baby boomers, fair or unfairhas earned a reputation for behaving rudely, selfishly and all-encompassingly entitled. A Gen-X woman thought the stories were a little over-the-top — at least until she met one of these infamous Boomers herself.
A Gen-Z woman was yelled at by an angry Boomer man for being on her phone
The 45-year-old woman shared his story on Reddit. “I’ve been lurking around (the online forum) for a while laughing at the posts thinking ‘it can’t be that bad,'” she wrote. “Karma proved me wrong.”
The woman explained that “it finally happened”—she met a Boomer who acted rude and entitled, just like the stories she had read online.
“I went with my friend to some appointments he had because they’re in a city where I don’t come too much,” she shared. While waiting for her friend during his appointments, she met Boomer.
“Anyway, here I am, minding my own business, surfing my phone,” she recalled. “Boomer goes to the desk, loudly (announces) his information, and takes a seat directly across from me.”
The woman responded kindly, but not in any way that would encourage conversation.
“I looked up and smiled because it’s polite, and then I went back to my phone,” she said. “Then he starts to explain just as loudly: ‘Ya know, that’s what I hate about you young people these days’.”
Boomer was upset that the woman was on her phone instead of talking to him
Getty Images/Unsplash+
She was understandably confused by this seemingly random outburst. “Excuse me? What do you mean?” she asked.
“That,” he replied, pointing to the woman’s phone. “Everybody’s into the (expletive) stuff now. Nobody’s talking to anybody anymore.”
“Maybe, but I was also taught not to talk to strangers so…” she replied.
“But everybody’s on those things,” he argued.
The woman didn’t understand when they were alone. “WHO?” she asked. “I’m the only one here.”
The man felt that perfectly proved his point. “Accurate!” he replied. “We should talk.”
“Lord, I don’t know you,” she said irritably. “Why should I talk to you?”
After things didn’t go well with the woman, he moved on to anyone else he could find.
“He now wanders around the waiting room, complaining loudly and talking to everyone who comes in,” she said. “I understand you’re probably lonely, but that’s not how you make friends.”
Despite what this man might think, Boomers actually spend a decent amount of time on phones too
Based on what this man said, it seems he thinks Boomers never touch phones. This is however, statistically inaccurate.
Senior living community Provision Living conducted a survey comparing smartphone use between Millennials and Boomers. They found that both generations spend roughly the same amount of time on their phones each day, with Boomers coming in at five hours and Millennials at just over five and a half.
Both groups also use their phones primarily for social media, especially Facebook, which was the most used app in both generations.
There’s a common misconception that Boomers don’t like, or just don’t use, iPhones. Based on this evidence, that’s a fallacy — Boomers actually spend a significant amount of time on their phones. Those who don’t are as unusual and rare as Millennials who don’t use their phones.
Although it would be easy to judge this man and consider him just another Boomer acting rude, as the woman who posted on Reddit said, he was probably just lonely.
Going to an appointment may have been his only form of socialization for the day. While he could have been nicer, we certainly can’t blame him for wanting to chat.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango, covering entertainment, news and human interest stories.
Leave a Reply