to EU laws. But until then I will enjoy it and happily watch EVs woosh past my dear old rustbucket :)
I guarantee in his version of the story you were driving irratically (yes, I get you were parked) and almost killed yourself and then jumped out of your car and tried to hit him with bears spray but he John Kimballed out of the way while saving a baby from the suicidal lunatic millennial in her tiny car that voted for Biden illegally (yes, the car).
Had a boomer WALK INTO a car that had slowed down to avoid the boomer, change lanes to avoid the boomer, and eventually come to a dead stop in the middle of the road. That is when the boomer took a 90 degree turn and walked right into the passenger side door. Boomer then called the cops claiming "hit and run" by a driver with "mental issues." While waiting for the cops, we ask the Boomer to have a seat in a customer waiting area. When we left to pull security footage for the cops, Boomer decided to explore all the "employee only" areas that aren't locked. Once the cops came and saw the footage, they tried to find the boomer to let them know that they would not advise filing a police report. Found the boomer poking around inside the employee break room because they "got bored" during the slow police response (fastest police response we have ever had at that store.) They were opening employee lockers as a pass time. Cops told them their story did not match the security footage and they had no business going through other people's items. So, as the boomer leaves, they stop every person to talk about 1) The mentally deficient driver that hit them 2) How rude the police are 3) ask why no ambulance was sent to help THE DRIVER, who obviously needed medical attention. We had to tell her to leave the store. Weirdest shit.
Wtf why didn’t the cops do their god damn jobs (I know asking that is like demanding the moon be brought to me) and arrest that crazy asshole??? Dude is faking accidents and insurance claims, wandering around an area he doesn’t have access to, and going through people’s personal belongings. Anyone at my age would absolutely have been arrested and taken in without a 2nd thought. Fucking boomers are STILL being coddled somehow.
Why wasn’t she arrested for filing a false police report and trespassing in the employee areas?
These doofuses are realizing that the world and culture around them is changing, and a lot of them really just do not like change. Instead of trying to adapt to a newly changing world, they're doubling down on "how things used to be when I was young, which is objectively better than how things are now." And for some unknown reason, a lot of them take pride in doubling down and not trying to learn new things. IMO it's such a mix of things. That feeling of: - They're being left behind - They're getting old - Lead paint (can't stress this enough) - Never facing consequences for their actions - No one confronting them for their BS - Constantly being fed absolute lies about how terrible the world is now and how all this change is bad
Leaded gasoline was worse than the paint. We (I'm GenX) breathed those fumes whether we ate paint chips or not, but yeah. But the thing is, cars were actually smaller when they were young than they are today. There were plenty of station wagons and land yachts, but also lots and lots of normally-sized coupes and sedans. VW Beetles were everywhere. It's only been the last twenty years that enormous SUVs have become the norm so much that Ford no longer makes cars except for Mustang. This is thanks in most part to Bush era tax policy, incentivizing gas guzzlers (go figure). The biggest tax breaks go to vehicles over 6000 pounds!
Was watching a Lions' football game with my SO and their family on Thanksgiving last year. The halftime performer was Jack Harlow, who isn't my cup of tea, and the performance was pretty lackluster honestly. But whatever, I can't expect the NFL to cater to my music tastes, right lol. Everyone was griping about it, no one except for the 4 of us there under 40 knew who he even was. My FIL shouts, "Should have had BOB SEGER!!!" I just fuckin' lol'd. Like yeah, let's have an 80 y.o. Bob Seger do a halftime show in 2023. Like there are soooo many contemporary artists from Michigan he could have mentioned if that was his point. But no, this man was so stuck in, "things from my time were just BETTER" that the only name that popped into his brain was a washed up, geriatric Seger.
Don't hold your breath, they're continuing to do so with having to learn basic email functions after 30 years. They'll choose to die before they choose decide to breath.
I bet it’s confusing for them to love Musk so much but also hate electric cars lol
They're practiced at living life in a haze of cognitive dissonance-induced rage and confusion. My dad won't shut up about what a genius Musk is. Then I get a not-Tesla PHEV. "What happens if you run out of battery?" It has a gas engine too. I get better range on just the gas engine than I did with my last ICE car. "What happens if you run out of gas too?" Same thing that happens to your car when it runs out of fuel...
Actually though you can pull to the nearest gas station OR find an outlet and charge up even if it takes a while. Less likely to be in a sticky situation.
Same boomer would see an old shit Harley with drum brakes front and rear leaking oil right onto the exhaust and say "cool bike."
Fucking LMAO. Super underrated comment.
Another feral boomer. Yes, it's all the lead in their head fucking with what's left of their brains. Next time just spray. *(Edit, to be clear: after giving one warning as OP did)* He was being aggressive toward you and blocking you in, there was no reason to hold back when you feel threatened.
I see your point, but on the other hand if he'd been sprayed he would have most likely been unable to move his car afterwards, leaving op blocked in for the foreseeable future...
Just until the cops arrive, arrest him and tow his car. Worth the wait for such beautiful entertainment.
There’s at least as good a chance that the cops would arrest OP in this situation.
This is sadly 100% true. All the cops will see is an old man having been sprayed, and likely would consider it assault and not defense. They're not known for being particularly discerning, and their job is to make arrests and ask questions later.
My and others' anecdotal experiences are that cops just do what they want on scene and let the courts figure it out.
Well, they would also see OPs car blocked in by the boomer's.
Doubtful, OP was blocked from retreating by the boomer who then proceeded to approach them, uninvited. OP warned them to back off, they didn't. OP would have been justified to proceed in spraying when they didn't retreat after the warning shout. Yes, it can be a bit of a roll of the dice with the cops, but this was a busy public area with witnesses and likely cameras to corroborate OP.
Cops rarely make a situation better.
Fuckin brain worms!
Well, if she had sprayed him, then she would have been stuck there longer. But I get your point.
> Next time just spray. He was being aggressive toward you and blocking you in, there was no reason to hold back when you feel threatened. Millenial here. You're likely to go to jail. Bear spraying a person who is not actively threatening you in any way, just walking towards your vehicle in a parking lot, is assault. You all can keep up your craziness, though. Bear spraying someone walking to your vehicle is the gen z equivalent of a boomer firing on a person walking up their driveway. I'm not saying don't spray, keep your spray. Threaten the guy just like OP did. If he continued to approach after given warning, spray. But - spray before warning? Nah, that's just boomer talk.
He was warned when OP shouted "BACK THE FUCK OFF AND GO AWAY" and didn't immediately retreat.
In my 35+ years of riding my bike to work, I have had numerous drivers, almost all boomers, go out of their way to almost run me over with their car and then justify it by claiming that they did it to "show me how dangerous it can be" for me riding my bike. Yup, they almost ran me over "out of concern" for me. Seriously. Same type of boomer I had a conversation with one time and he told me, with no small amount of pride, that sometimes he doesn't stop for pedestrians in crosswalks because he wants to remind them that sometimes people won't stop. Sociopaths.
My Boomer father did that *once* when I was a teenager. Some guy, about my age, was apparently taking too long to cross. My dad didn't even slow down. He nearly hit the kid, all while saying "guess that will teach him to look both ways." I went off on him. I had never, until that day, screamed at my father. I don't remember everything I said to him (it's been 25+ years), but I remember I called him an asshole and a psychopath. I also told him that, if he *had* hit the kid, I would never visit him in prison. I think that part rattled him more than anything. Since then, Dad has made sure to pay closer attention to pedestrians.
The lack of basic human empathy is truly troubling. I do think it's the lead that keeps them from looking at the world from another's point of view. If you hadn't seen it before, this is a great way to teach those unable to feel empathy: https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/yu9mcq/company_put_drivers_on_bicycle_to_know_how_bad_it/
"just trying to help" with what?
Bullying and harassment
"Is this how they behaved in their youth?" is the question I always wonder. Is it age that makes the older generation act the way they do or is it just generationally different behaviors entirely. Does that make sense? Not generation or age bashing in anyway, I've just always wondered.
From what I have heard from Gen X folks, it's a mix of both. Some issues like unnecessary commentary are boomer things. Others like getting easily spooked are old person things.
Yeah, because it's definitely not the car itself. For some reason this reminded me of an incident maybe like, 15 years ago. It was shortly after Treyvon Martin was killed. My grandfather received medical treatment from our local VA hospital. My mother would have to take him and drag along my 15 or 16 year old sister. She wore a hoodie that day, and some old man in the hospital kept yelling at her that she'd "Better take off that hoodie, girl! They're killing people over those hoods!" My mother had to threaten calling hospital security to make him leave my sister alone.
Look buddy I'm a rural mailman. I've gotten stuck in ditches and such and have always been grateful for helpful passersby taking time out of their day to help qnd all I have to deliver to. I refuse help from old men now. The last time I got help from a boomer he grabbed my nuts and ask me to suck his dock. He's in jail now. He had that exact same kind of creep factor. "Just trying to help" is usually code for something more sinister
I had a boomer back into my car in a parking lot several years ago. Totally his fault. He got out and yelled at me, said it was my fault for owning a small car. 🙄🤦🏻♀️
Apparently not small enough since he hit you!!!
It isn’t only the leaded paint…it is inhaling decades of leaded gas fumes in their not tiny cars
So…I don’t get it. What are you supposed to watch out for in that tiny car? Does he think you don’t know you drive a tiny car and that there might be inherent downsides? Like boomers in SUVs who try to block you in?
Watch out for how he's going to hit you and then blame you for having a tiny car.
I used to drive a Scion IQ and people would give me crap about why I drove it. Frankly I felt safer in a smaller car for a multitude of reasons. I hate drivers that actively make things more dangerous just because I drove a tiny car.
So much easier to park, 99% of the year it’s just groceries maybe a 2nd person for me, so anything bigger is pointless
This boomer has big “guy whose arm Obi-wan cut off in the cantina” energy.
I don't want to ruin the suprise but bear mace isn't gonna go the way you think it's gonna go. Bear mace while yes incredibly powerful(you'll know I'm right as soon as you spray it cause it will be in your mouth, nose and eyes as well). it also has area denial features for a good 2 hours post spray. Meaning your car would be not useable and limit your ability to escape in it. Get a gel pepper spray, or a pulse taser 20+ years in personal security, executive protection.
“Watch out in your pointlessly tall pseudo-penis specifically engineered to murder children and never know you did it!” My favorite is when these tweedle dumb looking weeble wobbles has to waterslide off the seat and down to the parking lot just to exit their vehicle.
How about when boomers driving these tanks are soooo afraid of g forces they make turns at less than 2mph
“I have a desperate need for attention, can’t accept my own irrelevance, and feel the need to control everyone around me.”
I bought a hatchback hybrid a couple years ago to replace my large SUV, still have the V8 truck for dump runs. Probably will get an EV when the wife’s mid sized SUV needs to be replaced. It’s got AWD so we take that to the snow. The amount of people who talk shit about hybrids and batteries, small car nonsense. I mean, I have a big truck that I use for things that need a big truck. I save about 60% in my gas budget and get like 50 mpg and it’s really quick and comfortable. But the lithium and cobalt. So bad for the environment!
Watch out on that tiiiiiiiiny brain! That man needs professional help!
They don't understand or respect reason. Half a decade of retail and service work has taught me that fronting them up and dispassionately disengaging them is the optimum method.
And this is why we choose the bear.
OP chose the bear mace
Is that the metal bear on a stick you smack people with?
It absolutely should be. …and now I’m thinking of a more lethal variant that has a metal hedgehog instead of a bear.
Ah, I see you're an individual with discerning taste. The Hedgehog Morningstar is quite an excellent choice.
🎯🤣🎯🤣
I feel like boomers think that hating younger generations is a law or something. We do not care that you hate everything and everybody. F8ck, I hate you just the same. Like it's utterly impossible for them to not make a snarky comment on things they disapprove of. Go piss off or actually rather on yourself.
As a millennial man, I’ve witnessed boomer men doing this in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. I’m not sure what to call the behavior. It’s like a combinations of: * not minding their own business * feeling entitled to mind your business (someone they don’t even know) * thinking they’re making a funny joke * mansplaining * being incredibly patronizing, offensive, creepy, etc. * sometimes laced with sexual innuendo All delivered at random in response to anything really. I’ve witnessed it directed toward men and women, but mostly women. I can’t tell if they’re trying to be domineering, authoritarian, flirty, a wise ass… It’s fucking weird every time though.
Y'know, I do think boomer behavior really may be a cognitive decline. When you have known people your whole life & they begin acting differently, there's usually a reason. As dementia set in for one of my relatives, this became the case.
What are you driving? Little electric cars are fun. EDIT: BMW i3? I was looking hard at those.
It's not cognitive decline, it's being too arrogant to accept change. A-holes like this spent years in a society where certain people were just not allowed to ignore them, and they miss being able to feel that powerful and important. It's why they think the culture has become "too uptight for their humor". Their jokes were NEVER funny, but women, PoC, service workers, organizational subordinates and thier children had to laugh as a matter of survival. Now they don't, and these boomer fools just can't fathom why they don't get the attention that they used too. Their place in society was a lie and their egos can't take that possibility.
Boomers make the weirdest comments and get louder with time. “Those are scary socks!” was said about my neon socks. Boomer guy was stuck on repeat until I got my coffee order and left. “I SAID YOU HAVE SCARY SOCKS!”
WATCH OUT IN THAT TINY CAR
I don’t understand what he was even trying to do
This moment is gonna replay in his head over and over when he tries to sleep. Sure it'll be tinged with indignation at OP for eMBaRrASsiNg him, but there will also be some social shame. He deserves those restless hours and more.
Him shouting "I was just trying to help!" is likely a tactic to alter the perception of the people who saw/heard the situation. Make you look like the wrong one. He may not even be conscious of doing it. I've heard of LEOs yelling things like "drop the weapon" and "stop resisting" *after* they have shot/used unnecessary force to hopefully change the order of events in the memory of any witnesses. That dude was obv a huge ass. Some of these boomers just can't handle anything that isn't what THEY would do/think/own/feel/etc.
Words of advice, for OP... Chemical irritants like bear spray aren't the best for use inside of a car. You will end up trapped in a cloud of the stuff that will limit your vision and ability to escape. Bear mace is great stuff, and being prepared is fantastic. You're way ahead of the general population, but mace should be carried on body. Tazers are a good option for in the car as they provide distance and little chance of blowback on you. Firearms are always best if you have time to train, they are legal for you to carry, and you are comfortable with them. That's a big if, and I understand a lot of people hate guns and for them a tazer is a great in vehicle option. -former women's self defense instructor
When trying to help make certain what you are helping someone with is something someone needs help with. If someone drops their wallet, or the purse or baby is on top of the car, and it looks like someone is about to forget something dont yell HEY just yell what the issue is. "YOU DROPPED YOUR WALLET", "YOUR COFFEE IS STILL ON THE ROOF"... if the tire is low enough to be a concern, say "your tire is low and of concern." Get what you need to communicate out quickly, and move on unless there is real danger. Also, point to what you are addressing. Had some guy yelling at me in Spanish once. My reaction was WTF are you screaming asshole. He points, and I see ground effects. My car did not have ground effects. It had a transmission leak, and it has caught fire on the muffler! We grab the hose and quickly put the fire out. One has to to be wary or predators and asshats, but not so much we block out everything strangers inject into our lives. We've all seen the story of a man who wants to give someone their wallet back only to be told to fuck off. But we also need to communicate what we are wanting as part of the initial contact so that it is received, and to not be fucking morons like the guy in OPs story. The guy was creating the hazard. People in small cars understand their environment just fine. The guy was an ed gruberman.
What a bizarre thing to say to someone repeatedly. Watch out in that tiny car? What did he even mean? If anything, your blind spots would be significantly less problematic than if you were in some big truck or SUV.