What People Are Saying About Baby Boomers Online

The baby boomer generation encompasses people born between 1946 and 1964. They were born in the wake of World War II and despite being an aging population, remain politically and economically influential due to their large population size and the relative prosperity of the U.S. economy during their working careers.

Baby boomers are notorious for clashing with generations younger than them, particularly millennials and Generation Z. Intergenerational strife is normal and is often encouraged as a method of keeping the masses fighting against each other instead of looking up at the powerful who pull the puppet strings. However, there are many criticisms of baby boomer behavior and mannerisms that are valid and deserve to be addressed. Let's look at the things people say about baby boomers online.

To populate this list, we looked at various online forums, such as Reddit. We looked at the hottest posts in subreddits and other forums dedicated to discussing baby boomers. We specifically looked at communities aimed at calling out and addressing bad behavior from the baby boomer generation. Of course, we recognize that not every baby boomer acts like the people in these stories and that they represent a collection of the worst behavior possible. However, since these comments were prevalent in these communities, we feel the behavior warrants addressing. (For further reading, check out 20 things that sum up the life of a baby boomer.)

One of the things people say about baby boomers online is that the men are downright disgusting when it comes to interacting with women or talking about women. A commenter reminded everyone that while this behavior might be offensive to younger generations, it was quite normal during the baby boomer's formative years. Various users shared some stories about interactions with different men from this generation.

A woman said she had "a boomer c-suite executive sexually harass me with comments and had the audacity to leave a letter on my desk listing all the reasons that 'we should date.' One of the worst comments this married man said to me was 'Well, since women are more mature than me, men should date women half their age plus 7 years.'" Another commenter shared his story about a man he worked with while maintaining ski trails. He said his coworker was rude and abrasive and made highly inappropriate comments about his wife.

Finally, one commenter shared a story about a baby boomer coworker who had a photo in his cubicle of his comatose wife with her breasts out. According to the user, he would show people the photo then he would request to see their spouses' breasts because "you saw mine."

Another repeated complaint was that baby boomer customers tend to throw money at cashiers instead of handing it to them like civilized people. The original poster said, "For context, I work at a grocery store and older people almost never hand me the money. They almost always throw the money on the counter even when my hand is out. The weird thing is that they expect me to hand them their change every single time, but I've just resorted to just leaving it on the counter for them to collect." They go on to add that their coworker said it might have to do with the perception of the OP as "lower class" and that boomers believe they should avoid physically touching the poor.

One commenter shared a similar story about a baby boomer security guard who would always throw his license back at him after checking it at his work's checkpoint. The user said he eventually got fed up and told the man "Don't throw my license back to me. I didn't throw it to you. I put it in your hand." The man allegedly then threatened to deny the commenter's entry to work for 30 days for asking not to have things thrown at them.

Another commenter told a story about a man who "sprinkled his money across the counter." They said they returned the favor and sprinkled his change over the counter after making several rude comments about the person being lazy and having a poor work ethic. The man then got mad and pushed the money off the counter onto the floor.

There are also several conversations circulating about baby boomers throwing hands when things don't go their way. One person started a conversation recounting a story about when they went to pick up their medication. As they were completing their transaction, a woman pushed them out of the way, demanding that the pharmacy staff give her attention. When the poster requested that she back up so they could continue their private transaction, she cussed at them, expecting them to back down. However, the original poster said, "I am not from a higher income area and I am not nice or sweet." The woman retreated after the OP gave her a taste of her own medicine.

People in the comment section shared several stories of baby boomers getting told off when they got physical with young people. However, the comment section was primarily commiseration and advice. One commenter added "They're used to no one calling them out and they definitely are inept when it comes to natural consequences. If you go hard and fast, they realize they are powerless and melt like the wicked witch of the west doused in water."

The original poster for this thread has celiac disease, which causes the body to be unable to process gluten. They said they live in central Arkansas where gluten-free options are limited. They said they went to a grocery store and asked one of the employees, who appeared to be a baby boomer, if they had a gluten-free section. The man allegedly responded by rolling his eyes and saying "Ahhh, you're one of those types. You must be from Cali-for-knee." When the poster said that they have celiac disease, he responded "Back when I was your age, we didn't have no gluten or peanut or milk allergies, which tells me you're falling for those Cali-for-knee lies. This is all in your head. God made gluten and he won't steer you wrong and neither will I."

One person pointed out that this is a type of behavior and belief that comes from the survivorship bias. That is to say that if you only survey the surviving members of a group, you won't be able to see the problems with a system. As the poster so simply yet elegantly put it, "There was no such thing back then… Because they probably all died before you could get to know them." Another poster points out that gluten intolerance was first described in ancient Greece, but they didn't know what caused it at the time. Other posters elucidate that the cause of celiac disease was discovered by accident during World War II when rations during the Dutch famine stopped providing bread. Children with celiac disease became healthier because their intestines were able to heal from not consuming gluten.

A postal employee shared a piece of mail that a baby boomer—not speculated, he stated his age on the letter—had elected to return to sender. However, simply returning the letter wasn't enough. The recipient wrote on the piece of junk mail: "To mail carrier– I retired from the USPS (redacted) after 37 years of service– (management). Let me ask you this– Do you know the postal service manual? I don't have to accept any mail I don't want – and certainly not from anyone whose product I don't use – I don't do fireworks – Now if this continues, I will contact those in charge at a higher level I don't play games – I am 81 years old."

Someone wrapped up this little note succinctly by commenting "How can I make this about me and make someone else's life harder?" It seems to be a common set of behaviors among the baby boomers who are the clientele of any service. When something isn't exactly to their liking—especially something trivial —they fly into a rage, demanding to see the manager so they can put a report against the employee over something that is genuinely unproblematic. In this case, junk mail is easy to toss in your recycling bin, or even your trash if you hate saving trees and enjoy wasting paper.

One thing that came up several times in our research was the tendency for boomers to be overconfident in their intelligence. The original poster shared a screenshot of two boomers making fun of young people for being uneducated. The comments in the image read, "I don't know this country is coming to anymore. I know for a fact there's young adults who just finished high school and can not even sign their own name's." A follow-up comment in the image reads, "So, true, and a lot can not read or add and substract."

We didn't add any spelling or grammar errors to those comments. We reproduced them exactly as they read in the image. Pretty ironic to be criticizing others for "not being able to read" when you can't tell the difference between "there is" and "there are," properly pluralize the word "name" or differentiate between "can not" and "cannot."

Another commenter shared a story about an older man who stated that "George Jefferson" was the second president of the United States while ranting that young people only learn from the internet. The user informed him that it was Thomas Jefferson, not George Jefferson, and that he was the third president, not the second. The man did not appreciate when the commenter suggested he read a list of presidents online.

The online world coined the term "dishonest harmony" for when a group sweeps crimes under the rug in favor of "not rocking the boat." The original poster of the comment on Reddit recounted, "If there was a creepy pervy uncle in our parent's generation, if you were lucky you might get warned to not be alone with him. Or maybe your parents only let you and your siblings around him when you're at big family gatherings, but they steer you away from interacting with him. In most cases, everyone just pretended like nothing was wrong and continued to hang around each other like normal."

They go on to point out that in younger generations, we stop interacting with people who commit grievous acts of harm against our loved ones, especially the children in our lives. They stated, "Our parents will act like it's the cruelest thing to ever happen and will screech about how important it is for everyone to be together."

This sense of dishonest harmony isn't uncommon in families with many baby boomers and members older than them. Many young people have taken to the internet to decry the actions of their family members that they no longer have contact with. However, they don't shy away from exposing the rug-sweeping of their family members either. The internet is rife with stories about predators being present in families. The family tolerates the perpetrator and casts out the victim out if they seek justice. A notable example from popular culture is the Duggar family. After Josh Duggar's conviction of sexually abusing his sister, the family cast her out. He was and continues to be present around the younger Duggar children, even the girls. (Here are 17 ways baby boomers shaped modern society.)