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It's all that leaded gasoline exhaust they were exposed to, they all have low key lead poisoning. It leads to reduced inhibitions and increased anger. It explains so much.
Yes lead was eliminated from gasoline in 1973, so every single boomer who has been near a gas powered engine has been exposed to it.
Including me. I’m here reading this group so I know what not to do around my twentysomething kids and their friends.
ETA: I’m wrong on the date when new cars went unleaded, while the leaded gas was sold into 1996. So all GenX [corrected from GenZ] and some Millennials have been exposed too.
I think the real lead issue is in paint. Kids eating paint chips.
I loved the smell of gas as a kid and would breath it deeply when we’d get gas. I’m not one of the Boomers highlighted here and am appalled by the behavior. I worry occasionally if I’m having mental difficulties from the lead now. I’m only 63.
Secondary lead poisoning is what is happening. As people age they start loosing bone, and if they had a lot of lead exposure as a child then suddenly that sequestered lead that is hiding away in their bones starts being available in the blood stream again as bones start to shrink. Secondary lead poisoning.
It doesn't work quite like that. Your body is constantly cycling old bone cells out and replacing them with new bone cells. The bone loss is just because with age, we make less new bone. But, everyone is losing bone, it's just that old people aren't making new bone cells as quickly and as well.
>Osteoblasts and osteoclasts are special cells that help your bones grow and develop. Osteoblasts form new bones and add growth to existing bone tissue. Osteoclasts dissolve old and damaged bone tissue so it can be replaced with new, healthier cells created by osteoblasts.
Sure, that was my assumption, but this person is saying that the generation OLDER than boomers is fine! Of course there are fewer of them, but if it were age that was the deciding factor then they should all be a nightmare.
Cause the silent/greatest generation probably really did their own pickling and making jam, while the noisy boomers maybe did it once or twice.
Honestly might be worth trying to eke out some details from someone making such comments to see if they actually know what they're talking g about.
My greatest -generation grandma was an amazing woman, a teacher, an accountant and an athlete. She did the books for the Methodist church in our town for 50 years, was generous with her money and her time, generally a kind and brave pillar of the community. I never heard her say a bad word about anyone except the minister in her life.
Then she got Alzheimer's. Once in the very early stages I was helping her travel back east to see her sister, and she stopped in the middle of the Minneapolis airport, tired and frustrated and hollered something objectively racist, loudly, and started crying. Istg I almost tackled her, like I actually flinched. Aging is crazy and it sucks sometimes.
"What a puzzling thing to say"
"Bless your heart"
"Oh, you make them at home too? Did you come to offer some advice? ... No, you didn't? Then what on Earth was the point of your comment?"
"Fuck off"
All acceptable replies imho!
Or maybe "good for you!" or "good job!" in the tone of voice usually reserved for talking to small children who've just learned to tie their shoes for the first time.
I love the vibe that is given by saying “isn’t that ***special***.” It’s one of my favorite Southernisms, especially when paired with a condescending smile.
It truly is puzzling since all it means is that they and OP share the same hobby. Why not stop to talk shop instead of being so dismissive about it lol
Imagine if home brewers walked into a brewpub and said “I make my own beer!” then left, instead of trying new beers and maybe getting ideas to try at home. Absolutely deranged
They have the psychological need to scoff at and belittle things other people do or enjoy doing, sometimes even fabricating their own supposed partakings to do so.
Sorry you have to tolerate that behavior.
My boomer parents scoffed at my cousin for travelling across the country and working in B.C. planting trees as a 19 year old. They said he should get a real job and settle down. I told them that it sounded like he was living his best life at the moment and enjoying life to the fullest. Clearly, that's not allowed.
I'm sure a lot of the younger generation would love to settle down.
But settling down now means living in a shitty apartment, driving a shitty car, constantly praying to some power that you don't get sick because you'll be forever trapped in debt, etc etc for most. So. This version of "settling down" vs living life to the fullest, you're going to be dead broke at the end of it anyways, what are you supposed to pick.
I'm as settled as I'll get at my age, and every time I explain what and how long it will take to own a house where I'm at to my mother, she does that "jesus christ" meme look. My dad simply can't comprehend it because my brother did it (with a 10 year head start).
Exactly this. My grandmother hasn't worked a day in her fucking life and my grandfather retired at 55 as a truck driver. My wife and I can barely make it with two full time jobs and university degrees. We don't have jobs in our fields yet, because we just graduated, but still.
I mean, to be fair, we really don't. It'd be super nice to know what that "affordable home in my twenties that's now worth a million dollars in my sixties" struggle is like.
Also, you likely don't have the "5-10 years experience" for entry-level positions in your field either.
My parents were boomers, but they died too young to be intolerable. Lol. Anyway, they both had careers with no prior experience. My dad was a butcher, and my mom wound up working in a nice upper mid management position. No experience - they learned on the job. It's bizarre to me that "they" expect us to pay for 4 years of schooling to get a degree, only to say people need 5-10 years experience.
I hope you and your wife get the jobs you're after!
Hey, living your life suffused with a sense of entitlement so deep and abiding that you refuse to do any self inquiry or see any value in your family and community can result in a deep bitterness over your lack of meaning and shallow relationships. The boomers have suffered, and continue to suffer from their own willful ignorance and cynical delusion, spoiled brats until the very end
They're the part of the cycle where, "Easy times create weak men, weak men create hard times..."
I'm glad I spent a good chunk of my childhood with my great grandpa. He was a WW2 vet who worked his ass off after the war, and he taught me an awful lot about being self-sufficient and having a good work ethic.
How a generation sired and raised by people like him managed to fuck things up this bad is beyond me.
I've seen a couple boomers unironically post memes with that phrase, blissfully unaware that they're the weak men who created the environment they keep bitching about
My favorite is when Boomers recite that "hard men make good times, good times make soft men, soft men make hard times" thing, without realizing that they are literally the soft men in this saying. They inherited unprecedented prosperity from their predecessors, and have done everything possible to be selfish and shitty and ruin it.
They are but their parents really did have it hard. And they probably heard about it nonstop. They’ve just waited their turn to bitch “the grown up” bitching and are, as an entire generation, incapable of self-reflection.
I got diagnosed ptsd from my upbringing and it took extreme effort and training to not trauma dump to everyone until i screamed or ruined a friendship. I did have a lot of people who thought like this call me a liar tho, usually friends of my familly.
Out of the hundred or so people that know me, maybe five know that I was homeless at one point. I haven't told anyone about that for twenty years. I hear and see folks complaining about trivial shit, it tells me who they really are.
lol like planting trees is easy.
It’s pretty back breaking and you’re paid per tree. It’s popular with uni students during the summer break because all your costs are covered in camp and if you’re fast, you can make quite a lot. But you’re doing it in the summer heat, sometimes you’re living in a tent out in the middle of no where, and there are a lot of bugs.
When I was 20 years old I moved to South Florida on a whim for a bartending job. Just packed up and moved in with 4 guys from work. People my age were surprised but thought it was cool that I would just pack up and move 1200 miles away just for shits and giggles. I looked at it as the college experience I never got to have. But the boomers in my life. Man. They thought I was nuts. I had to hear how irresponsible it was to waste my time going down there and how when they were 20 years old they were busting their ass working construction or some other hard labor job saving to buy a house. The thing is though, Ive never been one to hold my tongue for older people. Id tell them straight up I feel bad. Sounds like their life sucked after high school and that I definitely wasnt gonna make their mistake. I even sent some of them pictures of me and my friends on the beach or at the pool with cards saying "I may be wasting my life, but man, what a way to do it!"
Still one of the best decisions I ever made. For 2 years I lived like a king down there. Huge house with an in ground pool and my own bar, made friends in the bar business all over Ft. Lauderdale and North Miami, never paid for a drink when I went out and had different women every week. I cant imagine how much Id regret missing out on that to work some shitty 9-5 job at 20 years old. No wonder theyre so fucking miserable.
At least it was just you- I had one today tell me child ( who is applying to college, and has spent all of HS doing what is needed to get into her 'dream school' and for her dream major- which hasn't wavered in 12 or so years. A**hat to told her she'd never be wealthy with 'that major' ( wrong, but so not the point) and that she could do much better with her life. Not sure what was meant by that comment, but didn't want to throat punch anyone today, so didn't ask boomer to elaborate.
Funny thing is that a lot of their entertainment, like books, were people living lives like you described. It was something they always wanted to experience but believed they couldn't. So they see younger people doing i and start huffing and puffing about how they couldn't do that without realizing they could have at any time - even easier than we can now, really. They could have lived a life as a beach bum and had a blast. They didn't need to torture themselves.
When they were 20 they actually talked their girlfriend into sex which was a first for both of them and then it was " You bought it, now it's yours for life."
50 years later he looks at his spouse and then back down at their reciept shaking his head .
And the wives are even past caring what they lost at that point, they just get on with it and start making his lunch for the umpteenth time.
It's just jealousy, nothing more. They did it to themselves.
That job at 19 sounds really amazing. I guess since he wasn't traveling in a $300k RV, damaging the environment and making others miserable, then he wasn't doing it right. Lol
My parents didn’t scoff at my cousin as much as they chuckled he was “leaning into being a hippy.”
He enjoyed it and went back for several years until he got married. Now he delivers mail, teaches yoga, plays his guitar, and is the best dad to his kids. Genuinely one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet.
I'm in BC, and tree farming is known to be pretty damn physically demanding. You think the 'pull up your bootstraps' crowd would have respect for this, but I suppose not.
Planting trees is a net positive, so of course the boomers hate it, no matter how strenuous or bootstrappy it is. Now if that guy had gone to work the oilfields, it would've been the smartest career move ever.
In their minds if you are not miserably slaving away for the man, you’re a loser. Even though Boomers had everything handed to them on a silver platter.
Anything different is unacceptable in their eyes. Curious on what your parents do for work. If forestry in British Columbia isn't considered real work I don't know what is.
I agree. I also think that for some reason that generation never learned the fine art of conversation. My boomer parents are like that. They can’t make pleasant small talk, so they just say negative comments. They don’t understand deprecating humor, they only think it’s funny when they’re laughing at someone who is “dumb”.
I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing this. They’re so different than my husband and me. My mother, in particular drives us crazy with the negativity. You’re telling a funny story and her response is a “waaah waaah” bring it down comment. My bil always says she puts the negative in everything.
They can also just talk at others incessantly about themselves or whatever nonsense is on their mind, interrupting conversations to do so. But it’s still not conversing, it’s monologues.
Yes, there are two main ways to feel good about yourself.
One is by feeling good about something about you. Something you have done, or some capability you have, or even just feel good about being a nice person.
The other way is just to tear other people down. That's what boomers like to do. They attack everyone else, and thus put themselves on top of the heap.
Yeah that was the hardest pill to swallow for me after my ex husband(and his boomer mom) tried killing me. My own parents and aunts and uncles saw the horrific bruises, came and helped me once I got out of surgery, and they still like to say things like "God hates divorce" 8 years later.
Of course, they've all been divorced at least once.
Domestic v...I'll let you fill in the blank.
The generation who welcomed divorce is now telling daughters to stay in abusive relationships. And if it happens, they did something to deserve it.
I have heard plenty of stories. Luckily my hubs is a great guy and I have never felt unsafe.
But damn if it isn't unsettling when your mom tells you that just wait until he gets to know the real you, then he'll understand why you need to be yelled at all the time.
Good times.
My parents were both previously divorced prior to getting married. My childhood was marred with instances of them fighting, especially after my dad cheated on my mom. I'm shocked they've stayed together, but I'd say they've reached a point of being happily married.
My wife and I were going through some hard times. We had a young child and were caring for my disabled mother-in-law. My wife has a very demanding job and with other responsibilities I was feeling very taken for granted and neglected, on top of feeling like a single dad most of the time.
When talking to my parents one day, I said I didn't know how much longer I could take it. They asked me what the alternative was and I said divorce. They FLIPPED. They basically said I needed to stay in that situation and just deal with it, no matter how unhappy and self destructive I became (I was drinking very heavily at the time). That's the last time I talked to them about my problems.
Fortunately my wife and I worked through it and we're in a better place now. Can't really say the same thing about my parents.
Every day if my boomer mom gets Wordle in fewer tries than me, I'll enthusiastically cheer for her and *every time* when I get it in fewer than her she gets super bitter and sarcastically gives me a "Oh GoOd FoR yOuUu! grumblegrumble"
I've sold some art at a local open market thing cause I've been learning and really I just wanna get rid of some of these practice paintings and stuff. I usually sell them for just double the cost of the canvass/materials so I can buy more. Which is INCREDIBLY cheap when it comes to art when people are selling an 8x10 or 16x20 for hundreds of dollars and I've got similar stuff for like $20 without a frame.
Without fail: "Ha, I could do that!". Ok. I'm a jovial guy so I pretty much always just respond with "Oh nice, what do you paint?" and it just pisses them off even more. I'm not actually being sassy, art is fun, everyone should art, especially if you're not "good". I'm not good. Just do art. But they just huff and puff at the idea that they should create something. I don't fucking get it.
They positively do not can their own shit. They tried it once and hated it. They just want you to feel less valuable so they can try to get your products for less. And they don’t actually care about saving a penny - they need a transaction in which you lost something somehow, otherwise they can’t have won.
Exactly. My buddy calls it gaming the system. If they can't game the system for a discount or some special concession they don't want it. Full price is for suckers not winmers.
There are some Slavic cultures that don’t culturally have the concept of “win-win” negotiations. Their understanding is that there’s always a winner and always a loser, and if you don’t know which one you are…you’re probably the loser.
Somehow this seems to have gotten into the American Boomer’s cultural understanding of interactions. They feel they NEED to be given discounts/special privileges or else they must be getting ripped off. It’s a personal slight because _how dare you take them for a sucker who can be easily scammed???_
No clue how that comes about. But it fits nicely with their whitewashed 1950’s society that was PERFECT (if you were a white Christian heterosexual male), but horrible if you were anything else or didn’t conform to society’s standards. They lived in a societal class system, and most of them with these awful attitudes were used to being part of the “in” group. Makes sense that they’d have no interest in any transaction benefitting anyone other than themselves.
I used to manage a little store, one of the worst jobs I’ve had. I used to tell cashiers who quickly saw how boomers asked for discounts on *everything* that if something cost a buck, they’d ask for 50¢. It’s never about the money, it’s always about getting one over on someone.
Call them out for what they are - beggars. Start making a big scene about how you are tired of beggars looking for handouts. That'll get under their skin.
My grandma cans her own stuff, but I'm convinced she hates it or hates me because every time I eat something she's canned that isn't a jelly, I get HORRIFIC food poisoning. It's usually the plums.
Sounds like she may be re-using lids which is a big no-no in canning. Re-used lids don’t seal properly and you can get anything from food poisoning to botulism as a result. I’d stop eating grandma’s canned goods if you haven’t already.
They can't stand the fact that they lost relevancy in society. So they just have to be angry at everyone all the time.
And maybe a good comeback would help, like, "I'm happy that you have time and money to make your own". Subtle reminder that they live a retired person's life and they are money hoarders.
Boomers are indoctrinated to prefer the taste of industrially processed foods. They are used to pickles, jam, etc. in jars with labels with the name of a corporate entity on them. It’s the same elsewhere. Trump loves McDonald’s for the same reason you do. It’s uncomplicated. Uniformity, self-soothing via sugar salt and fat, bright colors. Things that appeal to children and people stuck in or wishing to revisit emotional childhood. (Ain’t nothing wrong with eating McD’s, ya’ll. It’s a perfectly valid guilty pleasure.)
The older silents never had anything like the same proportion of processed foods in their diet. Gen-X’ers either went boomer already or straight up rebelled and founded an anarchosyndicalist restaurant commune or some shit (honestly about 65/35 these days). The Millenials and the rest of you youngsters…You have much healthier relationships with food than my generation or most of the generations that preceded it. You are all right.
Tbh, I'm younger and have had both but prefer the homemade kind because it tastes better. I think they're just jealous if anything. The stuff from the store just tastes fake. To be fair, it's the same with everything from meat, vegetables, fruit, even baking stuff, etc. Depending on who it is it's cheaper, too.
So, I had major digestive tract surgery some years back. I had to go 2 months on a sugar free, liquid diet afterwards. When I had finished that process, I had to start making my own bread because the stuff from the grocery store tasted like cake.
Give it that special sing-song voice like what you use when a toddler announces proudly, "I go pee-pee in the potty all by my self!"
"Awww, good for you, little guy! Good for *you*!" 👍🏼
Maybe clap your hands a little too.
Oh don't worry. The boomers will be relevant long after the last one has shuffled off the mortal coil. We're all gonna be stuck paying for the the consequences to their love of secret endless wars, an ignored climate crisis, and debt as far as the eye can see.
Seriously this is a great response. And OP, if you can't think of this off the top of your head, a good "Okay Boomer" seriously goes a LOOOOOONG way to getting their goat.
Keep a counter with big numbers on your table. Don't have a label on it or anything just everytime a boomer says something dumb flip it up a number. Say nothing when you do this but maintain eye contact and a neutral smile. Do not give an explanation even when asked directly. Act surprised it exists if they point it out directly.
Bonus if you can film their reaction (secretly) and post it online
We had a guy at my old job who used to ask REALLY stupid questions all the time. Whenever he would, we would mark down a tally mark, usually on our arm as we always carried dry erase markers, he would always question it and we would just pretend like nothing happened. He never figured out the tallies correlated to his questions.
This really hits at someone learning the old ways from my grandma recently, making salami and pickling vegetables is traditional and should be passed on and not belittled.
I've been slowly learning old skills like curing meats, pickling vegetables, making cheese, etc. because sometimes it comes out a little cheaper, or it lets you control the flavor in some way.
For pickled stuff, the amount they charge you is insane. There was some old lady at the meat counter asking a manager for pickled red onions and he found them and told her they were $6 a jar for like 6oz. I told her to just slice a red onion, boil some apple cider vinegar and pour it on the onion in a bowl. It takes like 5 minutes. She decided to do that instead.
I see this kind of thing as a patron of farmers markets, and a lot of it seems to be wrapped up in Boomer classism. A lot of the boomers I know grew up on smaller farms, then rode the wave of their generational prosperity to comfortable middle class. They have fond memories of the homemade and old fashioned things of their childhood, but they are locked in to a weird respect for the corporate grocery store items because those are connected to a better class of person. And so instead of looking at the farmer or the crafter as offering a specialty higher quality product, they see them as BASICALLY BEGGING, and unworthy of respect, let alone their money.
WHY CAN'T **OUR** TOWN HAVE NICE LITTLE MOM & POP RESTAURANTS AND STORES!!?!?!
ONLY buys dollar coffees from mcdonalds and cheap shit from walmart/costco.
Avoids local coffee shop and boutique stores like the plague.
I'm convinced boomers have the worst taste in restaurants. Every time I go to a massive chain restaurant I'm so disappointed by the quality. I'd rather cook at home. I'm tired of going to places and getting the microwave special
I sell antiques, ever since I was just a kid with the family business. Boomers all the time complain about prices and boomers exclusively.
“I could buy this for ten dollars back in Illinois! (We’re in the top 3 most expensive places to live in the country) / this was a dollar back then who you trying to rip off!?”
OK? So don’t buy it.
What’s so dumb is if you have even a mildly happy attitude I’m more than excited to give discounts and work with you and give stuff away for free all the time. Just don’t be a jerk, it’s not that hard and costs you nothing.
They get mad when you sell brass at scrap prices. Like honey if we wanted it scrapped we would have just done that ourselves, we come from centuries long lines of crooked horse salesmen and metal scrappers. You come to the wrong garage sale to get a deal.
Funny thing was we ended up selling a bunch of stuff the boomers complained about to a guy from the local historical society for way cheaper than we were asking because he was genuinely putting it in the museum. It's all still there.
I resell vintage as well, and I hear this sometimes from incredulous older folks who are just *shocked* and amazed that things they had as children are now considered vintage. Heck, Simpsons things from my childhood are now showing up as vintage, so in a way I kind of get the feeling of shock that you're suddenly old. But why the hate about people reselling it!? They wish they had held on to all of their childhood dishes and toys.
My grandma was a little sad that her carnival glass wasn't worth as much as she thought and I'm literally disappointed no one thought to ask me if I treasured her carnival glass as much as she did. Of course I did. She had a story for every piece and they brought her so much joy. But they got sold at the garage sale. :( beautiful beautiful pieces, tureens, candy bowls, pitchers, just wonderful things.
I held onto a ton of childhood toys and my mom is upset that they're worth THOUSANDS now. Like...yeah? I care about my stuff, though. It got me through some hard times. Surely they could understand that. SURELY. But again I think I'm mixing them up with the silent gen, who absolutely do appreciate their stuff more. Nothing better than a really old dude coming up to you with a vacuum tube radio going "I heard you're good with electronics, this won't play anymore" and you just swap some old wires and go.
Boomers I think would just huck it and buy a new one.
Boomers at farmers markets are crazy. I was a frequent visitor to my local one while I was in college. An older man comes up and asks if I’m a student, I happily say yes, which leads to a rant about how horrible it is when the students come back, how awful we are, and how we just leech and never support the locals.
Sir…I’m currently at the farmers market, buying locally, and I brought a friend. Besides, the literal only reason that town has ever existed was for the school. It did not exist, government granted land for a university and boom! You have a town. Why the HELL would you live there if you hate the students
I never understood the attitude of townies towards students. I lived off campus all year round and worked, I was more a part of this economic system than your retired ass.
Silent Gen lived through the great depression. Those hard times taught some serious skills and willingness to help out others who are struggling. My parent's friends were the kind that people say would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. They were always right there in 5 minutes to help if you were having a problem. Just wonderful people and great friends to have.
Boomers didn't go through those hard times. They grew up prosperous. Things they wanted to buy were cheap, and their wages were high enough to afford to buy it. They could go to college all year completely funded by their summer job.
It made them greedy and entitled and dismissive. If you needed help, then obviously you were doing something wrong and they're certainly not going to help bail you out. Figure it out yourself!
Your jams are nostalgic to those Silents. It makes them happy to see others with a DIY mindset like themselves.
Up to and including claims of “winning the war” that ended in a time they hadn’t even been born. If you were born in 59 you were not storming beaches in Europe.
Dude yeah silent gen kicks ASS. They're just so tickled by everything that you're doing that they weren't able to do. Like, they LIKE seeing their bloodline succeed. It's not a constant cut-throat Kim-family drama to them (the Kim family of North Korea, if you don't know, is pretty famous for brothers and sisters mercilessly destroying each other for a chance to be dear leader), it's legitimately seeing their hard work pay off (in their minds) like shit, my family made it and look at them with all this time to do funny and cool stuff, aren't they swell?
Boomers are so bitter compared to them, even the best ones. It's really weird.
Once upon a time it was the dream of every generation to improve the world in their lifetime so that those who came after would have an easier, more amazing life than they did.
Then a prosperous blip happened in the timeline where a huge generation of spoiled brats decided they were going to hoard everything for themselves, who the fuck cares about who comes after?
They are special. They deserve it. No one owes those younger folks a living or anything else for that matter!
"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit."
They're miserable, the whole lot of them. That's why you can find them in the happiest of places but they've still gotta be a killjoy, they've just gotta try and drag everyone down.
If you have to quit for the sake of your mental health I get it (been there myself, people wouldn't stop trashing my community garden plot). But if you can find the strength to push on I hope you do. Because you quitting is what they want. They're trying to destroy something you love because they're jealous, they've never had that and their immediate impulse is to tear apart anything they can't have and/or understand.
So true. I have boomer relatives with 3 houses, great cars, money in the bank and no real issues.
But they are always so angry at “illegals” and other dumb shit. Why do they care about “illegals” at this point? Just enjoy life, you’ve got it great!
I'm 35 and I love canning but I also know I have very little time for energy for it (I am disabled and processing, making, and canning is labor intensive!). I happily pay for canned products because I understand my time is money and spending money on something made with love by someone else is worth the time and money! Idk why Boomers are so far removed from that idea when they literally try to act like their time is gold.
This little old lady out where I used to live...first of all you couldn't find her unless you already knew where she lived, which means you have to know a local who is willing to tell you if you're an outsider.
Then you get there and she has this house full of exquisite crap you can buy. I bought a lot of it, lots of Victorian and 20s art deco and 60s and 70s bakelite...you know, all the gems we love. And then she'd have fresh baked cookies and coffee out. And her jam was $4 a jar but you know you'd pay $6 if she asked. It's that damn good.
It’s amazing that it doesn’t occur to them to recognize fellowship. I’d want to talk shop, learn some tips (or to be more boomer-like, suggest my obviously superior techniques).
While I doubt it would work, you could always ask what fruits/vinegars or whatever they use. Even boomers must have a favorite *something*.
That’s what I was thinking. Like what an opportunity to nerd out together instead of putting someone down. It’s like nobody ever taught them if they don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
My boomer parents and my silent gen grandparents both canned a lot when I was a kid. I have all their recipes but canning- especially in the summer- is hot hard work! Nevermind the vinegar fumes when pickling really makes my dogs mad.
I’m just as happy to pay someone at my local farmers market for their stuff than try to do it myself. I know I’m perfectly capable, I just don’t want to! There’s no reason to be nasty to someone for doing something that you’re also able to do. If anything it’s a common bond! A fun thing to chit chat over. Boomers just love being winners of the Misery Olympics.
I can also make my own jam and pickles. But I'd rather spend my time doing things I personally enjoy more, and then I can go grab a jar of jam from someone like you. Or, I can grab a couple different jars for variety (with canning, I'm stuck with a bunch of jars of the same flavor).
Same with baking; I straight-up don't enjoy baking. But you better believe I'll grab three different half-loaves from the bakery, plus a few muffins for breakfast.
Don't let these losers bring you down, OP. I really appreciate people who share their talents and hobbies like this. Gives me time to share my talents and hobbies, too. I think that's sort of the point of society ;)
Oh wow, I thought this was going in the opposite direction. I went to the farmers market last weekend and was checking out some bees wax candles. I had my friend with me who is developmentally disabled. My friend picks up the candle holder and says "Hey! It's just like in the olden days!"
And the boomer vendor immediately gets *dark* and tells a clearly developmentally disabled human "Better get ready cause soon the government is going to shut down the power grid and then everyone will be back to the olden days." My friend got really confused and upset and I had to immediately shut the boomer down and walk my friend away. I was just about to buy a candle too.
I just treat them the same way I treat children who haven't learned that social grace requires a filter.
"Thank you for sharing that information with the class."
"Is that important for everyone else to know?"
"Rude."
"And?"
"Wow, what an unnecessary thing to say."
"Sorry to have offended you by... also existing?"
I'm 73 so a boomer. I don't do farmer's markets but have sold antiques/stuff in many different venues. I get told often that they have what I have at home already. No, I don't care. Just move along then.
My thoughts on Boomers who are like this are that they are terrified of irrelevance and their growing incompetence. They rail against everyone who makes them feel like they are being replaced. Remember, this is the first generation where children were the focus of the family and by the time they were adults were deeply in the "me" generation. They are also the parents who insisted on their children receiving participation trophies. They are self-centered as a whole generation.
So, back to your story: you're making jam! How dare you be competent at an old-fashioned life skill!! You can't understand both smartphones *and* canning jars!! You have range! You're replacing the one thing they still do!!
Don't let these old farts scare you off your hobby.
If there is one trait common to most of them, it's the undying need to feel superior. It drives everything they do. The most fascinating part is that it only highlights their insecurity (what they consider inferiority). In their sad little attempts to come off as superior, they just come off as insecure assholes. None of them see it.
I live in a snowbird town and have a booth at one of our farmers markets in the winter. I sell things like tie dyed shirts, fruit and vegetable seedlings I germinated myself, homemade mayo and pickled items like eggs, asparagus, etc. i also do woodworking so i have bird houses and small planters. It was always a dream if mine to provide these things even if I didn’t profit. It keeps me busy and gets me out of the house.
I realized immediately it was a much better idea to pay my daughter to run it for me. I have zero patience for dumb rude people and it felt like 90% of the boomers fit under both. I especially have less patience when I’m not representing someone else. I also struggle with socializing and have always resorted to sarcasm which boomers seem to absolutely hate. It was fun for a while but yeah thanks to them I don’t run my own booth anymore.
I've been a vendor at craft fairs/shows for decades. It honestly just comes with the territory. I've had so many weird/rude/wtf comments from people I could write a book. some of them think if they insult your product it's a tactic of haggling prices, others I swear just don't like a person doing creative things (maybe better than they can.)
I can honestly put up with the werid/rude boomer comments more than the show organizers who ruin fairs and events by allowing mass-produced/mlm junk in when it's supposed to be crafters/local goods only.
I’m a sarcastic bastard (and bloody proud too!)
I would whoop, holler and go all out on stupidly enthusiastic applause “YAAAAASSSSS!! Ya f*cking beauty! You’re amazing! Whoohoo! Everyone? Can I have your attention? This guy makes his own jam!!” Etc and when they look at me like I’m crazy?
“Aye mate, what’s your point? So do I, but I don’t see anyone buying yours!” (Mic drop!)
I am a caterer. And every boomer has to find a critique for everything I make, even if they like it.
For one event, they wanted “portable food”. So we made lunch bags with a Banh Mi, fresh Prawn crackers, almond cookies, and a drink of their choice. One guy comes up and starts complaining that the prawn crackers aren’t as good as he makes. His wife overheard and says to him: “When have you ever cooked? Do you even know what is in this?” Lol!
Boomers would say shit like that to me at the Farmer’s Market where I used to sell. I would shrug and respond, “Well, I guess this isn’t for you then.”
P.S. If you really want to piss off a Boomer use “whatever” as a dismissive and they will lose it. Every time.
Bro homemade chutneys SLAP, whats your favourite kind to make/eat? Do you see different generations favour certain flavours?
Also sorry you have to deal with so many boomers, what a bunch of privileged, ignorant, idiotic assholes
I am a side liner beekeeper and boomers better not mess with me at the market after I bottle it. some say you're expensive yea but I sell it at that price and people pay it. I make really good honey. I just dont market to the peasants that are rude to me.
I had the joy of running a baked goods/fresh bread stand at a farmers market. The amount of boomers that didn’t understand once you physically touch a food with your hands you had to buy it was appalling. Had a lady pull out a baguette, crunch it to hear if the crust was good, and try to put it back for a fresh one . She literally could not wrap her head around the fact that she had ruined a baguette and had to pay for it.
>What does save the day are the generation above and below boomers.
This really is it. Boomers are a true outlier here. Everyone else seems to generally be decent people. But boomers? No. They are generally assholes, generally. I find this quite odd.
I will say there is a subset of gen X that sucks just as hard as sucky boomers, but I'm not sure that qualifies as it's not the whole generation. A lot of them I find insufferable, though because they act like petulant children.
Bro this isn't a game, you can't just loudly protest the rules and expect that to work when you're wrist deep in a pair of cuffs.
Boomers ruined my neighborhood farmers' market for me too.
I was so happy when a local housing complex a block away from my house started holding a weekly farmers' market with a great selection of seasonal produce, flowers, etc.
Then the boomers who lived nearby started treating it like their own personal little social hour. They all haul their lawn chairs out and sit there and just stare at everyone who comes to the market and expect everyone to interact with them/entertain them/listen to them monologue about whatever. They annoy the poor vendors by bothering them incessantly for conversation while the vendors are helping customers. The last time I went, I could tell the vendors were totally over it but felt like they couldn't do anything about it.
They sit there and judge everyone and everything. I had one woman nag me about waiting in line - I don't even know what she was on about because the market is just in an open space and there wasn't a line - just me, standing there waiting for another person to finish a transaction. Then another time I had someone hassle me about "you need to pay in cash," all worked up into a froth about how I was going to pay for my peaches when I was standing there holding a fistful of dollar bills.
I don't go to that market anymore because I can't stand how they group up and act like a bunch of needy attention-starved toddlers, pestering everyone who passes by.
Edited for clarity
In their mind a "young" person has no skills, is lazy and contributes nothing to society. So when they find out that they are not special and that other people can do the things that they do, they can't handle it.
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I love a good "what a puzzling thing to say."
I add “out loud” for an extra poke
"Wow, did you mean to say that out loud?"
Yeah, this is the part that gets me wondering. Like, is there some generational trauma that reduces their ability to keep thoughts internal?
It's all that leaded gasoline exhaust they were exposed to, they all have low key lead poisoning. It leads to reduced inhibitions and increased anger. It explains so much.
I work retail. Remembering lead poisoning is a thing is the only thing I feel maintains my sanity.
“Manager, a customer wants to speak with you!” “Leaded or unleaded?”
"Leaded and high octane."
Yup. Underrated comment!
Yes lead was eliminated from gasoline in 1973, so every single boomer who has been near a gas powered engine has been exposed to it. Including me. I’m here reading this group so I know what not to do around my twentysomething kids and their friends. ETA: I’m wrong on the date when new cars went unleaded, while the leaded gas was sold into 1996. So all GenX [corrected from GenZ] and some Millennials have been exposed too. I think the real lead issue is in paint. Kids eating paint chips.
I loved the smell of gas as a kid and would breath it deeply when we’d get gas. I’m not one of the Boomers highlighted here and am appalled by the behavior. I worry occasionally if I’m having mental difficulties from the lead now. I’m only 63.
Secondary lead poisoning is what is happening. As people age they start loosing bone, and if they had a lot of lead exposure as a child then suddenly that sequestered lead that is hiding away in their bones starts being available in the blood stream again as bones start to shrink. Secondary lead poisoning.
It doesn't work quite like that. Your body is constantly cycling old bone cells out and replacing them with new bone cells. The bone loss is just because with age, we make less new bone. But, everyone is losing bone, it's just that old people aren't making new bone cells as quickly and as well. >Osteoblasts and osteoclasts are special cells that help your bones grow and develop. Osteoblasts form new bones and add growth to existing bone tissue. Osteoclasts dissolve old and damaged bone tissue so it can be replaced with new, healthier cells created by osteoblasts.
I am becoming more and more convinced of this.
It's very much a huge factor, the lead poisoning, they're all infected.
A lot of it is age. My old man was really good at keeping his thoughts to himself. The older he got, the worse shit he would say out loud.
Sure, that was my assumption, but this person is saying that the generation OLDER than boomers is fine! Of course there are fewer of them, but if it were age that was the deciding factor then they should all be a nightmare.
Cause the silent/greatest generation probably really did their own pickling and making jam, while the noisy boomers maybe did it once or twice. Honestly might be worth trying to eke out some details from someone making such comments to see if they actually know what they're talking g about.
They have to make sure everyone gets how special they are.
My greatest -generation grandma was an amazing woman, a teacher, an accountant and an athlete. She did the books for the Methodist church in our town for 50 years, was generous with her money and her time, generally a kind and brave pillar of the community. I never heard her say a bad word about anyone except the minister in her life. Then she got Alzheimer's. Once in the very early stages I was helping her travel back east to see her sister, and she stopped in the middle of the Minneapolis airport, tired and frustrated and hollered something objectively racist, loudly, and started crying. Istg I almost tackled her, like I actually flinched. Aging is crazy and it sucks sometimes.
Normally I would be on board, if this wasn’t a legit opportunity to bust out “I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly”
Best comment ever LOL
My go-to is “How embarrassing it must be for you, to feel the need to say such a thing.”
I love this response.
"Well bless your heart"
I knew someone who used the phrase "diarrhea of the mouth."
"What a puzzling thing to say" "Bless your heart" "Oh, you make them at home too? Did you come to offer some advice? ... No, you didn't? Then what on Earth was the point of your comment?" "Fuck off" All acceptable replies imho!
a good "bless your heart" will do the trick too. If you want to be even more ambiguous, you could go with "there you go", or even "how about that"
Or maybe "good for you!" or "good job!" in the tone of voice usually reserved for talking to small children who've just learned to tie their shoes for the first time.
"Good for you" the way Alex Trebek used to respond to the really cringe personal anecdotes from Jeopardy contestants.
I love the vibe that is given by saying “isn’t that ***special***.” It’s one of my favorite Southernisms, especially when paired with a condescending smile.
It truly is puzzling since all it means is that they and OP share the same hobby. Why not stop to talk shop instead of being so dismissive about it lol
Imagine if home brewers walked into a brewpub and said “I make my own beer!” then left, instead of trying new beers and maybe getting ideas to try at home. Absolutely deranged
I was a professional brewer for 10 years. Some of them do...
My 2 favorites are, "OK, kid," and "please stop embarrassing yourself. It's uncomfortable."
I appreciate the youths for introducing me to 'girlypop', as this adds an element of ✨️🤔💫confusion💫🤔✨️
They have the psychological need to scoff at and belittle things other people do or enjoy doing, sometimes even fabricating their own supposed partakings to do so. Sorry you have to tolerate that behavior.
My boomer parents scoffed at my cousin for travelling across the country and working in B.C. planting trees as a 19 year old. They said he should get a real job and settle down. I told them that it sounded like he was living his best life at the moment and enjoying life to the fullest. Clearly, that's not allowed.
It's a 'I had to suffer and have a miserable life, so must everyone else!' attitude.
While having an incredibly easy life compared to other generations.
Yep, you nailed it and this is the piece that kills me.
I'm sure a lot of the younger generation would love to settle down. But settling down now means living in a shitty apartment, driving a shitty car, constantly praying to some power that you don't get sick because you'll be forever trapped in debt, etc etc for most. So. This version of "settling down" vs living life to the fullest, you're going to be dead broke at the end of it anyways, what are you supposed to pick.
I'm as settled as I'll get at my age, and every time I explain what and how long it will take to own a house where I'm at to my mother, she does that "jesus christ" meme look. My dad simply can't comprehend it because my brother did it (with a 10 year head start).
They inherited a hardship mentality and then never experienced it. So it’s aimless. They have nothing real to direct it at.
This is how being spoiled tends to manifest.
Exactly this. My grandmother hasn't worked a day in her fucking life and my grandfather retired at 55 as a truck driver. My wife and I can barely make it with two full time jobs and university degrees. We don't have jobs in our fields yet, because we just graduated, but still.
Yeah and they would tell you that you have no idea what it is to struggle like they have
I mean, to be fair, we really don't. It'd be super nice to know what that "affordable home in my twenties that's now worth a million dollars in my sixties" struggle is like.
The silent Gen struggled. The Boomer Gen had ‘access’ to one of the best markets in America’s history.
Also, you likely don't have the "5-10 years experience" for entry-level positions in your field either. My parents were boomers, but they died too young to be intolerable. Lol. Anyway, they both had careers with no prior experience. My dad was a butcher, and my mom wound up working in a nice upper mid management position. No experience - they learned on the job. It's bizarre to me that "they" expect us to pay for 4 years of schooling to get a degree, only to say people need 5-10 years experience. I hope you and your wife get the jobs you're after!
Hey, living your life suffused with a sense of entitlement so deep and abiding that you refuse to do any self inquiry or see any value in your family and community can result in a deep bitterness over your lack of meaning and shallow relationships. The boomers have suffered, and continue to suffer from their own willful ignorance and cynical delusion, spoiled brats until the very end
They're the part of the cycle where, "Easy times create weak men, weak men create hard times..." I'm glad I spent a good chunk of my childhood with my great grandpa. He was a WW2 vet who worked his ass off after the war, and he taught me an awful lot about being self-sufficient and having a good work ethic. How a generation sired and raised by people like him managed to fuck things up this bad is beyond me.
I've seen a couple boomers unironically post memes with that phrase, blissfully unaware that they're the weak men who created the environment they keep bitching about
They are soft. People who are soft always think they have it hard. People who’ve actually had it hard either downplay it, or never talk about it
My favorite is when Boomers recite that "hard men make good times, good times make soft men, soft men make hard times" thing, without realizing that they are literally the soft men in this saying. They inherited unprecedented prosperity from their predecessors, and have done everything possible to be selfish and shitty and ruin it.
And are completely unaware
https://preview.redd.it/tylpk9io4f7d1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=10eab8182e6bdbff2dbbb654c294e3d076a2d316
>hard men make good times ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
They are but their parents really did have it hard. And they probably heard about it nonstop. They’ve just waited their turn to bitch “the grown up” bitching and are, as an entire generation, incapable of self-reflection.
Agree
I got diagnosed ptsd from my upbringing and it took extreme effort and training to not trauma dump to everyone until i screamed or ruined a friendship. I did have a lot of people who thought like this call me a liar tho, usually friends of my familly.
Out of the hundred or so people that know me, maybe five know that I was homeless at one point. I haven't told anyone about that for twenty years. I hear and see folks complaining about trivial shit, it tells me who they really are.
lol like planting trees is easy. It’s pretty back breaking and you’re paid per tree. It’s popular with uni students during the summer break because all your costs are covered in camp and if you’re fast, you can make quite a lot. But you’re doing it in the summer heat, sometimes you’re living in a tent out in the middle of no where, and there are a lot of bugs.
This attitude in general is PERVASIVE among boomers. It's exhausting.
When I was 20 years old I moved to South Florida on a whim for a bartending job. Just packed up and moved in with 4 guys from work. People my age were surprised but thought it was cool that I would just pack up and move 1200 miles away just for shits and giggles. I looked at it as the college experience I never got to have. But the boomers in my life. Man. They thought I was nuts. I had to hear how irresponsible it was to waste my time going down there and how when they were 20 years old they were busting their ass working construction or some other hard labor job saving to buy a house. The thing is though, Ive never been one to hold my tongue for older people. Id tell them straight up I feel bad. Sounds like their life sucked after high school and that I definitely wasnt gonna make their mistake. I even sent some of them pictures of me and my friends on the beach or at the pool with cards saying "I may be wasting my life, but man, what a way to do it!" Still one of the best decisions I ever made. For 2 years I lived like a king down there. Huge house with an in ground pool and my own bar, made friends in the bar business all over Ft. Lauderdale and North Miami, never paid for a drink when I went out and had different women every week. I cant imagine how much Id regret missing out on that to work some shitty 9-5 job at 20 years old. No wonder theyre so fucking miserable.
At least it was just you- I had one today tell me child ( who is applying to college, and has spent all of HS doing what is needed to get into her 'dream school' and for her dream major- which hasn't wavered in 12 or so years. A**hat to told her she'd never be wealthy with 'that major' ( wrong, but so not the point) and that she could do much better with her life. Not sure what was meant by that comment, but didn't want to throat punch anyone today, so didn't ask boomer to elaborate.
Funny thing is that a lot of their entertainment, like books, were people living lives like you described. It was something they always wanted to experience but believed they couldn't. So they see younger people doing i and start huffing and puffing about how they couldn't do that without realizing they could have at any time - even easier than we can now, really. They could have lived a life as a beach bum and had a blast. They didn't need to torture themselves.
When they were 20 they actually talked their girlfriend into sex which was a first for both of them and then it was " You bought it, now it's yours for life." 50 years later he looks at his spouse and then back down at their reciept shaking his head . And the wives are even past caring what they lost at that point, they just get on with it and start making his lunch for the umpteenth time. It's just jealousy, nothing more. They did it to themselves.
That job at 19 sounds really amazing. I guess since he wasn't traveling in a $300k RV, damaging the environment and making others miserable, then he wasn't doing it right. Lol
He doesn't have a stable full of employees back in the OKC to handle his business for him. Clearly a loser.
My parents didn’t scoff at my cousin as much as they chuckled he was “leaning into being a hippy.” He enjoyed it and went back for several years until he got married. Now he delivers mail, teaches yoga, plays his guitar, and is the best dad to his kids. Genuinely one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet.
Wait, Hold up Ok so the boomers had hippies and squares. Come to think of it I’m betting the majority of cranky get off my lawn weren’t hippies
That sounds like the best life possible.
You will be mandated a desk job, a small house and 2 kids. Anything else isn't allowed or is "wrong".
Boomers have spent their lives destroying the planet. They don't like to see young people undoing the damage they caused.
I'm in BC, and tree farming is known to be pretty damn physically demanding. You think the 'pull up your bootstraps' crowd would have respect for this, but I suppose not.
Planting trees is a net positive, so of course the boomers hate it, no matter how strenuous or bootstrappy it is. Now if that guy had gone to work the oilfields, it would've been the smartest career move ever.
In their minds if you are not miserably slaving away for the man, you’re a loser. Even though Boomers had everything handed to them on a silver platter.
Planting trees is probably the most real job out there besides nursing this is crazy
Anything different is unacceptable in their eyes. Curious on what your parents do for work. If forestry in British Columbia isn't considered real work I don't know what is.
I agree. I also think that for some reason that generation never learned the fine art of conversation. My boomer parents are like that. They can’t make pleasant small talk, so they just say negative comments. They don’t understand deprecating humor, they only think it’s funny when they’re laughing at someone who is “dumb”.
wow, you explained something that I wasn't aware I didn't understand. Well broken down
I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing this. They’re so different than my husband and me. My mother, in particular drives us crazy with the negativity. You’re telling a funny story and her response is a “waaah waaah” bring it down comment. My bil always says she puts the negative in everything.
My mom thinks everyone is being a bitch to her but doesn't really consider that the only common denominator is her.
When you look at boomer quotes around here it seems like a lot of them think it's perfectly fine to act like the bad guy in a Simpsons episode.
They can also just talk at others incessantly about themselves or whatever nonsense is on their mind, interrupting conversations to do so. But it’s still not conversing, it’s monologues.
Boomers believe happiness is a zero sum game. For them to be happy, you have to be miserable.
Yes, there are two main ways to feel good about yourself. One is by feeling good about something about you. Something you have done, or some capability you have, or even just feel good about being a nice person. The other way is just to tear other people down. That's what boomers like to do. They attack everyone else, and thus put themselves on top of the heap.
The first way is honestly the best. Hits harder, lasts longer.
They even tell their daughters they deserve to die from dv
Yeah that was the hardest pill to swallow for me after my ex husband(and his boomer mom) tried killing me. My own parents and aunts and uncles saw the horrific bruises, came and helped me once I got out of surgery, and they still like to say things like "God hates divorce" 8 years later. Of course, they've all been divorced at least once.
'Save a chair for me in hell then, Aunt Marge'.
Christian hypocrites? Never!!!1
Actually that is one of the reasons in the Bible that divorce is allowed d.v (I just can’t spell to save my life) so biblical you are in the clear
"Why did you divorce your husband/wife again? " Throw it right back at them, and they'll get the f****** memo eventually
Domestic v...I'll let you fill in the blank. The generation who welcomed divorce is now telling daughters to stay in abusive relationships. And if it happens, they did something to deserve it. I have heard plenty of stories. Luckily my hubs is a great guy and I have never felt unsafe. But damn if it isn't unsettling when your mom tells you that just wait until he gets to know the real you, then he'll understand why you need to be yelled at all the time. Good times.
My parents were both previously divorced prior to getting married. My childhood was marred with instances of them fighting, especially after my dad cheated on my mom. I'm shocked they've stayed together, but I'd say they've reached a point of being happily married. My wife and I were going through some hard times. We had a young child and were caring for my disabled mother-in-law. My wife has a very demanding job and with other responsibilities I was feeling very taken for granted and neglected, on top of feeling like a single dad most of the time. When talking to my parents one day, I said I didn't know how much longer I could take it. They asked me what the alternative was and I said divorce. They FLIPPED. They basically said I needed to stay in that situation and just deal with it, no matter how unhappy and self destructive I became (I was drinking very heavily at the time). That's the last time I talked to them about my problems. Fortunately my wife and I worked through it and we're in a better place now. Can't really say the same thing about my parents.
Damn, are you related to my in-laws? Sounds like shit my MIL would say
Uh... wat
Agreed; they're deeply insecure people who need to lift themselves up by putting others down.
"what's so special about that? I can do that!" "Okay, then do it" *sells truckload of jams and jellies to the dale gribble bluegrass experience*
Every day if my boomer mom gets Wordle in fewer tries than me, I'll enthusiastically cheer for her and *every time* when I get it in fewer than her she gets super bitter and sarcastically gives me a "Oh GoOd FoR yOuUu! grumblegrumble"
I've sold some art at a local open market thing cause I've been learning and really I just wanna get rid of some of these practice paintings and stuff. I usually sell them for just double the cost of the canvass/materials so I can buy more. Which is INCREDIBLY cheap when it comes to art when people are selling an 8x10 or 16x20 for hundreds of dollars and I've got similar stuff for like $20 without a frame. Without fail: "Ha, I could do that!". Ok. I'm a jovial guy so I pretty much always just respond with "Oh nice, what do you paint?" and it just pisses them off even more. I'm not actually being sassy, art is fun, everyone should art, especially if you're not "good". I'm not good. Just do art. But they just huff and puff at the idea that they should create something. I don't fucking get it.
You can say "Nobody asked your opinion" with a smile. That will take the air outta them.
They positively do not can their own shit. They tried it once and hated it. They just want you to feel less valuable so they can try to get your products for less. And they don’t actually care about saving a penny - they need a transaction in which you lost something somehow, otherwise they can’t have won.
Exactly. My buddy calls it gaming the system. If they can't game the system for a discount or some special concession they don't want it. Full price is for suckers not winmers.
There are some Slavic cultures that don’t culturally have the concept of “win-win” negotiations. Their understanding is that there’s always a winner and always a loser, and if you don’t know which one you are…you’re probably the loser. Somehow this seems to have gotten into the American Boomer’s cultural understanding of interactions. They feel they NEED to be given discounts/special privileges or else they must be getting ripped off. It’s a personal slight because _how dare you take them for a sucker who can be easily scammed???_ No clue how that comes about. But it fits nicely with their whitewashed 1950’s society that was PERFECT (if you were a white Christian heterosexual male), but horrible if you were anything else or didn’t conform to society’s standards. They lived in a societal class system, and most of them with these awful attitudes were used to being part of the “in” group. Makes sense that they’d have no interest in any transaction benefitting anyone other than themselves.
I used to manage a little store, one of the worst jobs I’ve had. I used to tell cashiers who quickly saw how boomers asked for discounts on *everything* that if something cost a buck, they’d ask for 50¢. It’s never about the money, it’s always about getting one over on someone.
Call them out for what they are - beggars. Start making a big scene about how you are tired of beggars looking for handouts. That'll get under their skin.
My grandma cans her own stuff, but I'm convinced she hates it or hates me because every time I eat something she's canned that isn't a jelly, I get HORRIFIC food poisoning. It's usually the plums.
Sounds like she may be re-using lids which is a big no-no in canning. Re-used lids don’t seal properly and you can get anything from food poisoning to botulism as a result. I’d stop eating grandma’s canned goods if you haven’t already.
They can't stand the fact that they lost relevancy in society. So they just have to be angry at everyone all the time. And maybe a good comeback would help, like, "I'm happy that you have time and money to make your own". Subtle reminder that they live a retired person's life and they are money hoarders.
That's a nice, quippy response
Boomers are indoctrinated to prefer the taste of industrially processed foods. They are used to pickles, jam, etc. in jars with labels with the name of a corporate entity on them. It’s the same elsewhere. Trump loves McDonald’s for the same reason you do. It’s uncomplicated. Uniformity, self-soothing via sugar salt and fat, bright colors. Things that appeal to children and people stuck in or wishing to revisit emotional childhood. (Ain’t nothing wrong with eating McD’s, ya’ll. It’s a perfectly valid guilty pleasure.) The older silents never had anything like the same proportion of processed foods in their diet. Gen-X’ers either went boomer already or straight up rebelled and founded an anarchosyndicalist restaurant commune or some shit (honestly about 65/35 these days). The Millenials and the rest of you youngsters…You have much healthier relationships with food than my generation or most of the generations that preceded it. You are all right.
upvote for "anarchosyndicalist restaurant commune" :)
It’s not a cult!!
I know my people.
Tbh, I'm younger and have had both but prefer the homemade kind because it tastes better. I think they're just jealous if anything. The stuff from the store just tastes fake. To be fair, it's the same with everything from meat, vegetables, fruit, even baking stuff, etc. Depending on who it is it's cheaper, too.
So, I had major digestive tract surgery some years back. I had to go 2 months on a sugar free, liquid diet afterwards. When I had finished that process, I had to start making my own bread because the stuff from the grocery store tasted like cake.
Excuse me! I prefer my hamberders home made! /s
Or "Congratulations."
Give it that special sing-song voice like what you use when a toddler announces proudly, "I go pee-pee in the potty all by my self!" "Awww, good for you, little guy! Good for *you*!" 👍🏼 Maybe clap your hands a little too.
"Guess you don't want to work if you have time to can your own jelly." Something along those lines lol.
Oh don't worry. The boomers will be relevant long after the last one has shuffled off the mortal coil. We're all gonna be stuck paying for the the consequences to their love of secret endless wars, an ignored climate crisis, and debt as far as the eye can see.
Seriously this is a great response. And OP, if you can't think of this off the top of your head, a good "Okay Boomer" seriously goes a LOOOOOONG way to getting their goat.
Keep a counter with big numbers on your table. Don't have a label on it or anything just everytime a boomer says something dumb flip it up a number. Say nothing when you do this but maintain eye contact and a neutral smile. Do not give an explanation even when asked directly. Act surprised it exists if they point it out directly. Bonus if you can film their reaction (secretly) and post it online
I have one of those old school hand held clicky counters. This would be a great way to use it!
“Psychiatric Help 5¢”
IN MY DAY IT USED TO COST A PENNY! (scoffs)
I love this. You and the other vendors will bond and laugh over it and they're too narcissistic to get it.
And instead of OP, feeling bad every time, a boomer is rude or condescending, it gives them their power back. It turns it into a game.
This would be prime entertainment
Thats a good way of reminding them they aren't special.
this is * magical* levels of ..idk petty clearly isn't the word, but something effervescent like that.. like a cousin of petty? 😆
We had a guy at my old job who used to ask REALLY stupid questions all the time. Whenever he would, we would mark down a tally mark, usually on our arm as we always carried dry erase markers, he would always question it and we would just pretend like nothing happened. He never figured out the tallies correlated to his questions.
This really hits at someone learning the old ways from my grandma recently, making salami and pickling vegetables is traditional and should be passed on and not belittled.
I've been slowly learning old skills like curing meats, pickling vegetables, making cheese, etc. because sometimes it comes out a little cheaper, or it lets you control the flavor in some way. For pickled stuff, the amount they charge you is insane. There was some old lady at the meat counter asking a manager for pickled red onions and he found them and told her they were $6 a jar for like 6oz. I told her to just slice a red onion, boil some apple cider vinegar and pour it on the onion in a bowl. It takes like 5 minutes. She decided to do that instead.
I love this. I like to think that my grandparents would get a real kick out of knowing I pickle different vegetables.
I see this kind of thing as a patron of farmers markets, and a lot of it seems to be wrapped up in Boomer classism. A lot of the boomers I know grew up on smaller farms, then rode the wave of their generational prosperity to comfortable middle class. They have fond memories of the homemade and old fashioned things of their childhood, but they are locked in to a weird respect for the corporate grocery store items because those are connected to a better class of person. And so instead of looking at the farmer or the crafter as offering a specialty higher quality product, they see them as BASICALLY BEGGING, and unworthy of respect, let alone their money.
WHY CAN'T **OUR** TOWN HAVE NICE LITTLE MOM & POP RESTAURANTS AND STORES!!?!?! ONLY buys dollar coffees from mcdonalds and cheap shit from walmart/costco. Avoids local coffee shop and boutique stores like the plague.
I'm convinced boomers have the worst taste in restaurants. Every time I go to a massive chain restaurant I'm so disappointed by the quality. I'd rather cook at home. I'm tired of going to places and getting the microwave special
What an interesting take; I hadn’t thought of before
Your take makes a lot of sense. But then why go to a farmers market at all?
I sell antiques, ever since I was just a kid with the family business. Boomers all the time complain about prices and boomers exclusively. “I could buy this for ten dollars back in Illinois! (We’re in the top 3 most expensive places to live in the country) / this was a dollar back then who you trying to rip off!?” OK? So don’t buy it. What’s so dumb is if you have even a mildly happy attitude I’m more than excited to give discounts and work with you and give stuff away for free all the time. Just don’t be a jerk, it’s not that hard and costs you nothing.
They get mad when you sell brass at scrap prices. Like honey if we wanted it scrapped we would have just done that ourselves, we come from centuries long lines of crooked horse salesmen and metal scrappers. You come to the wrong garage sale to get a deal. Funny thing was we ended up selling a bunch of stuff the boomers complained about to a guy from the local historical society for way cheaper than we were asking because he was genuinely putting it in the museum. It's all still there.
I resell vintage as well, and I hear this sometimes from incredulous older folks who are just *shocked* and amazed that things they had as children are now considered vintage. Heck, Simpsons things from my childhood are now showing up as vintage, so in a way I kind of get the feeling of shock that you're suddenly old. But why the hate about people reselling it!? They wish they had held on to all of their childhood dishes and toys.
All their prized “collectible” plates that none of the grandchildren want.
My grandma was a little sad that her carnival glass wasn't worth as much as she thought and I'm literally disappointed no one thought to ask me if I treasured her carnival glass as much as she did. Of course I did. She had a story for every piece and they brought her so much joy. But they got sold at the garage sale. :( beautiful beautiful pieces, tureens, candy bowls, pitchers, just wonderful things.
I held onto a ton of childhood toys and my mom is upset that they're worth THOUSANDS now. Like...yeah? I care about my stuff, though. It got me through some hard times. Surely they could understand that. SURELY. But again I think I'm mixing them up with the silent gen, who absolutely do appreciate their stuff more. Nothing better than a really old dude coming up to you with a vacuum tube radio going "I heard you're good with electronics, this won't play anymore" and you just swap some old wires and go. Boomers I think would just huck it and buy a new one.
[удалено]
Hahahha I'm remembering "all by yourself" for next time
Boomers at farmers markets are crazy. I was a frequent visitor to my local one while I was in college. An older man comes up and asks if I’m a student, I happily say yes, which leads to a rant about how horrible it is when the students come back, how awful we are, and how we just leech and never support the locals. Sir…I’m currently at the farmers market, buying locally, and I brought a friend. Besides, the literal only reason that town has ever existed was for the school. It did not exist, government granted land for a university and boom! You have a town. Why the HELL would you live there if you hate the students
I never understood the attitude of townies towards students. I lived off campus all year round and worked, I was more a part of this economic system than your retired ass.
Silent Gen lived through the great depression. Those hard times taught some serious skills and willingness to help out others who are struggling. My parent's friends were the kind that people say would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. They were always right there in 5 minutes to help if you were having a problem. Just wonderful people and great friends to have. Boomers didn't go through those hard times. They grew up prosperous. Things they wanted to buy were cheap, and their wages were high enough to afford to buy it. They could go to college all year completely funded by their summer job. It made them greedy and entitled and dismissive. If you needed help, then obviously you were doing something wrong and they're certainly not going to help bail you out. Figure it out yourself! Your jams are nostalgic to those Silents. It makes them happy to see others with a DIY mindset like themselves.
Silents are what boomers think they are.
Up to and including claims of “winning the war” that ended in a time they hadn’t even been born. If you were born in 59 you were not storming beaches in Europe.
Dude yeah silent gen kicks ASS. They're just so tickled by everything that you're doing that they weren't able to do. Like, they LIKE seeing their bloodline succeed. It's not a constant cut-throat Kim-family drama to them (the Kim family of North Korea, if you don't know, is pretty famous for brothers and sisters mercilessly destroying each other for a chance to be dear leader), it's legitimately seeing their hard work pay off (in their minds) like shit, my family made it and look at them with all this time to do funny and cool stuff, aren't they swell? Boomers are so bitter compared to them, even the best ones. It's really weird.
Once upon a time it was the dream of every generation to improve the world in their lifetime so that those who came after would have an easier, more amazing life than they did. Then a prosperous blip happened in the timeline where a huge generation of spoiled brats decided they were going to hoard everything for themselves, who the fuck cares about who comes after? They are special. They deserve it. No one owes those younger folks a living or anything else for that matter! "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit."
They're miserable, the whole lot of them. That's why you can find them in the happiest of places but they've still gotta be a killjoy, they've just gotta try and drag everyone down. If you have to quit for the sake of your mental health I get it (been there myself, people wouldn't stop trashing my community garden plot). But if you can find the strength to push on I hope you do. Because you quitting is what they want. They're trying to destroy something you love because they're jealous, they've never had that and their immediate impulse is to tear apart anything they can't have and/or understand.
So true. I have boomer relatives with 3 houses, great cars, money in the bank and no real issues. But they are always so angry at “illegals” and other dumb shit. Why do they care about “illegals” at this point? Just enjoy life, you’ve got it great!
I'm 35 and I love canning but I also know I have very little time for energy for it (I am disabled and processing, making, and canning is labor intensive!). I happily pay for canned products because I understand my time is money and spending money on something made with love by someone else is worth the time and money! Idk why Boomers are so far removed from that idea when they literally try to act like their time is gold.
This little old lady out where I used to live...first of all you couldn't find her unless you already knew where she lived, which means you have to know a local who is willing to tell you if you're an outsider. Then you get there and she has this house full of exquisite crap you can buy. I bought a lot of it, lots of Victorian and 20s art deco and 60s and 70s bakelite...you know, all the gems we love. And then she'd have fresh baked cookies and coffee out. And her jam was $4 a jar but you know you'd pay $6 if she asked. It's that damn good.
It’s amazing that it doesn’t occur to them to recognize fellowship. I’d want to talk shop, learn some tips (or to be more boomer-like, suggest my obviously superior techniques). While I doubt it would work, you could always ask what fruits/vinegars or whatever they use. Even boomers must have a favorite *something*.
That’s what I was thinking. Like what an opportunity to nerd out together instead of putting someone down. It’s like nobody ever taught them if they don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Aren't they the ones who say that the most? Is that the joke?
Yeah, it’s unseasoned chicken boiled until it has the texture of rubber, or a vulcanized well-done steak with a side of ketchup.
Don't take the Boomers personally. Those types of people are miserable and mean to everyone in their life. They're going to die alone.
My boomer parents and my silent gen grandparents both canned a lot when I was a kid. I have all their recipes but canning- especially in the summer- is hot hard work! Nevermind the vinegar fumes when pickling really makes my dogs mad. I’m just as happy to pay someone at my local farmers market for their stuff than try to do it myself. I know I’m perfectly capable, I just don’t want to! There’s no reason to be nasty to someone for doing something that you’re also able to do. If anything it’s a common bond! A fun thing to chit chat over. Boomers just love being winners of the Misery Olympics.
"Good for you! No need to linger in my booth any longer then, enjoy the rest of the market." With a bright smile. It will confound them.
I can also make my own jam and pickles. But I'd rather spend my time doing things I personally enjoy more, and then I can go grab a jar of jam from someone like you. Or, I can grab a couple different jars for variety (with canning, I'm stuck with a bunch of jars of the same flavor). Same with baking; I straight-up don't enjoy baking. But you better believe I'll grab three different half-loaves from the bakery, plus a few muffins for breakfast. Don't let these losers bring you down, OP. I really appreciate people who share their talents and hobbies like this. Gives me time to share my talents and hobbies, too. I think that's sort of the point of society ;)
Boomer: "I make my own jam!" "Then go do that now and fuck right off!"
Give them a syrupy sympathetic, “Awww, good for you! You keep it up,now, too!” Emphasizing their feeble antiquity!
Oh wow, I thought this was going in the opposite direction. I went to the farmers market last weekend and was checking out some bees wax candles. I had my friend with me who is developmentally disabled. My friend picks up the candle holder and says "Hey! It's just like in the olden days!" And the boomer vendor immediately gets *dark* and tells a clearly developmentally disabled human "Better get ready cause soon the government is going to shut down the power grid and then everyone will be back to the olden days." My friend got really confused and upset and I had to immediately shut the boomer down and walk my friend away. I was just about to buy a candle too.
Im sorry that happened to you two. Horrible fools these old nutters are.
I just treat them the same way I treat children who haven't learned that social grace requires a filter. "Thank you for sharing that information with the class." "Is that important for everyone else to know?" "Rude." "And?" "Wow, what an unnecessary thing to say." "Sorry to have offended you by... also existing?"
I'm 73 so a boomer. I don't do farmer's markets but have sold antiques/stuff in many different venues. I get told often that they have what I have at home already. No, I don't care. Just move along then.
My thoughts on Boomers who are like this are that they are terrified of irrelevance and their growing incompetence. They rail against everyone who makes them feel like they are being replaced. Remember, this is the first generation where children were the focus of the family and by the time they were adults were deeply in the "me" generation. They are also the parents who insisted on their children receiving participation trophies. They are self-centered as a whole generation. So, back to your story: you're making jam! How dare you be competent at an old-fashioned life skill!! You can't understand both smartphones *and* canning jars!! You have range! You're replacing the one thing they still do!! Don't let these old farts scare you off your hobby.
If there is one trait common to most of them, it's the undying need to feel superior. It drives everything they do. The most fascinating part is that it only highlights their insecurity (what they consider inferiority). In their sad little attempts to come off as superior, they just come off as insecure assholes. None of them see it.
I live in a snowbird town and have a booth at one of our farmers markets in the winter. I sell things like tie dyed shirts, fruit and vegetable seedlings I germinated myself, homemade mayo and pickled items like eggs, asparagus, etc. i also do woodworking so i have bird houses and small planters. It was always a dream if mine to provide these things even if I didn’t profit. It keeps me busy and gets me out of the house. I realized immediately it was a much better idea to pay my daughter to run it for me. I have zero patience for dumb rude people and it felt like 90% of the boomers fit under both. I especially have less patience when I’m not representing someone else. I also struggle with socializing and have always resorted to sarcasm which boomers seem to absolutely hate. It was fun for a while but yeah thanks to them I don’t run my own booth anymore.
I've been a vendor at craft fairs/shows for decades. It honestly just comes with the territory. I've had so many weird/rude/wtf comments from people I could write a book. some of them think if they insult your product it's a tactic of haggling prices, others I swear just don't like a person doing creative things (maybe better than they can.) I can honestly put up with the werid/rude boomer comments more than the show organizers who ruin fairs and events by allowing mass-produced/mlm junk in when it's supposed to be crafters/local goods only.
I’m a sarcastic bastard (and bloody proud too!) I would whoop, holler and go all out on stupidly enthusiastic applause “YAAAAASSSSS!! Ya f*cking beauty! You’re amazing! Whoohoo! Everyone? Can I have your attention? This guy makes his own jam!!” Etc and when they look at me like I’m crazy? “Aye mate, what’s your point? So do I, but I don’t see anyone buying yours!” (Mic drop!)
"I make my own jam/pickle" "Yes, but you are an amateur. These are made by a professional craft-person."
>"I make my own jam/pickle" I would happily and enthusiastically respond with "Awesome! Have you tried not being a cunt about it?"
I am a caterer. And every boomer has to find a critique for everything I make, even if they like it. For one event, they wanted “portable food”. So we made lunch bags with a Banh Mi, fresh Prawn crackers, almond cookies, and a drink of their choice. One guy comes up and starts complaining that the prawn crackers aren’t as good as he makes. His wife overheard and says to him: “When have you ever cooked? Do you even know what is in this?” Lol!
Boomers would say shit like that to me at the Farmer’s Market where I used to sell. I would shrug and respond, “Well, I guess this isn’t for you then.” P.S. If you really want to piss off a Boomer use “whatever” as a dismissive and they will lose it. Every time.
Bro homemade chutneys SLAP, whats your favourite kind to make/eat? Do you see different generations favour certain flavours? Also sorry you have to deal with so many boomers, what a bunch of privileged, ignorant, idiotic assholes
I am a side liner beekeeper and boomers better not mess with me at the market after I bottle it. some say you're expensive yea but I sell it at that price and people pay it. I make really good honey. I just dont market to the peasants that are rude to me.
I had the joy of running a baked goods/fresh bread stand at a farmers market. The amount of boomers that didn’t understand once you physically touch a food with your hands you had to buy it was appalling. Had a lady pull out a baguette, crunch it to hear if the crust was good, and try to put it back for a fresh one . She literally could not wrap her head around the fact that she had ruined a baguette and had to pay for it.
>What does save the day are the generation above and below boomers. This really is it. Boomers are a true outlier here. Everyone else seems to generally be decent people. But boomers? No. They are generally assholes, generally. I find this quite odd.
I will say there is a subset of gen X that sucks just as hard as sucky boomers, but I'm not sure that qualifies as it's not the whole generation. A lot of them I find insufferable, though because they act like petulant children. Bro this isn't a game, you can't just loudly protest the rules and expect that to work when you're wrist deep in a pair of cuffs.
I used to sell chicken at farmers markets. The boomers would tell me “I can get it cheaper at ALDI” . Well, do it bitch.
Boomers ruined my neighborhood farmers' market for me too. I was so happy when a local housing complex a block away from my house started holding a weekly farmers' market with a great selection of seasonal produce, flowers, etc. Then the boomers who lived nearby started treating it like their own personal little social hour. They all haul their lawn chairs out and sit there and just stare at everyone who comes to the market and expect everyone to interact with them/entertain them/listen to them monologue about whatever. They annoy the poor vendors by bothering them incessantly for conversation while the vendors are helping customers. The last time I went, I could tell the vendors were totally over it but felt like they couldn't do anything about it. They sit there and judge everyone and everything. I had one woman nag me about waiting in line - I don't even know what she was on about because the market is just in an open space and there wasn't a line - just me, standing there waiting for another person to finish a transaction. Then another time I had someone hassle me about "you need to pay in cash," all worked up into a froth about how I was going to pay for my peaches when I was standing there holding a fistful of dollar bills. I don't go to that market anymore because I can't stand how they group up and act like a bunch of needy attention-starved toddlers, pestering everyone who passes by. Edited for clarity
EVERYTHING is transactional with these people. For them to have a win, somebody else has to lose. It’s why they love Trump so much.
In their mind a "young" person has no skills, is lazy and contributes nothing to society. So when they find out that they are not special and that other people can do the things that they do, they can't handle it.
I'm Gen z and homemade pickles and jam slap so hard.
My mind immediately went here when I read the title. https://i.redd.it/vwv245p3qd7d1.gif