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This is literally my mother in law. She won’t drive at night or in the rain or on a blue moon or what tf ever because “I can’t see” but acts like she can see on a bright sunny day when she is fucking BLIND AT ALL TIMES.
Same with the boomers who can’t hear shit and use that as an excuse 20x a day - but then suddenly want to win arguments by saying what they heard or remembered. Despite the fact that ‘I don’t remember that happening’ or ‘I didn’t hear that I guess’ is used multiple times every single day as an excuse for why something didn’t get done or was done wrong…
Same with mine. Her go to excuse is ‘oh I guess I didn’t hear/remember that’ but then will want to use her memory of an event later as proof she was right. Everyone’s like you can’t hear or remember a god damn thing and listen to your TV at level 80 sometimes but sure - we totally trust your hearing and memory about how it happened.
Sounds like my FIL, but we finally got him tested. Straight up Alzheimer’s and ischemic dementia.
He still tries the old routine of putting us down for made up shit in his head, but he literally can’t remember an hour ago so we’re finally able to tone him out and carry on with the household.
That's part of the dementia. Please get him to a neurologist.
When you have gaps or distortions in your memory and perceptions, your brain will fill things in to try to make sense of the incorrect information, so suddenly you will believe that people are stealing things or hiding things from you or lying to you, because you don't remember breaking something, or throwing it away, or moving it, and you can't remember the conversation or event that the person you think is lying is referring to, and you won't even be aware that this is happening. Your memory of your experience of your life will seem continuous. And sometimes, your brain will make up some really wild things to paper over those discontinuities.
He has one, thank you :) But he’s been paranoid for like 15+ years my mom is cheating. My psychiatrist agrees w my assessment that it’s possible.
But re the dementia for ex: On Super Bowl weekend my mother told him to turn the oven on and flip the Tupperware w the wings in it (the Tupperware was in the fridge) he put the entire Tupperware in the oven.
Lol, my mother can't remember years and years of awful shot she and my stepdad did to me, but she can remember every time I've ever fucked up in exquisite detail...
Had a boomer customer (at an auto shop) get mad at me, loudly, for putting a reminder decal on her windshield, for two insane reasons.
1) "How dare you command me what to do?!"
2) "I'm legally blind, you know! I can't even see that far and you expect me to read this?!"
I’m not speaking for your MIL, but before I had surgery to remove cataracts, I only drove at night/in rain when I absolutely had to. The way light hit my eyes in those conditions made me very uncomfortable behind the wheel. Daytime driving was no problem. (My vision post surgery is 20/20. It’s fucking amazing.)
I'm 43 and have horrible low-light vision. I don't drive at night at all...I better hope my husband stays healthy and doesn't get sick of me, or I'll only be able to do things before sundown, lol.
But, I KNOW I'm blind, and I stay off the roads at night because it would be dangerous for me to drive in the dark. Not like these boomers driving around blind in one eye due to cataracts (my MIL) or nearly blind in both eyes due to macular degeneration (my husband's aunt).
If you think about it, that's scary as crap.
I mean, some creepy derelict bites you and vomits blood *into* you, and then goes to bed like a normal person.
Nah I understand I don’t do well at dusk or in the rain myself. The issue with my MIL is that it’s always something else that’s why she can’t see when really she just can’t see lol.
Nip that in the bud bruh, fuck this bitch. Only reason we haven’t taken our grandmas license is cause we don’t like her and don’t wanna give her rides.
Oh yes definitely, a few weeks ago in my city a boomer dude blasted through an intersection in the bike/bus lane/sidewalk, narrowly avoiding pedestrians (only due to the pedestrians good reaction time) took out and dragged a power pole and only stopped when they crunched it into a light pole on the opposite side.
It is absolute madness that these maniacs are out there totally oblivious to their surroundings and so ready to fight about it when it is pointed out.
Watched my 83 year old grandmother drive the wrong way down the road and need to cross the median to get back on track after her birthday dinner last year. 2 months later she and her 90 year old husband decided they needed a 2 seater Mercedes. 6 months later she died, I don’t think the car was ever even driven. I’m ok with how things worked out.
I got screamed at by a boomer because a crosswalk started flashing do not walk while I was crossing once. He insisted I was violating the law and seemed to not understand how crosswalk signs operate. There are scary ass people driving out there, be safe folks.
My town is full of geriatrics and driving around here is terrifying sometimes. So many near misses because idiots turn on red when I'm driving through a green, or don't use their blinkers, or change lanes at the last second.
The worst one I got so far was last week, I have an ADVANCED GREEN, I'm making my left turn, and this dipshit opposite of me thinks it's okay for them to turn right on red while me, and several other cars are taking up that lane. Driver looked positively STUNNED that I honked at them, whether they were entitled, or just delirious from being so fucking old, I'll never know.
I work in a pharmacy. These people can't see to read any of the posted signs, want their hands held locating items in the store because they can't see the products on the shelves, can't hear my questions or directions, and flip past their ID 17 times in their overstuffed wallets because they can't see well enough to differentiate it, and then they take their receipt and pull out their car keys on the way to the door. All day every day.
The last time I ever rode with my grandmother she pulled into oncoming traffic & when I expressed my utter fucking terror she said,”They’ll stop for us.”
I joke that all the GI specialists who do colonoscopies should just send their patients to drive around with my dad the day before their procedures. No prep needed...they'll shit themselves blind with fear, and their colons will be clean as a whistle on colonoscopy day!
SouthPark did a whole Red Dawn parody of this. It's absolutely true. If I recall, the old people were constantly screaming they have a RIGHT to drive, when it's always been a privilege. These people have contributed to making life less worthwhile.
Oh, I’m firmly convinced at this point that nobody else I share the road with can read. I’ve followed people that will go 30 in a 50 zone, then 50 in the 30 zone right after it, make a right on red at a light with a sign prohibiting it, roll right through a stop sign, and then slow down for a school zone at 11 PM on a Sunday. Illiterate and innumerate, the overwhelming majority of them.
My (least) favorite are the people with one speed. They drive 45mph in a 55, holding up traffic, and then never slow down when we get to a town where it's 25. They blow through, weaving around traffic like they're in a hurry and disappear. Inevitably we catch them on the other side where the speed limit has increased and they're stuck at 45.
There's one at my work who needs a magnifying glass to read the mileage on the company truck. He drives himself 30+ minutes to work every day. How is that possible or safe? No idea.
Because you can be far-sighted and be able to read and see road signs but unable to read small print a few feet from you. It's not necessary when driving to be able to read small print 2 feet from your face.
40 years old and have had to have cataract surgery (it was iatrogenic lucky me). The amount of people commenting who have no idea how low vision works is mind boggling. Seriously. Your eyes will get presbyopia too and you will still be perfectly able to drive. I see perfectly well to drive, my eye doctor agrees totally. I have trouble with fine print because my bifocals combined with the new artificial lens in my eye are not as good as my old glasses with a natural lens.
So yes I need a magnifying glass and extra light to see super fine print or menus in dark restaurants. I've made the text on my phone larger. It does not mean I am a danger on the road. When I was, when the cataracts were in my visual field, I stopped driving.
Also I come from a family where the men have a half chance of inheriting a disease that causes blindness. Its a progressive disease and there's a whole spectrum of vision you do have before going totally blind.
Older drivers also have poorer reaction time and are more forgetful with poorer multitasking. Yeah the vision degradation contributes, which is why many people self restrict with night time or in the rain driving. But just cause a guy has trouble focusing on his mileage count means he could use a pair of readers or new bifocals. It doesn't mean he can't read signs, see traffic lights, other cars, pedestrians, etc.
Yeah, I meant 'accident' in the colloquial sense of a traffic collision, not the literal sense of it being an unintentional and generally unavoidable oopsie.
Yeah I just figure if they're too blind to read the ballot they're essentially filling in a random bubble and it'll average out. (If only that were true)
Not reading signs is not just a boomer thing. Plenty of generation x, y, millennial, z and alpha don't read the very obvious open/closed signs on my coffee shop; as well as my business hours *that are in neon!*
Want to know what is even more scary (because this is the US) that you'll have to take their licences out of their cold dead hands. In so many places public transport is non-existent so they have to either carry on driving or pay to use cabs.
Think this was in the US...? I seem to remember that the stats on their functional illiteracy rates spiked incredibly high amongst the older population.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States
tl;dr
Nationally - 20% of US population can't read a simple sentence or decipher written instructions.
Nationally - 54% of US population considered to lack English language proficiency.
*US population is 340,000,000+*
Sooooo, 20% of that is a truly fucking staggering amount of people who would have lined up helpless in that same situation and been unable to figure out what they were doing wrong.
I've never made an older person more angry than when I said, "Oh! Wow! Ok, do you have someone here helping you?" in a very loud, slow, sweet but condescending tone. Dude was probably 60? At the most?
"I'm sorry you're upset, sir. I'd be upset too if I couldn't read at your age. It's ok though, there's hope for you yet. You will have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do some hard work, but when you do you'll be reading like a champ before you know it!"
In all seriousness, there's a certain type of person that can never admit they were wrong. That guy sounds like one of those. They're some of the most annoying people to deal with, and I hope your encounters with them are similar to this story here; short, humorous, and low stakes.
I could see myself misreading signs. Done it before, with often hilarious and embarrassing results. The difference is I just laugh and say, “welp, I’m an idiot. Sorry for the mixup!” And I move on with my day. I will probably forget by tomorrow. You KNOW he’s still angry about it days later.
We really should teach emotional regulation in school.
Schools in my area had tried, but because mindfulness/mediation was involved, the Christian right threw a massive ignorant hissy about "teaching other religions" and got the programs canceled.
Haha! I remember my parents saying that meditation and breathing exercises were demonic! My sister still goes off about yoga poses being an act of “prayer” to a different god than the “almighty”, and “‘clearing your mind’ is opening it up to demonic forces”.
My fam is super fucking exhausting.
In CA they kinda do via SEL or social emotional lessons. It’s baked into the curriculum once in a while where they talk about proper responses to things, how much is up to us as we reply vs the other person for making us feel that way, how we can be better friends or neighbors to people we care about, how emotions can help or hinder us in our day, etc.
They also do online check-ins where the kid can relate how they felt this week, what problems arose at home or on the playground, who was involved and how often, etc. Honestly it kinda works, some of those kids know how to remove themselves from the problem and go cool off before coming back and they’re like 7.
> You KNOW he’s still angry about it days later.
There's about a 110% chance that he is certain that the sign said to form a line, and that the bartender was lying to him.
I can already hear him telling the story through gritted teeth at dinner, about how they probably knew eachother and got special treatement and they all lied to him and mocked him, etc.
Source: Have met people like that before.
There’s a deep thread in older people’s upbringing to never admit you’re wrong, never apologise and never explain. It’s a shit way to teach children to behave but unfortunately some of them never let it go even in later life.
I think lead poisoning can certainly make it worse, but I am not gonna give grown adults an excuse to be monsters. My grandmothers were elderly boomers before their passing and they never pulled crap like this.
Seriously. I’ve asked questions for which there is a sign with the answer. When pointed out to me, I’m like, oh it’s right there! Thank you! Because that’s on me.
Something about that generation just HATES being wrong. And they will go down in flames to prove they're right. Literally - they died by the thousands to prove how right they were during Covid.
I never miss an opportunity to make fun of myself for missing or misreading signs. "Oh, like it says on this large, clearly-printed sign at eye level right in front of me? This one?"
I had a similar experience yesterday morning at Walmart. The boomer was behind me (35f) at self checkout with his cart. He had his cart so close to me I visibly showed discomfort and moved away from him. HE MOVED CLOSER TO ME AGAIN. Finally it was my turn. I rang up my 2 things while he is fidgeting with his cash register. In frustration he says “does this register not take cash?!” while turning to scold the kid helping with self checkout. I walked up to him, pointed at the bright orange side that said “CARD ONLY”. I wasn’t about to let him verbally abusive the self checkout kid. 🙄 Edit: the boomer just said “Oooh”. Like calm down, are you auditioning for the reboot of Grumpy Old Men?
The most fun is when the light overhead is green, but then you get to it, and there's a "lane closed" sign on it. Then, you turn around and there aren't any free registers, and the line is looking at you like you're an idiot.
There was a Main Street event in our small town. A section of Main Street was closed for a stage, food trucks, craft booths.
My wife, kids and I had ordered our food and we’re standing under some random tree, eating, not far from a food truck. It was off to the side, not even lined up with the main window on the truck.
A group of Boomers were hanging out behind us. Whatever, didn’t think anything of it. We were under a huge oak tree. Plenty of shade for everyone.
One of the Boomerettes said to us after 15 minutes of them standing there … EXCUSE ME, YOU’RE HOLDING UP THE LINE.
I said, excuse me? We weren’t in a line. We ordered and we’re obviously already enjoying our food.
Random comments from the herd of Boomers as they shuffled by us: Jeaus Christ!, Rude! , What an attitude! What were they doing blocking the line like that?!
SMFH
To these kinds of people, any response at all is an “attitude”. You could phrase your response in the most friendly, eloquent way possible and you have an “attitude” just because you made them look/sound stupid in their mind.
Use to work in a retail store and had clear signs saying we opened at 9am and some old dumb boomer lady stated that she “doesn’t read signs”
They just hate reading and probably can’t .. too filled with hate and anger to slow down and just read 2 sentences
Seriously is that what it is? Because they NEVER read signs!! It really feels like they are an entire generation collectively performing outright mutiny against signs. Like “you can’t tell me what to do, inanimate words!” *shakes fist*
A LOT of them are functionally illiterate and too lazy to actively work on improving their reading skills. They've got all the time in the world to work on it, but it cuts into Facebook and Fox News time. I've worked with several of them and they're always the most lazy, moronic wastes of space. They haven't read anything since they were forced to in school, and they refuse to read to their kids, because reading is for pussies or some such bullshit.
It’s this. The avg reading level for an American tops out at about 6th grade. It’s fuckin sad but also explains a lot about why we are where we are as a country…
They truly don’t care about them. My mother and I used to get in huge fights about it. I’m a true rule follower if a sign says “stand here” that’s what I do. For example at the doctor’s office there’s a counter to check in with three receptionists. The sign says “stand behind this line until you’re called up”. My mother would walk right up the counter and I’d grab her and say no, we have to wait here. She’d ask “why? Nobody’s there. I can just check in” and I’d say the sign says so, she’d get so frustrated of “why can’t I just walk up there, that doesn’t make sense”. She just didn’t get why we would do what a sign says.
Signs! Signs! Everywhere there's signs! Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind. Do this! Don't do that! Can't you read the signs?
I have a new understanding of this song now
Omg, they do this!! I was at work one day, opening, and I was outside cleaning and watched this boomer couple with their grandson walk up to the front door. I deliberately didn’t have the lights on or anything, so they stopped short at the door and I heard her say “Oh, they don’t open until 10.” They both stood there blankly for a few beats and then the husband reached out and opened the door anyway and they went right in. Idk what they were expecting, but I stayed outside until I saw them walk back out a few minutes later. Idiots.
This is absolutely true, anyone who's worked with the public knows that many people of all generations simply don't even notice signs, much less read them
I have a story with far worse implications.
My mother and I were at a grocery store some years back. We only had a few items, so we used the 15 items or less line. There was a boomer with easily 50 items. We were good with waiting because the only other checker had a much longer line.
*While ringing up the items* Cashier: "ma'am just so you know for next time, this is the express lane, it's supposed to be 15 or less."
Boomer: "Oh, I don't believe in signs."
How hard was it to give a "oh, sorry," and just do it again next time and ignore it. WTF does that mean? Does she not listen to stop signs and speed limits, one way signs? Do traffic lights count?
I was around ten at the time, and it sent my head spinning.
"I don't believe in signs." I'm willing to wager that you DO, however, believe in an ephemeral, apocryphal, magical sky god that loves you very much and wants you to join him in the clouds after he kills you, and who needs money. Lots of money.
I think this might be Law of Boom Boom #1.
They are the only ones allowed to make the rules, and everybody else is automatically wrong. That insides the owner of the operation who made the sign - Only boomers are allowed to decide how things operate and that's why Boom Boomer had to keep arguing
They come from the “customer is always right” generation which leads to this entitled behavior. Getting old doesn’t make you wiser or entitled. It just means you managed to survive longer.
They have a weird concept of "lines". We have a couple of grocery stores with pharmacies, and there is always a sign right where the line should start. It's very clear where you go.
Yet, nearly every time I am looking at cards or magazines, which are the 2 closest sections to the pharmacy, some old fool will come up and ask me if I am in line! Like, why would you even ask someone who is far away from the line, and nowhere near the waiting area. It's always some little old lady, I don't get the point?
People are idiots. I’m in our bar, with my logo’d shirt, holding a tv remote, looking up at the tv, clearly changing the channel, 15 feet back from the bar. “Are you in line?”. All the time.
I believe a number of older people have no opportunities for human interaction in a day and are just lonely. So they'll engineer reasons to trade a few lines with a stranger.
Most of the time puzzling but harmless, but some of them subconsciously realize that being a dick can get them longer interactions. And then the only way they can reach out and feel the 'touch' of another human being is unpleasantness.
Because other Boomers yell at them if they accidentally cut the line. Boomers have to deal with Boomers too. They’re just trying to be polite in a way that makes sense to them.
To be fair, I understand why many people would want a Formal Line or other method of establishing a clear order of service.
My experience with Bars, back when I still thought they might be fun, is that the Bartenders just seem to pick favorites, making some people wait while serving a lot of other people who came up at the same time or even after & play some Game of pretending not to see some people/skipping over them, clearly going out of their way to avoid noticing them/avoid eye contact.
I understand not being noticed/skipped over once or a couple times, but they often seem to go out of their way to ignore some people.
I understand some people getting pissed & wanting a more formal & fair system of getting service.
Either way, it doesn't excuse not reading the signs & complaining about clearly stated rules unless the staff starts to blatantly behave in the way mentioned above.
Ok I’m glad somebody said it because I don’t like having to muscle in to be seen at bars. I’m short and not very aggressive and the taller, more physically visible people often mow me over when I try to run up. I want some sort of order so everyone gets seen equally because I’ve had plenty of times where bartenders just pick whoever meets their gaze at random while I’ve been there before others. Doesn’t excuse boomer’s behavior obviously but I respect the queue and am a big fan of it
My husband and I went to a restaurant a few months ago where an older, presumably boomer, couple were sitting in the waiting area, and we figured they were waiting on the rest of their party or something, so we went up to the podium where you check in with the host . Within less than a minute, the hostess came over to take us to a table when the older couple started yelling they’d been sitting there for 15 minutes and nobody had greeted them or offered to seat them at a table. Apparently standing at the podium for a minute was asking too much of them.
It’s not that they misread or even don’t see them. They flat out ignore them. Signs are for other people. Not them.
I used to work in a small government building. The building had several entrances but only one for the public to get into the lobby, the rest were for employees. Every single door has a sign on it “NOT A PUBLIC ENTRANCE - USE FRONT DOOR”. With an arrow pointing to the front door.
There was one door in particular with a window on it that people would come to every time. We papered it over with signs “NOT A PUBLIC ENTRANCE” arrows, etc. all over the place and put a big sign on the actual lobby door “ENTER HERE”.
It never failed, one of the boomers would walk up to the side door, try the handle, and then knock and scream “HOW DO I GET IN THERE!” We just started pointing to the signs.
Once you get inside there is one area for reception. Big signs to stand behind a yellow line to protect the person in front of you’s privacy. Never failed, they’d walk right up the counter and stand within inches of the other person, sometimes even start talking “yeah I’m here to see…..”. No respect at all.
Also, we had a parking lot in front but it was the employee lot. Clients were expected to park in the lot just across the street. Signs on every single space. Never failed they’d park right there. And we’d tell them and they’d even say “yeah I saw the signs, I ignored them, I’m only gonna be here a few minutes.
Signs are for those other people, not them.
Ah, the memories. The library where I used to work advertised for *weeks* that we would only be offering curbside service for a week while we prepared for renovations (packing up books and cleaning out cupboards) and then we would be closed for a week while the renovations were ongoing. It was posted online, it was posted on big signs on the front door, it was posted on our check-out desks, and it was posted by our public computers. You couldn't turn your head without seeing a dozen notices about it.
Cut to Boomer after Boomer (many of which were regular patrons who would have seen the signs repeatedly) coming to the door during the curbside week, asking why they couldn't come in and demanding to browse the shelves or use the computers—and lecturing us about how we should have informed people beforehand.
The week that we were closed was slightly better in that we didn't have to talk to the Boomers who kept coming; we got to just sit back and watch them keep tugging at the door (with the closure notice right in front of them) and mouthing at us to let them in. I think shrugging at them and their impotent fury and going back to work while ignoring them was one of the highlights of my time there.
I work in security and people being unable to read signs must be one of America's greatest job creators.
You can put a sign together that says "such and such thing, room 123 down the hall on the left" practically for free and then still have to hire some college student or retiree to stand there all week to tell people the event they're looking for is room 123, down this hall to the left. And people will also ask where they can smoke ("outside") and where the restroom is ("right behind you where the 🚻 sign is").
My daughter works in retail. She regularly talks down angry old ladies and gents who give her sh*t after they have waited too long to be served at a self-service till.
This happens at my local liquor store all the time. 5 registers and cashiers having to continually say "I can help whoever is next" to all the boomers waiting in a line and being ignored until someone just walks up and the boomers rage the f out.
When I worked at an outdoor retailer, the employee break room had a clear front fridge for people to put their lunches and things in. On the front, was a printed sign that said "NO open beverages" with a handy picture of examples. I was sitting in the break room when one of the leads came in, noticed an open top coffee inside the fridge and asked if it was mine. I replied, "Nope, I can read." One of my older coworkers commented on my sass.
Another time, my boyfriend (who also worked there) asked me a question about something that could have been answered on a sign right in front of him. When I pointed it out to him on the sign, he and two of our older lady coworkers told me I wasn't being very nice by pointing it out to him like that (he was joking, but they weren't). I was told I should be nicer to him.
9 times out of 10 with Boomers it’s because “the Bible is the only book I need”… which they don’t even read because that’s the pastor’s job, also according to them
To be a bit fair, it always used to be signs would say "form a line" so if someone glanced at it they may assume that and it would be pretty counterintuitive to think a sign would say the opposite. Still though, upon finding out your mistake it's dumb to persist and get all mad
I've resorted to "hey I know you've got some big feelings and emotions right now, but is this really going to help?"
Treat em like the toddler they are
Sorry if this isn't the place for this story, but it just reminded me. When I used to work at a call center, my job was to handle problems. Boomers would call in and just yell and complain for so long, and I would try to tell them I could fix their problem in seconds (usually their problem was, like in this story, not knowing how to read instructions) but they just wanted to go on and on complaining.
I always got talked to by management for not showing empathy and compassion. I'm autistic and very solution based and I never understood why solving their problem wasn't the best way to help. I still don't get it. I always empathized when something unfair was happening, but usually with boomers it was such an easy fix.
I learned I just had to sit there and be screamed at for 20 mins and then solve their problem and apologize for things that weren't my fault. It felt so horrible I fell into a depression and finally quit. I have a job that makes me happy now tho!
In some regards, old people are like kids. Not reading/hearing the "not" is one of them. It's always best to form sentences without "not" for them to properly understand. "Don't climb on the sofa"? A kid hears "'climb the sofa". Same with old people. A simple "Come up to the register and we will help you" might work much better.
Reminds me of when McDonald's drive thrus started adding two lines. At first they'd only have the second line open during peak times. But eventually they put a sign up saying "any line any time". Can't tell you how many times I skipped multiple cars cause they were all lining up in the first lane. So I'd just drive around and use the second lane.
I have seen this happen IRL as well. Herd mentality...people will just follow what others are doing instead of READING and following instructions.
That line formed because one person did not read or understand and others walked in and made a line when the sign literally says NOT to make a line.
It happened to me at a movie theater....they had 4-5 registers but people for whatever reason made a line versus just walking up to an available register. My date wanted to stand in line. I was like why?
Boomer instinct is to prolong confrontations even when they’re beyond pointless. He can get his shit pretty much right then and be on his way. Why must they continue to argue and make a stink even when their grievance is smoothed out?
had a similar thing happen at the county fair once.
ferris wheel line was backed up all the way around the fairgrounds, but my friends and i (about 13-14 at the time) noticed that the other “entrance” was open, just nobody was in it. so we walked up and got in line, and after the next unloading of passengers, it actually worked and we got on. and ofc everyone in the line that had been waiting for a while was pissed, but the ride operator took our side luckily! and of course everyone else started converging to the other line once we were on, so that was interesting.
not really a boomer story i guess tho haha
Sorry I'm not getting the no line up thing. Is it like a fast food joint where there are multiple registers? If one or more were free why would the boomers be waiting in line in the first place? Why are there signs saying not to line up, what happens if 20 people all want drinks at once?
I know that's not the point of the story but I'm having trouble picturing this.
“Sir if you are so inebriated that you cant read multiple signs nor take verbal commands, im afraid we have to cut you off for fear of over intoxication or bad medicine interactions!”
Ok, question. Does anybody else notice that boomers will NOT wear glasses out of vanity? I had to fire an older boomer lady because she kept miss picking a part in an assembly process. We had gotten her safety prescription goggles so she could see better. She continued to not use them. Like I guess I can see taking them off for a picture, but to risk a job? It makes zero sense.
I believe the story but I’m still having trouble imagining a situation where there is no line ever. Sounds like there were 5 registers and the boomers were all in one line?
It was a minor league game in a park with comparatively TONS of food spots. It’s also only about 35 mins from the big league park where there was also a game being played (on a Sat night), so there were prob only ~2k ppl at the AAA game, if I had to guess.
And yes, the boomers were all in one “line”, if you could even call it that, in front of the center register (again, out of 5 total).
You have to remember these are people who will willingly stand in line so that "I don't have to do these people's job for them" rather than just use an empty self check out for a few items.
They can’t figure out how to effectively use the self checkout. But they also don’t think cashiers should be paid a living wage because it’s just a cashier job and it doesn’t take any skill. One day I’ll have the chance to point out that contradiction to one of them.
Truer words were never spoken. They are the original “cut off your nose to spite your face” generation. If it takes twice as long to wait than it does to do it yourself, it just shows you’re doing it right.
I'll wait in line, partly because I resent having to do it myself, and partly because I resent stores using them to not provide jobs to people. On top of that some stores are using electronic gates or receipt checkers to try and combat the inevitable theft that comes from low wages, high prices, and self checkout, which I also resent. However, I don't bitch about the wait. It's my choice to wait and I deal with it like a grown up.
When I worked at a Walmart 15 years ago the amount of boomers who would walk up to the self checkout because there was no line and then proceeded to be annoyed that they had to follow the instructions on the screen was enormous. You would think someone ran over their cat when it would tell them to place the item on the bagging area. So many red faces over “this machine won’t do its job” when I would walk over, take the item from them and place it in a bag
>I thought literal steam was going to come out of his ears when we carried our drinks out past him while he still hadn’t ordered anything.
Impossible. He hadn't yet ordered/received/drunk the Boilermaker that he'd need to generate the steam. I'm calling fake!
Kind of had a similar moment and as a gen-xer I thought my time had come.
Go into grocery, they have a sign for buy 2 soda twelve packs and get the third free at $9.99 each. So I grab three and shop. Checkout, and while walking out I peruse my receipt and see that I was charged for three, not two twelve packs. So I tell my son I’m going back in to customer service and get my credit. I get up to counter and lady proceeds to tell me it is buy 3 at $9.99 and get two free. Well, ok, I tell her I’ll grab two and leave like the promotion, but I was kind and attributed the confusion to my error. She then gives me a $9.99 credit to card and let’s me take the two additional twelve packs. I say ok, I proceed to walk past the stack of twelve packs on egress of the store that clearly say buy two, get one free. Good lesson for my 19 year old.
I’m surprised how I don’t hear more stories about angry boomers just passing out and dying from how red & angry they can get, their hearts must struggle with that load of hate
Sounds like how Boomers don’t know how buffets work. I’ve got yelled at a Disney buffet cause everyone starts to form a like even though that’s not something you do, like if there’s a line for the meat section and I don’t want any meat, no reason for me to wait in that line. Well, I skipped the meat section and some boomer got all pissed off. The first thing the servers tell you is that “there isn’t a line”!
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“Yeah whatever. You all just look you’re standing there socializing and not ready to order”.
Tell them to stop loitering. They'll LOVE that.
"And get a hair cut!"
Tell them to “stop lollygagging and order”. I love using boomer terms back at them.
"Maybe, if you are having trouble reading signs, you should make sure your caregiver is with you when you go out so they can help you."
What's scary is these people are driving on the road. Too blind to read a sign, and assuming their way into an accident.
This is literally my mother in law. She won’t drive at night or in the rain or on a blue moon or what tf ever because “I can’t see” but acts like she can see on a bright sunny day when she is fucking BLIND AT ALL TIMES.
Same with the boomers who can’t hear shit and use that as an excuse 20x a day - but then suddenly want to win arguments by saying what they heard or remembered. Despite the fact that ‘I don’t remember that happening’ or ‘I didn’t hear that I guess’ is used multiple times every single day as an excuse for why something didn’t get done or was done wrong…
Schrödinger's deafness and memory. They did/didn't hear/remember depending on if it's advantageous to them at the moment.
Oh shit you've met my parents then?!
Same with mine. Her go to excuse is ‘oh I guess I didn’t hear/remember that’ but then will want to use her memory of an event later as proof she was right. Everyone’s like you can’t hear or remember a god damn thing and listen to your TV at level 80 sometimes but sure - we totally trust your hearing and memory about how it happened.
Sounds like my FIL, but we finally got him tested. Straight up Alzheimer’s and ischemic dementia. He still tries the old routine of putting us down for made up shit in his head, but he literally can’t remember an hour ago so we’re finally able to tone him out and carry on with the household.
I’m pretty sure my dad is on his way to dementia but it’s preceded by paranoid personality disorder
That's part of the dementia. Please get him to a neurologist. When you have gaps or distortions in your memory and perceptions, your brain will fill things in to try to make sense of the incorrect information, so suddenly you will believe that people are stealing things or hiding things from you or lying to you, because you don't remember breaking something, or throwing it away, or moving it, and you can't remember the conversation or event that the person you think is lying is referring to, and you won't even be aware that this is happening. Your memory of your experience of your life will seem continuous. And sometimes, your brain will make up some really wild things to paper over those discontinuities.
He has one, thank you :) But he’s been paranoid for like 15+ years my mom is cheating. My psychiatrist agrees w my assessment that it’s possible. But re the dementia for ex: On Super Bowl weekend my mother told him to turn the oven on and flip the Tupperware w the wings in it (the Tupperware was in the fridge) he put the entire Tupperware in the oven.
Yeah, that's a dangerous level of cognitive decline.
My ex was a master at this game. I called it, “selective stupidity “ .
Weaponized incompetence?
I call it having the Sometimers
Lol, my mother can't remember years and years of awful shot she and my stepdad did to me, but she can remember every time I've ever fucked up in exquisite detail...
Had a boomer customer (at an auto shop) get mad at me, loudly, for putting a reminder decal on her windshield, for two insane reasons. 1) "How dare you command me what to do?!" 2) "I'm legally blind, you know! I can't even see that far and you expect me to read this?!"
I’m not speaking for your MIL, but before I had surgery to remove cataracts, I only drove at night/in rain when I absolutely had to. The way light hit my eyes in those conditions made me very uncomfortable behind the wheel. Daytime driving was no problem. (My vision post surgery is 20/20. It’s fucking amazing.)
I'm 43 and have horrible low-light vision. I don't drive at night at all...I better hope my husband stays healthy and doesn't get sick of me, or I'll only be able to do things before sundown, lol. But, I KNOW I'm blind, and I stay off the roads at night because it would be dangerous for me to drive in the dark. Not like these boomers driving around blind in one eye due to cataracts (my MIL) or nearly blind in both eyes due to macular degeneration (my husband's aunt).
So you're a reverse vampire
If you think about it, that's scary as crap. I mean, some creepy derelict bites you and vomits blood *into* you, and then goes to bed like a normal person.
Nah I understand I don’t do well at dusk or in the rain myself. The issue with my MIL is that it’s always something else that’s why she can’t see when really she just can’t see lol.
I have excellent vision but driving on a dark rainy night just sucks donkey balls.
Nip that in the bud bruh, fuck this bitch. Only reason we haven’t taken our grandmas license is cause we don’t like her and don’t wanna give her rides.
Oh yes definitely, a few weeks ago in my city a boomer dude blasted through an intersection in the bike/bus lane/sidewalk, narrowly avoiding pedestrians (only due to the pedestrians good reaction time) took out and dragged a power pole and only stopped when they crunched it into a light pole on the opposite side. It is absolute madness that these maniacs are out there totally oblivious to their surroundings and so ready to fight about it when it is pointed out.
Watched my 83 year old grandmother drive the wrong way down the road and need to cross the median to get back on track after her birthday dinner last year. 2 months later she and her 90 year old husband decided they needed a 2 seater Mercedes. 6 months later she died, I don’t think the car was ever even driven. I’m ok with how things worked out.
Who got the car?
asking the important question…..
If that was any more accurate, Raytheon would be knocking on your door.😆
They don’t knock. Lol
Watch out for the knife missiles 😂
I got screamed at by a boomer because a crosswalk started flashing do not walk while I was crossing once. He insisted I was violating the law and seemed to not understand how crosswalk signs operate. There are scary ass people driving out there, be safe folks.
My town is full of geriatrics and driving around here is terrifying sometimes. So many near misses because idiots turn on red when I'm driving through a green, or don't use their blinkers, or change lanes at the last second. The worst one I got so far was last week, I have an ADVANCED GREEN, I'm making my left turn, and this dipshit opposite of me thinks it's okay for them to turn right on red while me, and several other cars are taking up that lane. Driver looked positively STUNNED that I honked at them, whether they were entitled, or just delirious from being so fucking old, I'll never know.
I work in a pharmacy. These people can't see to read any of the posted signs, want their hands held locating items in the store because they can't see the products on the shelves, can't hear my questions or directions, and flip past their ID 17 times in their overstuffed wallets because they can't see well enough to differentiate it, and then they take their receipt and pull out their car keys on the way to the door. All day every day.
The last time I ever rode with my grandmother she pulled into oncoming traffic & when I expressed my utter fucking terror she said,”They’ll stop for us.”
I joke that all the GI specialists who do colonoscopies should just send their patients to drive around with my dad the day before their procedures. No prep needed...they'll shit themselves blind with fear, and their colons will be clean as a whistle on colonoscopy day!
You should start a business!
SouthPark did a whole Red Dawn parody of this. It's absolutely true. If I recall, the old people were constantly screaming they have a RIGHT to drive, when it's always been a privilege. These people have contributed to making life less worthwhile.
Oh, I’m firmly convinced at this point that nobody else I share the road with can read. I’ve followed people that will go 30 in a 50 zone, then 50 in the 30 zone right after it, make a right on red at a light with a sign prohibiting it, roll right through a stop sign, and then slow down for a school zone at 11 PM on a Sunday. Illiterate and innumerate, the overwhelming majority of them.
My (least) favorite are the people with one speed. They drive 45mph in a 55, holding up traffic, and then never slow down when we get to a town where it's 25. They blow through, weaving around traffic like they're in a hurry and disappear. Inevitably we catch them on the other side where the speed limit has increased and they're stuck at 45.
There's one at my work who needs a magnifying glass to read the mileage on the company truck. He drives himself 30+ minutes to work every day. How is that possible or safe? No idea.
Because you can be far-sighted and be able to read and see road signs but unable to read small print a few feet from you. It's not necessary when driving to be able to read small print 2 feet from your face.
40 years old and have had to have cataract surgery (it was iatrogenic lucky me). The amount of people commenting who have no idea how low vision works is mind boggling. Seriously. Your eyes will get presbyopia too and you will still be perfectly able to drive. I see perfectly well to drive, my eye doctor agrees totally. I have trouble with fine print because my bifocals combined with the new artificial lens in my eye are not as good as my old glasses with a natural lens. So yes I need a magnifying glass and extra light to see super fine print or menus in dark restaurants. I've made the text on my phone larger. It does not mean I am a danger on the road. When I was, when the cataracts were in my visual field, I stopped driving. Also I come from a family where the men have a half chance of inheriting a disease that causes blindness. Its a progressive disease and there's a whole spectrum of vision you do have before going totally blind. Older drivers also have poorer reaction time and are more forgetful with poorer multitasking. Yeah the vision degradation contributes, which is why many people self restrict with night time or in the rain driving. But just cause a guy has trouble focusing on his mileage count means he could use a pair of readers or new bifocals. It doesn't mean he can't read signs, see traffic lights, other cars, pedestrians, etc.
With that with that much ignorance it wouldn't be an accident - it's just a collision at that point
Yeah, I meant 'accident' in the colloquial sense of a traffic collision, not the literal sense of it being an unintentional and generally unavoidable oopsie.
Everyone should support public transportation and better bike/pedestrian infrastructure.
And voting
Yeah I just figure if they're too blind to read the ballot they're essentially filling in a random bubble and it'll average out. (If only that were true)
Not reading signs is not just a boomer thing. Plenty of generation x, y, millennial, z and alpha don't read the very obvious open/closed signs on my coffee shop; as well as my business hours *that are in neon!*
Want to know what is even more scary (because this is the US) that you'll have to take their licences out of their cold dead hands. In so many places public transport is non-existent so they have to either carry on driving or pay to use cabs.
Just go straight to “Sir, are you confused? Where is your caregiver? Can I help you find them?”
Think this was in the US...? I seem to remember that the stats on their functional illiteracy rates spiked incredibly high amongst the older population. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States tl;dr Nationally - 20% of US population can't read a simple sentence or decipher written instructions. Nationally - 54% of US population considered to lack English language proficiency. *US population is 340,000,000+* Sooooo, 20% of that is a truly fucking staggering amount of people who would have lined up helpless in that same situation and been unable to figure out what they were doing wrong.
... And now I'm depressed.
Yeah. Me too, now that I've just internalized the existential horror implicit in that old _King of the Hill_ meme.
"If your vision is blurred to the point that you can't read the sign, I'm afraid I don't feel comfortable serving you."
That’s my go to boomer insult. “If your kids loved you they’d take away your drivers license” Only used it 3 times but it’s very effective
Oh this is gold. I can't wait to throw this at the next boomer who gets out of his pickup truck in a puffed up rage in a parking lot.
Yep. Or something like, "My Uncle Pete, when he started having trouble reading like that, had his car keys taken away and was put in a home."
I've never made an older person more angry than when I said, "Oh! Wow! Ok, do you have someone here helping you?" in a very loud, slow, sweet but condescending tone. Dude was probably 60? At the most?
God I hope I can remember this if I’m ever in a position to use it. So so good
"I'm sorry you're upset, sir. I'd be upset too if I couldn't read at your age. It's ok though, there's hope for you yet. You will have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do some hard work, but when you do you'll be reading like a champ before you know it!" In all seriousness, there's a certain type of person that can never admit they were wrong. That guy sounds like one of those. They're some of the most annoying people to deal with, and I hope your encounters with them are similar to this story here; short, humorous, and low stakes.
"Uh oh, does somebody need help finding their children?"
Oooh that’s nasty. But I would totally do that.
Just be ready to slip and counter
No one's told him no before and he certainly isn't going to start with a sign
Or a woman!!
I could see myself misreading signs. Done it before, with often hilarious and embarrassing results. The difference is I just laugh and say, “welp, I’m an idiot. Sorry for the mixup!” And I move on with my day. I will probably forget by tomorrow. You KNOW he’s still angry about it days later. We really should teach emotional regulation in school.
Schools in my area had tried, but because mindfulness/mediation was involved, the Christian right threw a massive ignorant hissy about "teaching other religions" and got the programs canceled.
Satan is when deep breathing
Haha! I remember my parents saying that meditation and breathing exercises were demonic! My sister still goes off about yoga poses being an act of “prayer” to a different god than the “almighty”, and “‘clearing your mind’ is opening it up to demonic forces”. My fam is super fucking exhausting.
In CA they kinda do via SEL or social emotional lessons. It’s baked into the curriculum once in a while where they talk about proper responses to things, how much is up to us as we reply vs the other person for making us feel that way, how we can be better friends or neighbors to people we care about, how emotions can help or hinder us in our day, etc. They also do online check-ins where the kid can relate how they felt this week, what problems arose at home or on the playground, who was involved and how often, etc. Honestly it kinda works, some of those kids know how to remove themselves from the problem and go cool off before coming back and they’re like 7.
> You KNOW he’s still angry about it days later. There's about a 110% chance that he is certain that the sign said to form a line, and that the bartender was lying to him. I can already hear him telling the story through gritted teeth at dinner, about how they probably knew eachother and got special treatement and they all lied to him and mocked him, etc. Source: Have met people like that before.
There’s a deep thread in older people’s upbringing to never admit you’re wrong, never apologise and never explain. It’s a shit way to teach children to behave but unfortunately some of them never let it go even in later life.
You can teach all you want, but the childhood lead poisoning the Boomers got is affecting their emotional regulation no matter what.
I think lead poisoning can certainly make it worse, but I am not gonna give grown adults an excuse to be monsters. My grandmothers were elderly boomers before their passing and they never pulled crap like this.
Seriously. I’ve asked questions for which there is a sign with the answer. When pointed out to me, I’m like, oh it’s right there! Thank you! Because that’s on me.
He’s probably typing an angry post on Facebook right now!
Something about that generation just HATES being wrong. And they will go down in flames to prove they're right. Literally - they died by the thousands to prove how right they were during Covid.
I never miss an opportunity to make fun of myself for missing or misreading signs. "Oh, like it says on this large, clearly-printed sign at eye level right in front of me? This one?"
I had a similar experience yesterday morning at Walmart. The boomer was behind me (35f) at self checkout with his cart. He had his cart so close to me I visibly showed discomfort and moved away from him. HE MOVED CLOSER TO ME AGAIN. Finally it was my turn. I rang up my 2 things while he is fidgeting with his cash register. In frustration he says “does this register not take cash?!” while turning to scold the kid helping with self checkout. I walked up to him, pointed at the bright orange side that said “CARD ONLY”. I wasn’t about to let him verbally abusive the self checkout kid. 🙄 Edit: the boomer just said “Oooh”. Like calm down, are you auditioning for the reboot of Grumpy Old Men?
The most fun is when the light overhead is green, but then you get to it, and there's a "lane closed" sign on it. Then, you turn around and there aren't any free registers, and the line is looking at you like you're an idiot.
sounds different since he backed down- i have done teh same thing and then just paid with card.
Do not malign Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthieu and Burgess Meredith like that.
There was a Main Street event in our small town. A section of Main Street was closed for a stage, food trucks, craft booths. My wife, kids and I had ordered our food and we’re standing under some random tree, eating, not far from a food truck. It was off to the side, not even lined up with the main window on the truck. A group of Boomers were hanging out behind us. Whatever, didn’t think anything of it. We were under a huge oak tree. Plenty of shade for everyone. One of the Boomerettes said to us after 15 minutes of them standing there … EXCUSE ME, YOU’RE HOLDING UP THE LINE. I said, excuse me? We weren’t in a line. We ordered and we’re obviously already enjoying our food. Random comments from the herd of Boomers as they shuffled by us: Jeaus Christ!, Rude! , What an attitude! What were they doing blocking the line like that?! SMFH
To these kinds of people, any response at all is an “attitude”. You could phrase your response in the most friendly, eloquent way possible and you have an “attitude” just because you made them look/sound stupid in their mind.
To them, the acceptable response would be dropping to your knees and simultaneously begging for forgiveness and praising them for their wisdom 🙄
Might try this just to see the reaction
🤣
Use to work in a retail store and had clear signs saying we opened at 9am and some old dumb boomer lady stated that she “doesn’t read signs” They just hate reading and probably can’t .. too filled with hate and anger to slow down and just read 2 sentences
Seriously is that what it is? Because they NEVER read signs!! It really feels like they are an entire generation collectively performing outright mutiny against signs. Like “you can’t tell me what to do, inanimate words!” *shakes fist*
A LOT of them are functionally illiterate and too lazy to actively work on improving their reading skills. They've got all the time in the world to work on it, but it cuts into Facebook and Fox News time. I've worked with several of them and they're always the most lazy, moronic wastes of space. They haven't read anything since they were forced to in school, and they refuse to read to their kids, because reading is for pussies or some such bullshit.
It’s this. The avg reading level for an American tops out at about 6th grade. It’s fuckin sad but also explains a lot about why we are where we are as a country…
They truly don’t care about them. My mother and I used to get in huge fights about it. I’m a true rule follower if a sign says “stand here” that’s what I do. For example at the doctor’s office there’s a counter to check in with three receptionists. The sign says “stand behind this line until you’re called up”. My mother would walk right up the counter and I’d grab her and say no, we have to wait here. She’d ask “why? Nobody’s there. I can just check in” and I’d say the sign says so, she’d get so frustrated of “why can’t I just walk up there, that doesn’t make sense”. She just didn’t get why we would do what a sign says.
Signs! Signs! Everywhere there's signs! Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind. Do this! Don't do that! Can't you read the signs? I have a new understanding of this song now
Omg, they do this!! I was at work one day, opening, and I was outside cleaning and watched this boomer couple with their grandson walk up to the front door. I deliberately didn’t have the lights on or anything, so they stopped short at the door and I heard her say “Oh, they don’t open until 10.” They both stood there blankly for a few beats and then the husband reached out and opened the door anyway and they went right in. Idk what they were expecting, but I stayed outside until I saw them walk back out a few minutes later. Idiots.
To be fair thats not only boomers. Nobody can fucking read
This is absolutely true, anyone who's worked with the public knows that many people of all generations simply don't even notice signs, much less read them
also anybody whos ever used a dating app
I have a story with far worse implications. My mother and I were at a grocery store some years back. We only had a few items, so we used the 15 items or less line. There was a boomer with easily 50 items. We were good with waiting because the only other checker had a much longer line. *While ringing up the items* Cashier: "ma'am just so you know for next time, this is the express lane, it's supposed to be 15 or less." Boomer: "Oh, I don't believe in signs." How hard was it to give a "oh, sorry," and just do it again next time and ignore it. WTF does that mean? Does she not listen to stop signs and speed limits, one way signs? Do traffic lights count? I was around ten at the time, and it sent my head spinning.
Well, she very well couldn’t she actually meant: “I’m a disrespectful selfish asshole and I’ll do whatever I damn well please, peasant.”
"I don't believe in signs." I'm willing to wager that you DO, however, believe in an ephemeral, apocryphal, magical sky god that loves you very much and wants you to join him in the clouds after he kills you, and who needs money. Lots of money.
I think this might be Law of Boom Boom #1. They are the only ones allowed to make the rules, and everybody else is automatically wrong. That insides the owner of the operation who made the sign - Only boomers are allowed to decide how things operate and that's why Boom Boomer had to keep arguing
Lmao law of boom boom and boom boomer. (They are just the boomiest most boomerific boomers ever to ba da boom).
Boom Boom. Tis a thing.
They come from the “customer is always right” generation which leads to this entitled behavior. Getting old doesn’t make you wiser or entitled. It just means you managed to survive longer.
i heard this phrase so much in the 1990s!
Someone should write the sign in cursive. Maybe then they can read it.
*snicker laughing*
They have a weird concept of "lines". We have a couple of grocery stores with pharmacies, and there is always a sign right where the line should start. It's very clear where you go. Yet, nearly every time I am looking at cards or magazines, which are the 2 closest sections to the pharmacy, some old fool will come up and ask me if I am in line! Like, why would you even ask someone who is far away from the line, and nowhere near the waiting area. It's always some little old lady, I don't get the point?
People are idiots. I’m in our bar, with my logo’d shirt, holding a tv remote, looking up at the tv, clearly changing the channel, 15 feet back from the bar. “Are you in line?”. All the time.
I believe a number of older people have no opportunities for human interaction in a day and are just lonely. So they'll engineer reasons to trade a few lines with a stranger. Most of the time puzzling but harmless, but some of them subconsciously realize that being a dick can get them longer interactions. And then the only way they can reach out and feel the 'touch' of another human being is unpleasantness.
Because other Boomers yell at them if they accidentally cut the line. Boomers have to deal with Boomers too. They’re just trying to be polite in a way that makes sense to them.
I've been told I'm wrong about my menu numerous times. I literally made the menu.
I’ve enjoyed using “Have the day you deserve!”
I always say, "I hope your day is as nice as you are"
I’ve straight told people to have a horrible day before. Lol
I tell them "I hope you shit your pants."
Wario maxxing
I said this to someone and was angrily yelled at "I hope you don't have the day you deserve."
Lol, they really thought they did something there, huh
Some people just don’t have a comeback at all so they say back in reverse exactly what you say to them as if it’s somehow clever.
Love it! Will use that!
This is a pet peeve of mine, I hate when people queue up at bars for no fucking reason. Go up to the goddamn counter you idiots.
To be fair, I understand why many people would want a Formal Line or other method of establishing a clear order of service. My experience with Bars, back when I still thought they might be fun, is that the Bartenders just seem to pick favorites, making some people wait while serving a lot of other people who came up at the same time or even after & play some Game of pretending not to see some people/skipping over them, clearly going out of their way to avoid noticing them/avoid eye contact. I understand not being noticed/skipped over once or a couple times, but they often seem to go out of their way to ignore some people. I understand some people getting pissed & wanting a more formal & fair system of getting service. Either way, it doesn't excuse not reading the signs & complaining about clearly stated rules unless the staff starts to blatantly behave in the way mentioned above.
Ok I’m glad somebody said it because I don’t like having to muscle in to be seen at bars. I’m short and not very aggressive and the taller, more physically visible people often mow me over when I try to run up. I want some sort of order so everyone gets seen equally because I’ve had plenty of times where bartenders just pick whoever meets their gaze at random while I’ve been there before others. Doesn’t excuse boomer’s behavior obviously but I respect the queue and am a big fan of it
Online menu/order making that a guessing game when the tender doesn't acknowledge you.
My husband and I went to a restaurant a few months ago where an older, presumably boomer, couple were sitting in the waiting area, and we figured they were waiting on the rest of their party or something, so we went up to the podium where you check in with the host . Within less than a minute, the hostess came over to take us to a table when the older couple started yelling they’d been sitting there for 15 minutes and nobody had greeted them or offered to seat them at a table. Apparently standing at the podium for a minute was asking too much of them.
It’s not that they misread or even don’t see them. They flat out ignore them. Signs are for other people. Not them. I used to work in a small government building. The building had several entrances but only one for the public to get into the lobby, the rest were for employees. Every single door has a sign on it “NOT A PUBLIC ENTRANCE - USE FRONT DOOR”. With an arrow pointing to the front door. There was one door in particular with a window on it that people would come to every time. We papered it over with signs “NOT A PUBLIC ENTRANCE” arrows, etc. all over the place and put a big sign on the actual lobby door “ENTER HERE”. It never failed, one of the boomers would walk up to the side door, try the handle, and then knock and scream “HOW DO I GET IN THERE!” We just started pointing to the signs. Once you get inside there is one area for reception. Big signs to stand behind a yellow line to protect the person in front of you’s privacy. Never failed, they’d walk right up the counter and stand within inches of the other person, sometimes even start talking “yeah I’m here to see…..”. No respect at all. Also, we had a parking lot in front but it was the employee lot. Clients were expected to park in the lot just across the street. Signs on every single space. Never failed they’d park right there. And we’d tell them and they’d even say “yeah I saw the signs, I ignored them, I’m only gonna be here a few minutes. Signs are for those other people, not them.
Ah, the memories. The library where I used to work advertised for *weeks* that we would only be offering curbside service for a week while we prepared for renovations (packing up books and cleaning out cupboards) and then we would be closed for a week while the renovations were ongoing. It was posted online, it was posted on big signs on the front door, it was posted on our check-out desks, and it was posted by our public computers. You couldn't turn your head without seeing a dozen notices about it. Cut to Boomer after Boomer (many of which were regular patrons who would have seen the signs repeatedly) coming to the door during the curbside week, asking why they couldn't come in and demanding to browse the shelves or use the computers—and lecturing us about how we should have informed people beforehand. The week that we were closed was slightly better in that we didn't have to talk to the Boomers who kept coming; we got to just sit back and watch them keep tugging at the door (with the closure notice right in front of them) and mouthing at us to let them in. I think shrugging at them and their impotent fury and going back to work while ignoring them was one of the highlights of my time there.
They’re like zombies
It’s hard to imagine being so delicate. Maybe he was wearing soiled diapers.
I work in security and people being unable to read signs must be one of America's greatest job creators. You can put a sign together that says "such and such thing, room 123 down the hall on the left" practically for free and then still have to hire some college student or retiree to stand there all week to tell people the event they're looking for is room 123, down this hall to the left. And people will also ask where they can smoke ("outside") and where the restroom is ("right behind you where the 🚻 sign is").
NEXT!
It's for a church, honey.
I love that this story is part of the Reddit lore.
“No, I know you *think* that’s a hundred, but it’s actually a one. Give me all of those out of your wallet and we’ll call it even.”
With how much trouble they have with lines (like cutting them) im surprised they managed to be so orderly
I have been that bartender so many times, thank you for saying exactly what we want to say but have to maintain "professionalism“.
My daughter works in retail. She regularly talks down angry old ladies and gents who give her sh*t after they have waited too long to be served at a self-service till.
This happens at my local liquor store all the time. 5 registers and cashiers having to continually say "I can help whoever is next" to all the boomers waiting in a line and being ignored until someone just walks up and the boomers rage the f out.
“No one wants to read anymore!!”
When I worked at an outdoor retailer, the employee break room had a clear front fridge for people to put their lunches and things in. On the front, was a printed sign that said "NO open beverages" with a handy picture of examples. I was sitting in the break room when one of the leads came in, noticed an open top coffee inside the fridge and asked if it was mine. I replied, "Nope, I can read." One of my older coworkers commented on my sass. Another time, my boyfriend (who also worked there) asked me a question about something that could have been answered on a sign right in front of him. When I pointed it out to him on the sign, he and two of our older lady coworkers told me I wasn't being very nice by pointing it out to him like that (he was joking, but they weren't). I was told I should be nicer to him.
To the older ladies: "You're right. What about oral sex when we get home? Would that be enough to make it up to him? I'm open to other suggestions."
54% of Americans have a literacy level below 6th grade and I guarantee the vast majority of that percentage is the boomers.
9 times out of 10 with Boomers it’s because “the Bible is the only book I need”… which they don’t even read because that’s the pastor’s job, also according to them
To be a bit fair, it always used to be signs would say "form a line" so if someone glanced at it they may assume that and it would be pretty counterintuitive to think a sign would say the opposite. Still though, upon finding out your mistake it's dumb to persist and get all mad
Yeah that’s where I’m at. Anyone, and I mean ANYONR, can have a brain fart like that. The difference is in what you do when you realize it.
I hate most of my cohort. Feel free to Gibbs me if I do this in front of you, regardless of your age.
I love Gibbs so much
https://preview.redd.it/ulhbo4eemq9d1.png?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ae8b1e15f6ab05c36fa535baae72a451666c0dc
I've resorted to "hey I know you've got some big feelings and emotions right now, but is this really going to help?" Treat em like the toddler they are
Sorry if this isn't the place for this story, but it just reminded me. When I used to work at a call center, my job was to handle problems. Boomers would call in and just yell and complain for so long, and I would try to tell them I could fix their problem in seconds (usually their problem was, like in this story, not knowing how to read instructions) but they just wanted to go on and on complaining. I always got talked to by management for not showing empathy and compassion. I'm autistic and very solution based and I never understood why solving their problem wasn't the best way to help. I still don't get it. I always empathized when something unfair was happening, but usually with boomers it was such an easy fix. I learned I just had to sit there and be screamed at for 20 mins and then solve their problem and apologize for things that weren't my fault. It felt so horrible I fell into a depression and finally quit. I have a job that makes me happy now tho!
Your wife deserves at least a dozen roses. Well done!
In some regards, old people are like kids. Not reading/hearing the "not" is one of them. It's always best to form sentences without "not" for them to properly understand. "Don't climb on the sofa"? A kid hears "'climb the sofa". Same with old people. A simple "Come up to the register and we will help you" might work much better.
IT SAYS YOU HAVE TO REGISTER TO GET DRINKS MAUDE, I DON'T HAVE A COMPUTER
Man, I work in a library, this is a daily occurrence
Of course he had the white goatee. I’ve been wary of men with them for years now. Anyone with one is guilty until proven innocent.
Until it fell out from chemo, I had one because with my hair long I looked like my aunt without it.
Can’t read? Sounds like one of those red hat boomers lol
As a boomer I’m embarrassed.
Reminds me of when McDonald's drive thrus started adding two lines. At first they'd only have the second line open during peak times. But eventually they put a sign up saying "any line any time". Can't tell you how many times I skipped multiple cars cause they were all lining up in the first lane. So I'd just drive around and use the second lane.
For boomers signs either don't exist or if they admit they do, it always says what they want it to say and not what it actually says.
Weren't they the "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind" generation? So, signs.
I have seen this happen IRL as well. Herd mentality...people will just follow what others are doing instead of READING and following instructions. That line formed because one person did not read or understand and others walked in and made a line when the sign literally says NOT to make a line. It happened to me at a movie theater....they had 4-5 registers but people for whatever reason made a line versus just walking up to an available register. My date wanted to stand in line. I was like why?
We’ve been over this. It’s the lead poisoning
mods, please sticky this
Boomer instinct is to prolong confrontations even when they’re beyond pointless. He can get his shit pretty much right then and be on his way. Why must they continue to argue and make a stink even when their grievance is smoothed out?
had a similar thing happen at the county fair once. ferris wheel line was backed up all the way around the fairgrounds, but my friends and i (about 13-14 at the time) noticed that the other “entrance” was open, just nobody was in it. so we walked up and got in line, and after the next unloading of passengers, it actually worked and we got on. and ofc everyone in the line that had been waiting for a while was pissed, but the ride operator took our side luckily! and of course everyone else started converging to the other line once we were on, so that was interesting. not really a boomer story i guess tho haha
Sorry I'm not getting the no line up thing. Is it like a fast food joint where there are multiple registers? If one or more were free why would the boomers be waiting in line in the first place? Why are there signs saying not to line up, what happens if 20 people all want drinks at once? I know that's not the point of the story but I'm having trouble picturing this.
“Sir if you are so inebriated that you cant read multiple signs nor take verbal commands, im afraid we have to cut you off for fear of over intoxication or bad medicine interactions!”
Ok, question. Does anybody else notice that boomers will NOT wear glasses out of vanity? I had to fire an older boomer lady because she kept miss picking a part in an assembly process. We had gotten her safety prescription goggles so she could see better. She continued to not use them. Like I guess I can see taking them off for a picture, but to risk a job? It makes zero sense.
I believe the story but I’m still having trouble imagining a situation where there is no line ever. Sounds like there were 5 registers and the boomers were all in one line?
It was a minor league game in a park with comparatively TONS of food spots. It’s also only about 35 mins from the big league park where there was also a game being played (on a Sat night), so there were prob only ~2k ppl at the AAA game, if I had to guess. And yes, the boomers were all in one “line”, if you could even call it that, in front of the center register (again, out of 5 total).
You have to remember these are people who will willingly stand in line so that "I don't have to do these people's job for them" rather than just use an empty self check out for a few items.
They can’t figure out how to effectively use the self checkout. But they also don’t think cashiers should be paid a living wage because it’s just a cashier job and it doesn’t take any skill. One day I’ll have the chance to point out that contradiction to one of them.
Truer words were never spoken. They are the original “cut off your nose to spite your face” generation. If it takes twice as long to wait than it does to do it yourself, it just shows you’re doing it right.
While bitching about the wait and how "nobody wants to work anymore" the entire time.
You just sent my brain back to Walmart testing, making people pay to use self check out and 100% of people using the manned registers instead.
I'll wait in line, partly because I resent having to do it myself, and partly because I resent stores using them to not provide jobs to people. On top of that some stores are using electronic gates or receipt checkers to try and combat the inevitable theft that comes from low wages, high prices, and self checkout, which I also resent. However, I don't bitch about the wait. It's my choice to wait and I deal with it like a grown up.
When I worked at a Walmart 15 years ago the amount of boomers who would walk up to the self checkout because there was no line and then proceeded to be annoyed that they had to follow the instructions on the screen was enormous. You would think someone ran over their cat when it would tell them to place the item on the bagging area. So many red faces over “this machine won’t do its job” when I would walk over, take the item from them and place it in a bag
Same. And if there are 4 other bartenders standing there, why aren’t they calling people up instead of letting one take all the orders?
Someone suggested they thought the others were just socializing or not ready to order.
Is it possible they were teleported against their will from the berenstein universe?
>I thought literal steam was going to come out of his ears when we carried our drinks out past him while he still hadn’t ordered anything. Impossible. He hadn't yet ordered/received/drunk the Boilermaker that he'd need to generate the steam. I'm calling fake!
Kind of had a similar moment and as a gen-xer I thought my time had come. Go into grocery, they have a sign for buy 2 soda twelve packs and get the third free at $9.99 each. So I grab three and shop. Checkout, and while walking out I peruse my receipt and see that I was charged for three, not two twelve packs. So I tell my son I’m going back in to customer service and get my credit. I get up to counter and lady proceeds to tell me it is buy 3 at $9.99 and get two free. Well, ok, I tell her I’ll grab two and leave like the promotion, but I was kind and attributed the confusion to my error. She then gives me a $9.99 credit to card and let’s me take the two additional twelve packs. I say ok, I proceed to walk past the stack of twelve packs on egress of the store that clearly say buy two, get one free. Good lesson for my 19 year old.
I've never heard of a place that tells you to not form a line. How does it work when there are more than 5 people. (Hm.. Italy. Nevermind. It works.)
People are like dogs - don't give them negative commands, they don't really understand them.
I’m surprised how I don’t hear more stories about angry boomers just passing out and dying from how red & angry they can get, their hearts must struggle with that load of hate
why didnt anyone in the story simply point to the actual sign?
Sounds like how Boomers don’t know how buffets work. I’ve got yelled at a Disney buffet cause everyone starts to form a like even though that’s not something you do, like if there’s a line for the meat section and I don’t want any meat, no reason for me to wait in that line. Well, I skipped the meat section and some boomer got all pissed off. The first thing the servers tell you is that “there isn’t a line”!
Nice. Fuck boomers. They are lead poisoned pieces of shit.
If you're in a bad mood at a baseball game you are *a priori* a complete fucking idiot