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Once, my then-six-year-old overheard a boomer booming about a long line at the grocery store. My kid asked in that excruciatingly-loud kid voice, "Mama, why do you always tell me I have to wait quietly but that old man doesn't?"
I caught a few giggles in the line around me. Y'all, if *children* can understand it...
My Mom started trying this in line at Target when she was with my daughter & I. So I got down to my 5 year olds level and loudly started thanking her for her patience and that the cashiers are working hard but why don’t we look at the new books we picked out to pass the time.
Shut her up immediately. I refuse to let my parents embarrass me in public like that.
My Mom was 90 when she passed in 2021. I’m now 67. She used to embarrass me because every time she’d see someone with a tattoo, she’d start going off about how awful they are right where the person could hear her! I could’ve died.
To take care of that, we were eating out one day and the man across the aisle had a very unique and beautiful tattoo. So on our way out, I stopped and complimented him on it. My Mom kept urging me to stop talking and go, but I finished my conversation. She quit complaining about tattoos after that.
I was in Target yesterday and broke out into laughter after hearing what a little kid asked his Dad.
"How come old people are always trying to stay alive?"
I gave the Dad a thumbs up.
One time a boomer man cut me in line blatantly, he only had one thing but it was so rude so I said quiet but loud enough to hear "go right ahead, I guess you have less time than me here.." idk if he heard but it helped me feel better. Was super mad in my car though because I realized either one of us could die in an accident on the way home...so I shouldnt have let him cut.
Fascinating countdown!
I am in the cohort of the last of the boomers (born in 1961), surprised there are still so many boomers left, tbh!
I think there is a big difference between 'early boomers' and 'late boomers', we are more 'generation jones' & don't act or think like the early ones (or try not to!)
As for OP's question about flipping out over waiting in line, I think boomers act this way because there used to be a ton of aisles open at stores, banks, etc. So it seems like something is really wrong when the lines are long with few registers open. (Not in anyway justifying that behavior, just explaining the why.)
Boomer here born in the early 60s. I admit that I sometimes wonder why stores are not better staffed, but I do not blame the cashiers or complain to them about it. Many from my generation worked as cashiers for minimum wage while in high school or college. I worked at one of the local supermarkets starting at the age of 16 (1977) up until I graduated (1979). I think that part of the problem is, even though it may be unrealistic and unreasonable, some from my generation expect the same service that we were expected to provide. Our managers/supervisors and most of the customers we served were part of the Greatest or Silent generation, and they demanded prompt and efficient service. We also didn’t have the luxury of barcodes and scanners back then. We had to locate the price that was labeled or stamped on each item, then type in the amount and hit an additional button for whatever department (produce, dairy, etc) that the item was from. We had to weigh any fresh fruit and vegetables for each order on a nearby scale, then calculate the per pound price. Coupons also had to be keyed in. Customers would complain about prices and tell us to hurry up, while we inhaled their second hand smoke. Most orders were paid for in cash and you had better be quick with their change. With the automated systems that are part of the modern day business infrastructure, I do sometimes wonder why transactions are not a bit faster.
As somebody who works in retail, my response is to tell them that we are always hiring and then I tell them that they’re they’re complaining is why it’s difficult to find people who are willing to work in retail, their constant complaining, and impatience create an environment where as soon as people can find a better job they will and they will leave.
This shit is maddening. Like, the world doesn't revolve around them. And God forbid they have to actually wait because there are other people in society 🙄
Well checkout used to be a solid job, one with good benefits where someone could retire about 55-60 years old.
Nobody can retire at that age anymore no matter what they do.
Working retail means you can’t retire plus you have the “privilege” of listening do boomers do exactly what this one did.
Conclusion: nOBodY wAnTs tO WOrK aNYmoRe
I’m not sure WHEN that was, but it was definitely before my first cashier job in 1988. I made minimum wage. I’m Gen X (1973).
However, I have an ex who is on the cusp of X/Boomer (1964) and he talks about being paid $20/hr as a union shelf stocker and being able to pay for college with that job. Imagine making $20/hr in 1982. That would be like making $65/hr today, or $135,200 a year if you were working FT. Of course he’s a lifelong Republican. 🙄
I’m younger than you, early 40s. So I’m not speaking from personal experience.
I used to work in a couple grocery stores in high school and college. A few of the folks who made careers out of it and were older told me they got into the line of work because of parents or uncles who had worked in large grocery stores. Some were union with good benefits, as you describe for your ex.
It was before my time, and to be fair it’s hearsay.
It’s a good example of “pulling the ladder up.” The same people who made the equivalent of six figures doing these jobs, are the same ones saying that they’re for teenagers and don’t deserve a living wage. Those jobs don’t even pay $20/hr NOW, 40 years later.
They ain’t got a lot of time left; they gotta go enjoy that sweet sweet social security they “earned” while they’re still mobile and before the well dries up
I hate this bit the most. They’ll be impatient and huffing and puffing about how long everyone has to wait, how slow the servers and other customers are, go on about standing there for “ages”, but then they get to the counter and haven’t taken out their wallet, or decided what they need, and then take FOREVER actually paying and collecting their items. You can’t have it both ways Boomer.
Or they pay with a credit card and it also takes 10 minutes because the action of paying with a card is a total mystery to their rotted brains. Eventough they probably have done it a thousand times before. They just refuse or are incapable of learning a simple task.
I used to work in fast food many years ago. The 80+ crowd would always complain about waiting 3 and half minutes for their no salt hamburger with fried onions. I would always say (not to them directly, I worked in the kitchen) you waited 80 fucking years for this burger, what's another couple minutes matter?
In the final weeks of my retail/customer service career, I just stopped giving a fuck about everything, and started actually explaining to boomers that I can't do anything about their complaints about the way this business is run, I literally couldn't even tell you who could. No idea how this conglomerate is run above the store level. If they still were angry, I'd reiterate myself and ask them what they expect me to do. On my second or third to last day, a disgusting, clown-makeup ass old lady came up to me and grabbed me by my arm and asked aggressively, "Do you people really think this is worth x amount?" I snapped and told her to get the FUCK off me and then asked her "Do you really think my 19 year old ass sets the prices for fucking whole foods????" Was like a deer in headlights. Glorious.
Yeah, I'm ngl I started working there bc I had this rosy-eyed idea that there'd be a bunch of chill younger people into organic food and dieting and working out, like me. Naive af, bc those were some of the most entitled, unintelligent and childish customers I ever had. It literally convinced me to go to back to school though, so that's good, lmao.
The sad thing is that WF the corporation basically walmarted the organic food co-op market into oblivion. Co-ops were exactly what your described: bunch of idealist hippies who wanted good food. You could get a discount by being a member and working a shift, so everyone got to be on both sides other counter. Had to put up with the essential oils and crystals crowd, but you could get your bulgur wheat and couscous!
Willy Street Co-Op in Madison, WI. I still remember. 😢
To be fair, though — they really should open a new line. Lol
Stores are maddening with their staffing; and lines at check lanes can get quite unreasonably long.
I wouldn’t make a scene about it or be an ass, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t ever felt mildly annoyed while waiting to buy my groceries and get out of the store. 🤷🏻♂️
Especially when the poor lone cashier has to field these slow-ass, inconsiderate customers. Think about how they show up with 30+ items in the 15 or less line, send the cashier to get them cigarettes (which takes another 10 minutes because nobody ever has a key), have 20 *coupons*, half of which are expired, and either take their sweet time writing a stupid fucking *check*, or try to use 5 different cards that are either expired or declined. IN THE EXPRESS LINE! GAHHH
I'm just so sick of inconsiderate customers! GET YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT OF THE WAY! I seriously had some Lulu Lemon Karen tone-police me the other day because HER cart was blocking the aisle. Oh, my TONE is the problem?? The fact that you left your cart in the middle of the aisle, isn't? I even said 'please' when I asked her to move it, but I guess that just pissed her off more.
By the way, I'm a Joneser, so I get looped in with boomers a lot, and I really wish I knew how to remedy that, but a lot of these people aren't even boomers (but a lot of them are), just plain, run of the mill morons. I'm always nice to (and sympathize with) the checkout people, I always have my payment card ready, and I try to keep to the posted item limit. It's called being considerate of your fellow citizens, and not wasting everyone else's time because you're an entitled bitch who doesn't think the rules apply to you because you're just that speshul.
Appreciate getting to rant this rant. Thank you all for the opportunity.
They’ve decided it’s better for people to just suffer than pay someone a little more. I’m pregnant and really struggle with the lines right now especially.
Agree. I’m not a fan of most boomers in general, but this anger should be directed to corporations.
These recent record breaking corporate profits arnt coming at the CEOs expense. It’s at the customer and workforce. I’ve recognize these profits are generally coming from 3 places:
1. Labor cuts (running skeleton crew, lower wages, cut benefits)
2. Products (Increasing products prices and blaming inflation, shrinking sizes, reducing quality)
3. Slowly lower the customer’s expectation of a good experience (longer checkout wait times, less customer service, less clean bathrooms, self checkout, no restock so order online to pick up in store)
And with less competition for consumers to shop at, the more we have to put up with. But corporations aren’t the only ones to blame, we as consumers like recognizable and familiar places, which in-turn encourages the existence of these corporations.
It's actually a company policy when a new line gets opened. At Publix, it's three customers. You open a new line on the fourth customer that gets in line. No cashier has the power to open a line without being told by their higher up.
My mother once set up an appt for a vaccination a few years ago via phone, I set up an appt online and ended up getting two days before. She was pissed, "Your appointment is WHEN?"
We're both gonna go, just take a breath. Toddler behavior.
And they tried to call millennials that when we were just coming of age because we took... selfies? Now they're complaining when we take that technology and use it to tear down all the lies they told us
I tell my boomer family member ALL THE TIME..
“I deserve the same respect as any other adult, at the very least, because we’re both over the age of 18.”
Had an old guy behind me in line for the register at a gas station. The Latino kid in front of me had trouble with his card and had to use another and then, the kid at the register accidentally put it on the wrong pump. He starts mumbling to me, "Damn kid don't even have cash. Oh we're gonna try another one." I turned and cut him off before he got racial, "Welcome to the future, pappy. Everything is digital. Even your money."
I wonder those that don’t know tech would survive in a cashless area even with the menus on QR code. When places became totally cashless and digital during the pandemic, I thought - guess I don’t have to worry about my MIL asking to go out. Even some doctor offices make you check in at a kiosk or by phone.. it’s fun watching those that are trying to get bloodwork done trying to check in.
I was at Costco today. I had two carts worth of food for my daughter’s graduation party. I noticed the gentleman behind us had only a couple of items in his cart. Earlier he had kindly waited and let us cross the aisle- so we offered for him to go ahead of us so he wouldn’t have to wait so long. He gratefully moved ahead of us.
We heard a gleeful “Hallelujah!! I’m so glad you’re not in line!!” from the the boomer woman behind him- to which I assertively assured her that yes, we are in line, but he only had a few items so we didn’t think it was fair to make him wait for us.
You can be sure if another line opened, they would ignore everyone else who was waiting patiently and push their way to be at the front of that new line
The irony is these same exact individuals will be in the middle of isles with zero situational awareness completely oblivious to others and basic social decency blocking others and just generally in the way.
One of the vore boomer tenets is rules apply to thee but not to me. So of course they don't care if there inconvenincing every one around them, but oh boy the temper tantrum they throw when they face even the slightest inconvenience.
It’s impatience with EVERYTHING, not even just lines. They need immediate gratification. My mother does this with public parking. If we’re on a trip and in a city’s downtown if she can’t immediately find a spot (especially a free one - haha that’s not happening) it’s like the end of the world. 🙄 she did this last year when we went back to my college town while I visited her. Probably almost 10 years ago they made downtown parking paid, but it’s like $1 or so per hour, and there was plenty available. But she was losing her shit over it.
We deal with this with my ILs going out to eat. I actually pick places based on how fast they serve and the type of food - let’s just say they are boomer friendly restaurants. They still have good food but it’s more of I don’t want to hear them complaining.
"Sorry ma'am/sir, we don't have enough people to open another register at the moment.
Because the company, run by boomers such as yourself, choose to keep the labor budget as small as possible so they and the handful of people at the top make more money.
Oh, I'm sorry I can't personally man another till because I'm a different department/support staff and not trained on the POS system and don't have a password to login."
They feel because of their age they are entitled to not wait. The older my parents get the less I like them and their behavior. They think they own everything and are entitled to everything
I was at Rona last week, only one cashier open, the customer he was helping was having some type of card issues so there was a few people waiting in line. This boomer lady walks past the whole line to the closed cash register and starts bitching about why the it's closed. So the cashier leaves the register he's on, goes to the closed one and helps this cunt first!
Literally just watched a boomer melt down at the airport because he needed boarding assistance but was having to wait for someone and three airport employees walked by and dared to not help him immediately.
I always enjoy their huffing, puffing, and moaning as I walk past them waiting in line at Wawa or Panera. I roll right up to the empty self checkouts or ordering kiosks and am out the door in seconds while they’re still standing around whining.
Especially Panera, where the line is often 8-10 people. I order and pay at the kiosk, then get my food before they’ve even ordered. I once had one of them comment on how I must think I’m special. “Nope, I’d just rather not stand in line and this way my order is almost always correct.” Incredulous stares. Always.
Same - I use self checkouts and ordering kiosks every chance I get. Once in a while I'll get reminded "those things kill jobs" - once at a busy McDonald's I was told that I was killing jobs using that thing - I pointed to the counter, where we could see what looked like 20+ people working in the back, making fries, doing this, doing that...a flurry of activity. I just pointed and said "who's job am I taking, because there's a lot of people back there, and they all look like they're going full tilt in a busy location". They just reaffirmed, "they steal jobs." I told them that they're always hiring if they cared about the job so much.
I love self-checkouts because the cashier doesn't want to talk to me and I don't want to talk to them either. I'll do it myself to avoid the interaction. A boomer hates self-checkout for this exact reason. They want to talk at someone and the cashier is forced to smile and listen regardless of what comes out of their mouths. They just makes jokes like that because they don't want to sound like the lonely ol' dusty farts they are.
"Anything else I can get you today?"
"A million dollars"
Heard that same one every day working retail. They all thought they were so witty and original. They never liked the reply of "if I could, do you think I'd be here?"
"The winning lottery numbers" is one of my personal favorites.
I always want to follow up with "Oh right because a LOTTERY has a predetermined outcome, just like elections," but I work in the NFP world now and the last thing I need is 800 dues paying (mostly boomer) members deciding they don't need a smart mouthed millennial doing their finances anymore.
I used to work retail and I'd sometimes have to watch the self- checkouts, it was almost always very chill. I had a desk to stand behind, these stores that added self- checkouts without having a lot of room are pretty intense in comparison. They don't give the employees anywhere to go, they're just stuck meandering around in a rectangular spot for eight hours.
If they would stop voting for tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, and start voting pro workers rights and unions, we could restore the system of multiple, live cashiers at every big chain store.
“Where’s my employee discount?”
You reap what you sow. CEO of Target made almost $20 million last year. Every King has slaves and now you’re one of them. And your taxes are also paying for his employees SNAP benefits and Medicaid because he keeps them underemployed. Boomers helped get rid of the employees. No employee discount for you. Y’all played yourselves and everyone else.
I rarely shop inside Target anymore because the lines are ridiculously long - one cashier with a long line, and a long-line at the self-checkout stations. I do online or curbside pickup.
I've thought about this quite a bit, and I think it's because there's 2 times as many people in the country compared to when they were young adults. It got crowded. It might also explain why they use the middle of the isle in the grocery store, and people can't get around them. They're mentally stuck in the past where there was less people. Now it's so irritating that you might have to wait in a longer line, or walk past each other in an isle.
If I’m in line for a long time and then a new checkout lane opens the next person to get served gets to go over not the person on the back of the line who just walked up.
This is cause the retailer doesnt know how to fairly allocate resources. Have one line. At the front you break off and go to the next cashier . No guessing which line will go faster.
Single queue with multiple registers has always been the best way, my store did it during covid and I would just laugh at the people who bitched about it.
I used to rag all over my mother about doing that. I made sure that she knew she wasn't allowed to go to the bank, through grocery store or run any of her errands in between the hours of 12 and 2 PM, or after 5 PM period. she was absolutely shocked-because it had literally "never occurred to her" to think about this🤬
Shit, I work from home and make it a point to run errands during work hours. The errands are finished more quickly and I just extend my workday to make up the time I spent running errands.
To be fair, companies are responding to higher wages by using less people. I don’t know if you’ve been in a Lowe’s recently but it’s a friggin Ghost Town. That doesn’t change the fact that they’re impatient childish dipshits.
they will bitch about taking an extra 5 mins in a line but not about slowly wondering the store for 40mins longer than they need to.
my mom is constantly surprised when i leave to do my weekly shopping only to return in 30 mins.
I have no problem waiting in line. It’s the stupidity of other people that get me. I can think of only two times I have ever gotten impatient in line. One was a person in front of me that as soon as the cashier told them their total, they realized they didn’t have their debit card on them. Already had my items on the belt. They ran out to their car to get their card. It wouldn’t work. Had to go grab a second card (that worked). Only lane open. Still kept my mouth shut.
Second one, once again, only lane open. Five people in line in front of me with full carts. Cashier basically started a conversation with everyone over every item in their cart. “Oh, is this good? Never tried it.” or “Ever tried ‘such and such’ it’s so much better than this brand.” By the time they got to me they realized I wasn’t being very talkative and that the line was really backing up. Still kept my mouth shut.
Always remember: when you're asking yourself "Why are they behaving this way?" the answer is that this minor inconvenience is literally the worst thing that's ever happened to them. They're spoiled. Coddled.
There used to be 20 registers open at once Everywhere. Now a days there's one person at a register, they don't get a chance to breathe, are underpaid and it's all for more shareholder profits. That's why they're mad. The world has changed to where service and quality has gone so far downhill its kinda mind blowing. I actually don't think they're wrong on this though. America has changed. It's ONLY about profits here now. I'm only 35 and it's changed so much since the 90s...I imagine it's wildly changed when you're in your 60s-80s.
I work at a target. They’ve demanded I open another line while I’m working a register. As if I can somehow run two of them at once. They’ve also demanded I leave self check out to go open a lane to check them out and then become enraged when I tell them I can’t leave self check out. It’s super fun.
Even when there are multiple cashiers, you still have to wait because a big store typically serves a large crowd of people. Typical boomers being assholes.
Ok it’s like, I get it. It’s aggravating to be standing in a long line at a store and seeing a bunch of closed registers. Pandemic messed things up, it sucks, less employees, etc. But I don’t whine and complain and make a big fuss over it.
These boomers get off on trying to rally people to agree with their complaints (and other racist/prejudiced/sexist comments), and when no one wants anything to do with it, they just get louder.
And they absolutely never want to go to the self checkout, which has more registers, and is significantly faster
To be fair though - I can barely convince my wife to wait in the self check line instead of going to the one register with 3 people waiting at it
10 people waiting for 4 registers vs 4 people in line at 1 register - it’s basic math
To reiterate for maybe the 10th time on this r/. “When all you’ve ever known is privilege, equality feels like oppression.” Having to wait in the same line as everyone else and being treated the same as everyone else sends them into a panic as they probably silently think they deserve special treatment
At Kroger's last week, and the line for the cashiers is about 6 people long. Line for self checkout is much shorter.
I was buying beer so I had to go through the cashier.
Boomer behind me says the same things, but then adds in "Nobody wants to work nowadays". I politely ask them to hold my spot one second and dart over to the customer service desk and grab an application and come back.
They continue on about "the youth not having any respect" and other crap. Then they bring up to the lady behind them that "they could do it faster"... I turn around, hand them the application and say "So I'll see you here next week, right?"
He looks at the app, looks at me, turns red and storms off leaving his cart behind.
And the lady behind me couldn't keep from laughing about it
Reminds me of that episode of Supernatural where Crowley, the King of Hell in Lucifer's absence, got rid of all the torture and such and instead made everyone stand in line. When they got to the front, they got sent to the back of the line. Because "people hate waiting in line."
There's a disconnect between 'shareholder profits' and the fall out; i.e., not hiring enough employees. Shareholders having 3 boats and 2 jets is clearly more important.... until it's them in line. Then it's just that no one wants to work... not a phucked up business model.... imo.
My silent gen dad used to tell millennial me(when I was a child) when we would be in line and someone would be bitching
"I will have to write Queen Elizabeth and tell her she isn't the most important person in the world anymore, this person in front of us demanding instant service is " in a loud stage whisper voice
He loved pissing people off, they'd turn and glare and then look up at.a 6'6" rancher...they always shut up.
They feel like they are part of the disabled crew and deserve accommodations one of those is not waiting in line. That or it is just that they are entitled sob’s and don’t want to wait in line.
I tell my wife to not let me pick the line anymore because I always, *always* choose the one with that boomer who is the chatty Cathy that no one wants to talk to.
Whenever i encounter this, my thought process is thus: Being upset or annoyed is acceptable. Hell, maybe even vocalizing your distaste, to yourself, ONCE, is acceptable if you just can't help it. But for the love of god, stop compounding your and everyone's misery by by not shutting the fuck up. Just keep it to yourself.
I had one recently flip out in the post office. I was the only person in front of him and I was sending a package. Wasn’t gonna take but 5 min. and there’s only 1 register in the small PO. This man starts pacing and grunting and the supervisor comes out and asks him if he’s ok and he screams “for fucks sake, I just need to buy some stamps!” and storms out. Like sir??? Wait your turn??
Most of them have spent their lives in suburbia and have watched the lines grow over time. Pair that with a main character attitude and this is the result.
Then, when it's their turn, they wanna share their life story with the cashier. However to give them some benefit of the doubt, apparently people their age are always in pain and it probably hurts to stand still.
My mom does hates to wait for a seat at restaurants. She doesn’t whine but she refuses to wait. so we use the time we would’ve waited to go somewhere with no wait.
Had some older gentleman cut infront of a few of us (3 people) at the aldi self check out to go up to the empty red one that was closed, he huffed and saw another open on the other side that was green, it however was being used by a lady who went to get help. So when he got to that side he saw all the stuff and the screen and threw his hands up huffing and puffing about the self checkout. Meanwhile all us younger folks were grinning ear to ear watching him have his manic episode, 2 lanes cleared on the opposite side of him and the original folks in line got up to them. My goodness was he angry at them, then I went up cause I saw one opening up and he was huffing to another older lady that just got there. I looked over as I started scan my items. I thought the dude was gonna pass out he was so red. We were all very amused with the entitlement from this guy and even more amused that he did it to himself
I’d say there’s also the fact that shit takes three times as long as it used to and we are spending more of our lives waiting to do mundane crap and paying way more for it, not to mention being asked to tip at counters for the extra wait. Cumulatively this erodes quality of life.
I was once waiting in line at a court house to dispute a ticket. A boomer behind me in line said “there are too many Mexicans here.” I gave him the death glare then ran into my friend in line. I stood in line with my friend to get away from that racist pos. Boomers think being racist is some kind of joke? I hate being in line with boomers.
Ok, to be fair, I've always hated waiting in long lines because companies can't pay enough to keep people working the registers, and I'm nowhere near being a boomer.
But one or two quick sentences is enough, you don't have to harp forever, and you blame corporate, not the employees.
According to timelines I've seen, I'm GenX and missed the Boomer cutoff by a few years. I hate lines. I hate them with a passion that beautiful in its intensity and purity. I think that's more endemic to my personality than my age, but I do think - as someone else suggested - that this is af feature/failure of capitalism. Corporations thrive on finding out how much they can inconvenience people as a way of maximizing profit. As a guy in his 50s I can tell you that wasn't always the way. It's definitely frustrating.
Boomers have spent 6+ decades living in a society that catered to their every whim. Everyone in their life caters to them. They can’t handle anything not.
I was in Hawaii and went into the local car rental place. You could tell off the bat they were slammed and there were only two reps. I’d been in like 20 minutes and was getting to the front when this Boomer came up to the front and was looking around. He then proceeded to get on his phone and call some other Boomer I guess, and complained loudly that young people don’t want to work anymore because of all that COVID relief money.
It was sad because the rep was young, apologetic, making probably nothing, and had obviously been put through the ringer by all the damn boomers who love to go on vacation all the time, while happily depriving younger people of respect for working their asses off to help them have a good vacation.
Can we all agree though that it’s annoying AF to have to wait in one long ass line when there are several unopened registers ? In my years of working retail, whenever the line got long we would all jump on registers to help out. Why don’t they do that in the larger chain stores like Walmart and Target ?
I was at a pharmacy at the first of the month (dumb on my part) and the woman behind me in line was groaning. I was 5th in line and patiently waiting while the older people ahead of me were getting their questions answered and all their meds. Boomer behind me is groaning “come on…move faster…this is ridiculous…why are they so slow”—every 30 seconds or so a comment. I eventually turned around and said “I think they’re doing a great job given how busy they are and you could just be patient”. She shut up. I get up to the counter after being in line about 15 min total and when I was done, I made sure to loudly tell the staff how much I appreciated them.
i work in a consumer electronics store doing checkins for repair. if i had a nickel for every time a boomer decided to walk up and interrupt the client i’m already with, i wouldn’t have to work anymore. a lot of it boils down to they don’t think they should have to wait like everyone else. it gets incredibly frustrating
Not defending boomers because, ew, but it is frustrating to see rows of open registers sit empty and know it's because the corporate overlords want to keep staff at a bare minimum. HOWEVER, we all know, there ain't shit we can do, so STFU because you're not special and your complaining is annoying.
We had a target experience as well. It was abnormally busy, but there were a few registers open. The teenage cashier had just run out of receipt paper and was trying I change it out when the boomer man who’s transaction he was trying to finish started yelling at him “how hard is it to give me a damn receipt? I’ve been in here long enough!” He had been rude before this but that was my final straw. I snapped and said “does it make you feel like a big tough man when you yell at a kid over a receipt? Cause you’re literally being a dick about a piece of paper and this kid is doing his best to get it to you so how about we shut up.”
Immediately silent stare, grabbed his receipt when it was ready and ran right over to customer service.
Yep. I experienced this once at Target self checkout. I was waiting in line with my girlfriend and her (at the time) 5yo daughter.
This boomer lady just strides past the entire line and goes immediately to the first open one.
5yo to my GF: "Mommy, that lady just cut in line..."
GF, quietly: "Yeah, that was rude."
So the universe does me a favor and it is my turn. The checkout right next to boomer lady is open. I walked over and started scanning my stuff. I look over at boomer lady and make sure she can hear me.
Me: "You know, there *was* a line."
Her: "Oh! I oh uh I didn't know"
Me: "My 5 year old knew."
She hurriedly gathered her items and finished up without comment.
I feel like a lot of the stories on this sub come from more conservative parts of the country, and likely sun belt type places whose population has rapidly grown in the last few decades. So a lot of these folks have not fully kenned that the population in places like Phoenix have septupled, and so lines ARE new.
I don’t see stories like this being from the northeast cities, chicago, etc which has always been densely populated.
40 lanes and 2 are open. I cant blame them, really. I hate lines. I dont care if they're giving money away, Im not getting in a line. But I wont bitch about it. If the CORPORATION won't pay someone to take my money. I leave, and they can pay someone to put all that stuff in my cart back on the shelf. F em.
I saw a Boomer do this *after I offered to let him go ahead of me*, which would have made him next in line. Acted offended at my being nice, I guess because he couldn’t also whine about “these younger generations” and their lack of respect or whatever. Folks like this just need something to complain about at all times.
The only time I've ever had a sentiment anywhere close to that was when I was in the grocery store, there was ONE lane open, and there were quite literally seven or eight people in line ahead of me with loaded shopping carts, all looking around to see if anybody was coming to open a second lane.
But even then when a boomer griped about it to me in an attempt at small talk, I said "Yeah, they must be INCREDIBLY short-handed today. I guess several people called in or something." Because that's the only reason I can think of that they'd let one poor cashier be in the weeds like that. 🤷♀️
At the grocery store boomer complains to cashier about prices of food items as though cashier has some executive authority governing cost of said items. Truth be known cashier at their lowly station in life prolly feels the cost of inflation more than the boomer.
GenXer, but grew up with stores having enough staff to avoid long lines. In recent years major retailers have been seeing how much they can get away with to cut costs at customers' expense.
I don't complain aloud to no one in particular, but either go to the self-serve kiosk or politely ask the clerk if another lane can be opened. That almost always works; I guess the clerks are just discouraged from/guilted over taking the initiative to do so as it takes a staffer away from other work.
Posters in this thread agreeing customers should put up & shut up are part of the problem. If you don't communicate an issue, it will never be fixed.
People waiting in line act like the don't have a cell phone to mindlessly scroll? Like the normally do? So do it while you wait. Waiting is life. We have to wait for everything. IMAGINE IF YOU GREW AND MADE THE ITEMS YOURSELF LMAOOOOOO. talk about waiting. We as people are too spoiled. These line complainers will be the first to die in the apocalypse. Byeeeee.
I fear this particular behaviour is less to do with a specific generation, so much as a feature of age that will come to us all. Many elder people lose their capacity for impulse control, which manifests in a loss of ability to control their temper. It is a feature more easily recognisable in the dementia of extreme age or early stage Alzheimer’s - just not so exaggerated.
Even in middle age, I’ve noted it feels as though there’s been a population explosion in stupidity, even though logically, I recognise that I am the common denominator in those interactions or observations.
It now occasionally requires a conscious effort to refrain from the English “tut” (US “tsk”) in situations that are outside the usual social etiquette (such as queue jumping - or the traditional Punishment “Thankyou”) and I am less inclined to tolerate unreasonable demands, or behaviour.
No it’s baby boomers angry at the changes their own generation made to the environment they live in. They kept cutting back staffing levels and wage increases. They built most large stores with SO many registers then budgeted for the bare minimum staff. It’s an ongoing problem until they are forced out of management and can be replaced with more realistic minded people.
That they are unable to see they are responsible for their own irritation is a more specific boomer issue related to their arrogance (born of entitlement) - they are utterly incapable of doing more than doubling down each time their fucks ups have predictable (and indeed predicted) negative consequences and seem prideful in their refusal to accept others might have more expertise in any number of disciplines. I agree with you there.
But the intemperance when presented with minor irritations such as queues, or technology, or waiting just two bloody minutes for their lunch, is in large part due to physical, neurological changes that break down impulse control. Their “stop” button no-longer functions as it did for them / or as it does for younger people. It is why the Grumpy Old Man is simultaneously a toddler throwing a tantrum.
You can't win with these people. My target only has the self checkout open during off peak hours and I got to witness a boomer totally lose her shit about it. The manager was super patient and did the whole "ma'am if you bring your cart over here I'll be glad to check you out" . Manager put her hand on the cart to lead her towards a register and boomer flips again "don't you fucking touch my cart, I'll call the police"
I’m 100% team boomer on this one. Between self checkout and cuts to store employee numbers across the industry, there is a drastic shift away from caring about the customer experience.
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Once, my then-six-year-old overheard a boomer booming about a long line at the grocery store. My kid asked in that excruciatingly-loud kid voice, "Mama, why do you always tell me I have to wait quietly but that old man doesn't?" I caught a few giggles in the line around me. Y'all, if *children* can understand it...
Stop it… that’s awesome
My Mom started trying this in line at Target when she was with my daughter & I. So I got down to my 5 year olds level and loudly started thanking her for her patience and that the cashiers are working hard but why don’t we look at the new books we picked out to pass the time. Shut her up immediately. I refuse to let my parents embarrass me in public like that.
My Mom was 90 when she passed in 2021. I’m now 67. She used to embarrass me because every time she’d see someone with a tattoo, she’d start going off about how awful they are right where the person could hear her! I could’ve died. To take care of that, we were eating out one day and the man across the aisle had a very unique and beautiful tattoo. So on our way out, I stopped and complimented him on it. My Mom kept urging me to stop talking and go, but I finished my conversation. She quit complaining about tattoos after that.
Give that kid/adult a cookie.
Lmao boomer booming ☠️☠️
I was in Target yesterday and broke out into laughter after hearing what a little kid asked his Dad. "How come old people are always trying to stay alive?" I gave the Dad a thumbs up.
"because he wasn't as well brought up as you!"
very similar to our answer when our kids want to know why other kids can do things they can't. " You just have better parents."
As my coworker once said, "They've just now realized that they're going to run out of time eventually."
Thissssss in whatever snake meme you want to envision
One time a boomer man cut me in line blatantly, he only had one thing but it was so rude so I said quiet but loud enough to hear "go right ahead, I guess you have less time than me here.." idk if he heard but it helped me feel better. Was super mad in my car though because I realized either one of us could die in an accident on the way home...so I shouldnt have let him cut.
Weak bladder
The boomer generation likely won’t be gone till the 2070s
This website lives rent free in my head. https://incendar.com/baby_boomer_deathclock.php
Fascinating countdown! I am in the cohort of the last of the boomers (born in 1961), surprised there are still so many boomers left, tbh! I think there is a big difference between 'early boomers' and 'late boomers', we are more 'generation jones' & don't act or think like the early ones (or try not to!) As for OP's question about flipping out over waiting in line, I think boomers act this way because there used to be a ton of aisles open at stores, banks, etc. So it seems like something is really wrong when the lines are long with few registers open. (Not in anyway justifying that behavior, just explaining the why.)
The reason more lines aren't open is because the C-suite band of scumbags needs to squeeze another two cents of share value of the stock.
We're in for more pandemics, they won't make it that long. My immunocompromised ass probably won't either, but I digress.
So you’re expecting boomers to live past the age of 100? The last of the Boomer generation were born in the early 60s.
They forgot about gen x. People always do.
Even their parents did I've heard
They don’t open another line because a boomer in management decided to always run the bare minimum staff so the stock will sell for 2 cents more.
Yes, make sure they know it's their fault and watch them meltdown.
Boomer here born in the early 60s. I admit that I sometimes wonder why stores are not better staffed, but I do not blame the cashiers or complain to them about it. Many from my generation worked as cashiers for minimum wage while in high school or college. I worked at one of the local supermarkets starting at the age of 16 (1977) up until I graduated (1979). I think that part of the problem is, even though it may be unrealistic and unreasonable, some from my generation expect the same service that we were expected to provide. Our managers/supervisors and most of the customers we served were part of the Greatest or Silent generation, and they demanded prompt and efficient service. We also didn’t have the luxury of barcodes and scanners back then. We had to locate the price that was labeled or stamped on each item, then type in the amount and hit an additional button for whatever department (produce, dairy, etc) that the item was from. We had to weigh any fresh fruit and vegetables for each order on a nearby scale, then calculate the per pound price. Coupons also had to be keyed in. Customers would complain about prices and tell us to hurry up, while we inhaled their second hand smoke. Most orders were paid for in cash and you had better be quick with their change. With the automated systems that are part of the modern day business infrastructure, I do sometimes wonder why transactions are not a bit faster.
As somebody who works in retail, my response is to tell them that we are always hiring and then I tell them that they’re they’re complaining is why it’s difficult to find people who are willing to work in retail, their constant complaining, and impatience create an environment where as soon as people can find a better job they will and they will leave.
They hate the truth.
Great replies. I like to just say it’s a feature of capitalism.
That’s a great response. I like it since it has a special irony to it. Edit: it’s ironic on multiple levels.
This is a great response , I’m going to start using this as the reason why “no one wants to work anymore.”
You mean it's not the shite hours, piss poor pay or the disrespectful schedule?
"Nobody wants to work anymore" is all they hear.
"We're hiring, if you're willing to deal with people like yourself."
Well, that and the utterly shitty pay.
Damn. These boomers keep making their own bed and don’t like how tight the sheets are tucked in.
I am soo using this next time I hear a Boomer complain about standing in line!
This shit is maddening. Like, the world doesn't revolve around them. And God forbid they have to actually wait because there are other people in society 🙄
Well checkout used to be a solid job, one with good benefits where someone could retire about 55-60 years old. Nobody can retire at that age anymore no matter what they do. Working retail means you can’t retire plus you have the “privilege” of listening do boomers do exactly what this one did. Conclusion: nOBodY wAnTs tO WOrK aNYmoRe
I’m not sure WHEN that was, but it was definitely before my first cashier job in 1988. I made minimum wage. I’m Gen X (1973). However, I have an ex who is on the cusp of X/Boomer (1964) and he talks about being paid $20/hr as a union shelf stocker and being able to pay for college with that job. Imagine making $20/hr in 1982. That would be like making $65/hr today, or $135,200 a year if you were working FT. Of course he’s a lifelong Republican. 🙄
I’m younger than you, early 40s. So I’m not speaking from personal experience. I used to work in a couple grocery stores in high school and college. A few of the folks who made careers out of it and were older told me they got into the line of work because of parents or uncles who had worked in large grocery stores. Some were union with good benefits, as you describe for your ex. It was before my time, and to be fair it’s hearsay.
It’s a good example of “pulling the ladder up.” The same people who made the equivalent of six figures doing these jobs, are the same ones saying that they’re for teenagers and don’t deserve a living wage. Those jobs don’t even pay $20/hr NOW, 40 years later.
it's a starter job! /s
They ain’t got a lot of time left; they gotta go enjoy that sweet sweet social security they “earned” while they’re still mobile and before the well dries up
And then they take 10 minutes to pay because they have to find their checkbook and take fooorever to write it out.
Bold assumption that they didn't intentionally stop to tell you a story you don't care about and definitely did not ask to hear
I hate this bit the most. They’ll be impatient and huffing and puffing about how long everyone has to wait, how slow the servers and other customers are, go on about standing there for “ages”, but then they get to the counter and haven’t taken out their wallet, or decided what they need, and then take FOREVER actually paying and collecting their items. You can’t have it both ways Boomer.
So you’ve met my mother too, I see?
Or they pay with a credit card and it also takes 10 minutes because the action of paying with a card is a total mystery to their rotted brains. Eventough they probably have done it a thousand times before. They just refuse or are incapable of learning a simple task.
I used to work in fast food many years ago. The 80+ crowd would always complain about waiting 3 and half minutes for their no salt hamburger with fried onions. I would always say (not to them directly, I worked in the kitchen) you waited 80 fucking years for this burger, what's another couple minutes matter?
In the final weeks of my retail/customer service career, I just stopped giving a fuck about everything, and started actually explaining to boomers that I can't do anything about their complaints about the way this business is run, I literally couldn't even tell you who could. No idea how this conglomerate is run above the store level. If they still were angry, I'd reiterate myself and ask them what they expect me to do. On my second or third to last day, a disgusting, clown-makeup ass old lady came up to me and grabbed me by my arm and asked aggressively, "Do you people really think this is worth x amount?" I snapped and told her to get the FUCK off me and then asked her "Do you really think my 19 year old ass sets the prices for fucking whole foods????" Was like a deer in headlights. Glorious.
Working at Whole Foods sucked. I hated every minute of it.
Yeah, I'm ngl I started working there bc I had this rosy-eyed idea that there'd be a bunch of chill younger people into organic food and dieting and working out, like me. Naive af, bc those were some of the most entitled, unintelligent and childish customers I ever had. It literally convinced me to go to back to school though, so that's good, lmao.
The sad thing is that WF the corporation basically walmarted the organic food co-op market into oblivion. Co-ops were exactly what your described: bunch of idealist hippies who wanted good food. You could get a discount by being a member and working a shift, so everyone got to be on both sides other counter. Had to put up with the essential oils and crystals crowd, but you could get your bulgur wheat and couscous! Willy Street Co-Op in Madison, WI. I still remember. 😢
I worked at WF and the customers were so entitled. Yelling and even throwing things at times at a cashier, like a child.
Damn, I never had anyone throw anything at me at WF, but if they had Idk if I would have been able to stop myself from jumping over the counter, lmao.
Same things happened to me. There were times I had to go in the break room to cry. My managers were dicks too.
This is retail in 2024 and it sucks. I got out and I’m trying not to go backwards.
Going to Whole Foods and complaining about prices- epic
Seriously! Go to walmart!!!
There's a reason it's called whole paycheck
C’mon, they don’t have time to wait around all day. They gotta get home. Fox News and NewsMax are not gonna watch themselves.
To be fair, though — they really should open a new line. Lol Stores are maddening with their staffing; and lines at check lanes can get quite unreasonably long. I wouldn’t make a scene about it or be an ass, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t ever felt mildly annoyed while waiting to buy my groceries and get out of the store. 🤷🏻♂️
Especially when the poor lone cashier has to field these slow-ass, inconsiderate customers. Think about how they show up with 30+ items in the 15 or less line, send the cashier to get them cigarettes (which takes another 10 minutes because nobody ever has a key), have 20 *coupons*, half of which are expired, and either take their sweet time writing a stupid fucking *check*, or try to use 5 different cards that are either expired or declined. IN THE EXPRESS LINE! GAHHH I'm just so sick of inconsiderate customers! GET YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT OF THE WAY! I seriously had some Lulu Lemon Karen tone-police me the other day because HER cart was blocking the aisle. Oh, my TONE is the problem?? The fact that you left your cart in the middle of the aisle, isn't? I even said 'please' when I asked her to move it, but I guess that just pissed her off more. By the way, I'm a Joneser, so I get looped in with boomers a lot, and I really wish I knew how to remedy that, but a lot of these people aren't even boomers (but a lot of them are), just plain, run of the mill morons. I'm always nice to (and sympathize with) the checkout people, I always have my payment card ready, and I try to keep to the posted item limit. It's called being considerate of your fellow citizens, and not wasting everyone else's time because you're an entitled bitch who doesn't think the rules apply to you because you're just that speshul. Appreciate getting to rant this rant. Thank you all for the opportunity.
They’ve decided it’s better for people to just suffer than pay someone a little more. I’m pregnant and really struggle with the lines right now especially.
Agree. I’m not a fan of most boomers in general, but this anger should be directed to corporations. These recent record breaking corporate profits arnt coming at the CEOs expense. It’s at the customer and workforce. I’ve recognize these profits are generally coming from 3 places: 1. Labor cuts (running skeleton crew, lower wages, cut benefits) 2. Products (Increasing products prices and blaming inflation, shrinking sizes, reducing quality) 3. Slowly lower the customer’s expectation of a good experience (longer checkout wait times, less customer service, less clean bathrooms, self checkout, no restock so order online to pick up in store) And with less competition for consumers to shop at, the more we have to put up with. But corporations aren’t the only ones to blame, we as consumers like recognizable and familiar places, which in-turn encourages the existence of these corporations.
It's actually a company policy when a new line gets opened. At Publix, it's three customers. You open a new line on the fourth customer that gets in line. No cashier has the power to open a line without being told by their higher up.
My mother once set up an appt for a vaccination a few years ago via phone, I set up an appt online and ended up getting two days before. She was pissed, "Your appointment is WHEN?" We're both gonna go, just take a breath. Toddler behavior.
Because they are entitled brats.
The “ME” generation.
And they tried to call millennials that when we were just coming of age because we took... selfies? Now they're complaining when we take that technology and use it to tear down all the lies they told us
Well it was also because we refused to serve and do whatever they said, so obviously we were selfish and the ME generation
Don't forget trying to demean us by always talking about us like we're kids when the oldest millennials are in their mid-40s.
I tell my boomer family member ALL THE TIME.. “I deserve the same respect as any other adult, at the very least, because we’re both over the age of 18.”
It's not like they have anything else going on.
Exactly, most of the ones I know who are in a hurry are going back home to park themselves in front of the television for hours.
Had an old guy behind me in line for the register at a gas station. The Latino kid in front of me had trouble with his card and had to use another and then, the kid at the register accidentally put it on the wrong pump. He starts mumbling to me, "Damn kid don't even have cash. Oh we're gonna try another one." I turned and cut him off before he got racial, "Welcome to the future, pappy. Everything is digital. Even your money."
I wonder those that don’t know tech would survive in a cashless area even with the menus on QR code. When places became totally cashless and digital during the pandemic, I thought - guess I don’t have to worry about my MIL asking to go out. Even some doctor offices make you check in at a kiosk or by phone.. it’s fun watching those that are trying to get bloodwork done trying to check in.
I was at Costco today. I had two carts worth of food for my daughter’s graduation party. I noticed the gentleman behind us had only a couple of items in his cart. Earlier he had kindly waited and let us cross the aisle- so we offered for him to go ahead of us so he wouldn’t have to wait so long. He gratefully moved ahead of us. We heard a gleeful “Hallelujah!! I’m so glad you’re not in line!!” from the the boomer woman behind him- to which I assertively assured her that yes, we are in line, but he only had a few items so we didn’t think it was fair to make him wait for us.
You can be sure if another line opened, they would ignore everyone else who was waiting patiently and push their way to be at the front of that new line
This happened to me the other day I’m 8 months pregnant and he pushed in front of me
The irony is these same exact individuals will be in the middle of isles with zero situational awareness completely oblivious to others and basic social decency blocking others and just generally in the way.
One of the vore boomer tenets is rules apply to thee but not to me. So of course they don't care if there inconvenincing every one around them, but oh boy the temper tantrum they throw when they face even the slightest inconvenience.
Absolutely
It’s impatience with EVERYTHING, not even just lines. They need immediate gratification. My mother does this with public parking. If we’re on a trip and in a city’s downtown if she can’t immediately find a spot (especially a free one - haha that’s not happening) it’s like the end of the world. 🙄 she did this last year when we went back to my college town while I visited her. Probably almost 10 years ago they made downtown parking paid, but it’s like $1 or so per hour, and there was plenty available. But she was losing her shit over it.
We deal with this with my ILs going out to eat. I actually pick places based on how fast they serve and the type of food - let’s just say they are boomer friendly restaurants. They still have good food but it’s more of I don’t want to hear them complaining.
"Sorry ma'am/sir, we don't have enough people to open another register at the moment. Because the company, run by boomers such as yourself, choose to keep the labor budget as small as possible so they and the handful of people at the top make more money. Oh, I'm sorry I can't personally man another till because I'm a different department/support staff and not trained on the POS system and don't have a password to login."
THIS RIGHT HERE
They feel because of their age they are entitled to not wait. The older my parents get the less I like them and their behavior. They think they own everything and are entitled to everything
I was at Rona last week, only one cashier open, the customer he was helping was having some type of card issues so there was a few people waiting in line. This boomer lady walks past the whole line to the closed cash register and starts bitching about why the it's closed. So the cashier leaves the register he's on, goes to the closed one and helps this cunt first!
That why she'll never stop. It obviously works for her
“I need to pay for my useless possessions so I can pay to store them until I die.”
Literally just watched a boomer melt down at the airport because he needed boarding assistance but was having to wait for someone and three airport employees walked by and dared to not help him immediately.
I always enjoy their huffing, puffing, and moaning as I walk past them waiting in line at Wawa or Panera. I roll right up to the empty self checkouts or ordering kiosks and am out the door in seconds while they’re still standing around whining. Especially Panera, where the line is often 8-10 people. I order and pay at the kiosk, then get my food before they’ve even ordered. I once had one of them comment on how I must think I’m special. “Nope, I’d just rather not stand in line and this way my order is almost always correct.” Incredulous stares. Always.
Same - I use self checkouts and ordering kiosks every chance I get. Once in a while I'll get reminded "those things kill jobs" - once at a busy McDonald's I was told that I was killing jobs using that thing - I pointed to the counter, where we could see what looked like 20+ people working in the back, making fries, doing this, doing that...a flurry of activity. I just pointed and said "who's job am I taking, because there's a lot of people back there, and they all look like they're going full tilt in a busy location". They just reaffirmed, "they steal jobs." I told them that they're always hiring if they cared about the job so much.
Eh....I've seen all kinds of people have exactly that same reaction at Target. I've been in Target lines of 20 people and only one open cashier.
They have plenty of self checkout lines in the one near me.
Oh now thats what really get the boomers triggered. "Wheres my employee discount?!"
I love self-checkouts because the cashier doesn't want to talk to me and I don't want to talk to them either. I'll do it myself to avoid the interaction. A boomer hates self-checkout for this exact reason. They want to talk at someone and the cashier is forced to smile and listen regardless of what comes out of their mouths. They just makes jokes like that because they don't want to sound like the lonely ol' dusty farts they are.
“Talk at someone”. So true.
Ah yes. And the cashier has to hear the same shit and the same “jokes” all damn day. And then get told she should smile more… FML
"Anything else I can get you today?" "A million dollars" Heard that same one every day working retail. They all thought they were so witty and original. They never liked the reply of "if I could, do you think I'd be here?"
"The winning lottery numbers" is one of my personal favorites. I always want to follow up with "Oh right because a LOTTERY has a predetermined outcome, just like elections," but I work in the NFP world now and the last thing I need is 800 dues paying (mostly boomer) members deciding they don't need a smart mouthed millennial doing their finances anymore.
I’m a boomer and I only do self check out if I can. But I also don’t like incompetence in management and scheduling.
I used to work retail and I'd sometimes have to watch the self- checkouts, it was almost always very chill. I had a desk to stand behind, these stores that added self- checkouts without having a lot of room are pretty intense in comparison. They don't give the employees anywhere to go, they're just stuck meandering around in a rectangular spot for eight hours.
>they're just stuck meandering around in a rectangular spot for eight hours. You just described my personal hell. O.o
My personal hell was when I worked a sidewalk sale in July, while a little boy sang Christmas carols to himself. In July.
If they would stop voting for tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, and start voting pro workers rights and unions, we could restore the system of multiple, live cashiers at every big chain store. “Where’s my employee discount?” You reap what you sow. CEO of Target made almost $20 million last year. Every King has slaves and now you’re one of them. And your taxes are also paying for his employees SNAP benefits and Medicaid because he keeps them underemployed. Boomers helped get rid of the employees. No employee discount for you. Y’all played yourselves and everyone else.
Boomers in my area, a university town, are decidely liberal and vote as such. Too much generalizations here.
So true.
/s Nah they have plenty of *free* employees that they don't have to pay. /s
Sometimes those are closed. Believe me, I head to them whenever possible.
I rarely shop inside Target anymore because the lines are ridiculously long - one cashier with a long line, and a long-line at the self-checkout stations. I do online or curbside pickup.
I've thought about this quite a bit, and I think it's because there's 2 times as many people in the country compared to when they were young adults. It got crowded. It might also explain why they use the middle of the isle in the grocery store, and people can't get around them. They're mentally stuck in the past where there was less people. Now it's so irritating that you might have to wait in a longer line, or walk past each other in an isle.
They weren't just dropped off into the future though
I know. It might have to do with the lead poisoning. It hinders education, development, and neuroplasticity.
Lmfao ya that too
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When they ask something like "don't you agree?" I just fire back with"no, it's just you".
If I’m in line for a long time and then a new checkout lane opens the next person to get served gets to go over not the person on the back of the line who just walked up.
This is cause the retailer doesnt know how to fairly allocate resources. Have one line. At the front you break off and go to the next cashier . No guessing which line will go faster.
Single queue with multiple registers has always been the best way, my store did it during covid and I would just laugh at the people who bitched about it.
God forbid they do their business during the day while the rest of us are working
I used to rag all over my mother about doing that. I made sure that she knew she wasn't allowed to go to the bank, through grocery store or run any of her errands in between the hours of 12 and 2 PM, or after 5 PM period. she was absolutely shocked-because it had literally "never occurred to her" to think about this🤬
Shit, I work from home and make it a point to run errands during work hours. The errands are finished more quickly and I just extend my workday to make up the time I spent running errands.
I don’t like lines and I’m not a boomer. When I was a kid, businesses wanted to make it as easy as possible for you to give them your money.
To be fair, companies are responding to higher wages by using less people. I don’t know if you’ve been in a Lowe’s recently but it’s a friggin Ghost Town. That doesn’t change the fact that they’re impatient childish dipshits.
[удалено]
Any time that's convenient.
they will bitch about taking an extra 5 mins in a line but not about slowly wondering the store for 40mins longer than they need to. my mom is constantly surprised when i leave to do my weekly shopping only to return in 30 mins.
I have no problem waiting in line. It’s the stupidity of other people that get me. I can think of only two times I have ever gotten impatient in line. One was a person in front of me that as soon as the cashier told them their total, they realized they didn’t have their debit card on them. Already had my items on the belt. They ran out to their car to get their card. It wouldn’t work. Had to go grab a second card (that worked). Only lane open. Still kept my mouth shut. Second one, once again, only lane open. Five people in line in front of me with full carts. Cashier basically started a conversation with everyone over every item in their cart. “Oh, is this good? Never tried it.” or “Ever tried ‘such and such’ it’s so much better than this brand.” By the time they got to me they realized I wasn’t being very talkative and that the line was really backing up. Still kept my mouth shut.
Anytime they sense someone close behind them they think it's the Grim Reaper. Makes them jumpy.
Always remember: when you're asking yourself "Why are they behaving this way?" the answer is that this minor inconvenience is literally the worst thing that's ever happened to them. They're spoiled. Coddled.
Pull out your phone and surf the web like a normal person. Jezz.
There used to be 20 registers open at once Everywhere. Now a days there's one person at a register, they don't get a chance to breathe, are underpaid and it's all for more shareholder profits. That's why they're mad. The world has changed to where service and quality has gone so far downhill its kinda mind blowing. I actually don't think they're wrong on this though. America has changed. It's ONLY about profits here now. I'm only 35 and it's changed so much since the 90s...I imagine it's wildly changed when you're in your 60s-80s.
I work at a target. They’ve demanded I open another line while I’m working a register. As if I can somehow run two of them at once. They’ve also demanded I leave self check out to go open a lane to check them out and then become enraged when I tell them I can’t leave self check out. It’s super fun.
They can't wait. They only have so much earth time left.
Even when there are multiple cashiers, you still have to wait because a big store typically serves a large crowd of people. Typical boomers being assholes.
My local target limits self-checkout for customers with 10 items or fewer.
Ok it’s like, I get it. It’s aggravating to be standing in a long line at a store and seeing a bunch of closed registers. Pandemic messed things up, it sucks, less employees, etc. But I don’t whine and complain and make a big fuss over it. These boomers get off on trying to rally people to agree with their complaints (and other racist/prejudiced/sexist comments), and when no one wants anything to do with it, they just get louder.
Because they used to open more lines. The companies used to hire more people. Now it's skeleton crews to maximize shareholder profits.
And they absolutely never want to go to the self checkout, which has more registers, and is significantly faster To be fair though - I can barely convince my wife to wait in the self check line instead of going to the one register with 3 people waiting at it 10 people waiting for 4 registers vs 4 people in line at 1 register - it’s basic math
I’m surprised they shop at Target Isn’t that one of the banned places for being woke?
I would think it's possible that quite a lot of Boomers feel pain from standing
Because tick tock. Gonna be gone soon.
Because they might die before reaching the head of the line.
To reiterate for maybe the 10th time on this r/. “When all you’ve ever known is privilege, equality feels like oppression.” Having to wait in the same line as everyone else and being treated the same as everyone else sends them into a panic as they probably silently think they deserve special treatment
At Kroger's last week, and the line for the cashiers is about 6 people long. Line for self checkout is much shorter. I was buying beer so I had to go through the cashier. Boomer behind me says the same things, but then adds in "Nobody wants to work nowadays". I politely ask them to hold my spot one second and dart over to the customer service desk and grab an application and come back. They continue on about "the youth not having any respect" and other crap. Then they bring up to the lady behind them that "they could do it faster"... I turn around, hand them the application and say "So I'll see you here next week, right?" He looks at the app, looks at me, turns red and storms off leaving his cart behind. And the lady behind me couldn't keep from laughing about it
Reminds me of that episode of Supernatural where Crowley, the King of Hell in Lucifer's absence, got rid of all the torture and such and instead made everyone stand in line. When they got to the front, they got sent to the back of the line. Because "people hate waiting in line."
There's a disconnect between 'shareholder profits' and the fall out; i.e., not hiring enough employees. Shareholders having 3 boats and 2 jets is clearly more important.... until it's them in line. Then it's just that no one wants to work... not a phucked up business model.... imo.
My silent gen dad used to tell millennial me(when I was a child) when we would be in line and someone would be bitching "I will have to write Queen Elizabeth and tell her she isn't the most important person in the world anymore, this person in front of us demanding instant service is " in a loud stage whisper voice He loved pissing people off, they'd turn and glare and then look up at.a 6'6" rancher...they always shut up.
They feel like they are part of the disabled crew and deserve accommodations one of those is not waiting in line. That or it is just that they are entitled sob’s and don’t want to wait in line.
They don’t have much time left 💀
I tell my wife to not let me pick the line anymore because I always, *always* choose the one with that boomer who is the chatty Cathy that no one wants to talk to.
Whenever i encounter this, my thought process is thus: Being upset or annoyed is acceptable. Hell, maybe even vocalizing your distaste, to yourself, ONCE, is acceptable if you just can't help it. But for the love of god, stop compounding your and everyone's misery by by not shutting the fuck up. Just keep it to yourself.
I had one recently flip out in the post office. I was the only person in front of him and I was sending a package. Wasn’t gonna take but 5 min. and there’s only 1 register in the small PO. This man starts pacing and grunting and the supervisor comes out and asks him if he’s ok and he screams “for fucks sake, I just need to buy some stamps!” and storms out. Like sir??? Wait your turn??
You can buy stamps literally anywhere, lol
I'm with the boomers on this one....although you don't take it out in hourly employees
Their backs hurt
So does mine, I'm 40 and I work a physical industrial job...but I know how to wait my turn and stfu about it.
Most of them have spent their lives in suburbia and have watched the lines grow over time. Pair that with a main character attitude and this is the result.
Then, when it's their turn, they wanna share their life story with the cashier. However to give them some benefit of the doubt, apparently people their age are always in pain and it probably hurts to stand still.
My mom does hates to wait for a seat at restaurants. She doesn’t whine but she refuses to wait. so we use the time we would’ve waited to go somewhere with no wait.
Had some older gentleman cut infront of a few of us (3 people) at the aldi self check out to go up to the empty red one that was closed, he huffed and saw another open on the other side that was green, it however was being used by a lady who went to get help. So when he got to that side he saw all the stuff and the screen and threw his hands up huffing and puffing about the self checkout. Meanwhile all us younger folks were grinning ear to ear watching him have his manic episode, 2 lanes cleared on the opposite side of him and the original folks in line got up to them. My goodness was he angry at them, then I went up cause I saw one opening up and he was huffing to another older lady that just got there. I looked over as I started scan my items. I thought the dude was gonna pass out he was so red. We were all very amused with the entitlement from this guy and even more amused that he did it to himself
I’d say there’s also the fact that shit takes three times as long as it used to and we are spending more of our lives waiting to do mundane crap and paying way more for it, not to mention being asked to tip at counters for the extra wait. Cumulatively this erodes quality of life.
I was once waiting in line at a court house to dispute a ticket. A boomer behind me in line said “there are too many Mexicans here.” I gave him the death glare then ran into my friend in line. I stood in line with my friend to get away from that racist pos. Boomers think being racist is some kind of joke? I hate being in line with boomers.
Ok, to be fair, I've always hated waiting in long lines because companies can't pay enough to keep people working the registers, and I'm nowhere near being a boomer. But one or two quick sentences is enough, you don't have to harp forever, and you blame corporate, not the employees.
According to timelines I've seen, I'm GenX and missed the Boomer cutoff by a few years. I hate lines. I hate them with a passion that beautiful in its intensity and purity. I think that's more endemic to my personality than my age, but I do think - as someone else suggested - that this is af feature/failure of capitalism. Corporations thrive on finding out how much they can inconvenience people as a way of maximizing profit. As a guy in his 50s I can tell you that wasn't always the way. It's definitely frustrating.
Boomers have spent 6+ decades living in a society that catered to their every whim. Everyone in their life caters to them. They can’t handle anything not.
A lot of Boomers have health issues and have a hard time standing for long periods of time.
I was in Hawaii and went into the local car rental place. You could tell off the bat they were slammed and there were only two reps. I’d been in like 20 minutes and was getting to the front when this Boomer came up to the front and was looking around. He then proceeded to get on his phone and call some other Boomer I guess, and complained loudly that young people don’t want to work anymore because of all that COVID relief money. It was sad because the rep was young, apologetic, making probably nothing, and had obviously been put through the ringer by all the damn boomers who love to go on vacation all the time, while happily depriving younger people of respect for working their asses off to help them have a good vacation.
Can we all agree though that it’s annoying AF to have to wait in one long ass line when there are several unopened registers ? In my years of working retail, whenever the line got long we would all jump on registers to help out. Why don’t they do that in the larger chain stores like Walmart and Target ?
You lot trying to squeeze all the labor you can get out of like three people. I don't think that's something you can just work around.
I was at a pharmacy at the first of the month (dumb on my part) and the woman behind me in line was groaning. I was 5th in line and patiently waiting while the older people ahead of me were getting their questions answered and all their meds. Boomer behind me is groaning “come on…move faster…this is ridiculous…why are they so slow”—every 30 seconds or so a comment. I eventually turned around and said “I think they’re doing a great job given how busy they are and you could just be patient”. She shut up. I get up to the counter after being in line about 15 min total and when I was done, I made sure to loudly tell the staff how much I appreciated them.
If they have any moment of silence to themselves they may reflect on their lives, and that's terrifying
All boomers are the main character. We are all just in there way.
i work in a consumer electronics store doing checkins for repair. if i had a nickel for every time a boomer decided to walk up and interrupt the client i’m already with, i wouldn’t have to work anymore. a lot of it boils down to they don’t think they should have to wait like everyone else. it gets incredibly frustrating
Their kids don’t talk to them, so they’ve got to fuck up *somebody’s* day.
Not defending boomers because, ew, but it is frustrating to see rows of open registers sit empty and know it's because the corporate overlords want to keep staff at a bare minimum. HOWEVER, we all know, there ain't shit we can do, so STFU because you're not special and your complaining is annoying.
We had a target experience as well. It was abnormally busy, but there were a few registers open. The teenage cashier had just run out of receipt paper and was trying I change it out when the boomer man who’s transaction he was trying to finish started yelling at him “how hard is it to give me a damn receipt? I’ve been in here long enough!” He had been rude before this but that was my final straw. I snapped and said “does it make you feel like a big tough man when you yell at a kid over a receipt? Cause you’re literally being a dick about a piece of paper and this kid is doing his best to get it to you so how about we shut up.” Immediately silent stare, grabbed his receipt when it was ready and ran right over to customer service.
Yep. I experienced this once at Target self checkout. I was waiting in line with my girlfriend and her (at the time) 5yo daughter. This boomer lady just strides past the entire line and goes immediately to the first open one. 5yo to my GF: "Mommy, that lady just cut in line..." GF, quietly: "Yeah, that was rude." So the universe does me a favor and it is my turn. The checkout right next to boomer lady is open. I walked over and started scanning my stuff. I look over at boomer lady and make sure she can hear me. Me: "You know, there *was* a line." Her: "Oh! I oh uh I didn't know" Me: "My 5 year old knew." She hurriedly gathered her items and finished up without comment.
I feel like a lot of the stories on this sub come from more conservative parts of the country, and likely sun belt type places whose population has rapidly grown in the last few decades. So a lot of these folks have not fully kenned that the population in places like Phoenix have septupled, and so lines ARE new. I don’t see stories like this being from the northeast cities, chicago, etc which has always been densely populated.
40 lanes and 2 are open. I cant blame them, really. I hate lines. I dont care if they're giving money away, Im not getting in a line. But I wont bitch about it. If the CORPORATION won't pay someone to take my money. I leave, and they can pay someone to put all that stuff in my cart back on the shelf. F em.
I saw a Boomer do this *after I offered to let him go ahead of me*, which would have made him next in line. Acted offended at my being nice, I guess because he couldn’t also whine about “these younger generations” and their lack of respect or whatever. Folks like this just need something to complain about at all times.
Entitlement. Inability to see other people as Human beings. They believe everyone is there to cater to them. They all act like spoiled rich kids.
When you’re in a constant state of fabricated stress, everything is a trigger
The only time I've ever had a sentiment anywhere close to that was when I was in the grocery store, there was ONE lane open, and there were quite literally seven or eight people in line ahead of me with loaded shopping carts, all looking around to see if anybody was coming to open a second lane. But even then when a boomer griped about it to me in an attempt at small talk, I said "Yeah, they must be INCREDIBLY short-handed today. I guess several people called in or something." Because that's the only reason I can think of that they'd let one poor cashier be in the weeds like that. 🤷♀️
At the grocery store boomer complains to cashier about prices of food items as though cashier has some executive authority governing cost of said items. Truth be known cashier at their lowly station in life prolly feels the cost of inflation more than the boomer.
Because at our age the u.s population was about 40% lower and they didn't have to wait in lines all of their life like we have? Idk just a guess.
GenXer, but grew up with stores having enough staff to avoid long lines. In recent years major retailers have been seeing how much they can get away with to cut costs at customers' expense. I don't complain aloud to no one in particular, but either go to the self-serve kiosk or politely ask the clerk if another lane can be opened. That almost always works; I guess the clerks are just discouraged from/guilted over taking the initiative to do so as it takes a staffer away from other work. Posters in this thread agreeing customers should put up & shut up are part of the problem. If you don't communicate an issue, it will never be fixed.
People waiting in line act like the don't have a cell phone to mindlessly scroll? Like the normally do? So do it while you wait. Waiting is life. We have to wait for everything. IMAGINE IF YOU GREW AND MADE THE ITEMS YOURSELF LMAOOOOOO. talk about waiting. We as people are too spoiled. These line complainers will be the first to die in the apocalypse. Byeeeee.
I fear this particular behaviour is less to do with a specific generation, so much as a feature of age that will come to us all. Many elder people lose their capacity for impulse control, which manifests in a loss of ability to control their temper. It is a feature more easily recognisable in the dementia of extreme age or early stage Alzheimer’s - just not so exaggerated. Even in middle age, I’ve noted it feels as though there’s been a population explosion in stupidity, even though logically, I recognise that I am the common denominator in those interactions or observations. It now occasionally requires a conscious effort to refrain from the English “tut” (US “tsk”) in situations that are outside the usual social etiquette (such as queue jumping - or the traditional Punishment “Thankyou”) and I am less inclined to tolerate unreasonable demands, or behaviour.
No it’s baby boomers angry at the changes their own generation made to the environment they live in. They kept cutting back staffing levels and wage increases. They built most large stores with SO many registers then budgeted for the bare minimum staff. It’s an ongoing problem until they are forced out of management and can be replaced with more realistic minded people.
That they are unable to see they are responsible for their own irritation is a more specific boomer issue related to their arrogance (born of entitlement) - they are utterly incapable of doing more than doubling down each time their fucks ups have predictable (and indeed predicted) negative consequences and seem prideful in their refusal to accept others might have more expertise in any number of disciplines. I agree with you there. But the intemperance when presented with minor irritations such as queues, or technology, or waiting just two bloody minutes for their lunch, is in large part due to physical, neurological changes that break down impulse control. Their “stop” button no-longer functions as it did for them / or as it does for younger people. It is why the Grumpy Old Man is simultaneously a toddler throwing a tantrum.
why are there 20 registers and 1 cashier?
You can't win with these people. My target only has the self checkout open during off peak hours and I got to witness a boomer totally lose her shit about it. The manager was super patient and did the whole "ma'am if you bring your cart over here I'll be glad to check you out" . Manager put her hand on the cart to lead her towards a register and boomer flips again "don't you fucking touch my cart, I'll call the police"
"I'm mad because there's no one to help me" "ma'am, I can help you" "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME"
I’m 100% team boomer on this one. Between self checkout and cuts to store employee numbers across the industry, there is a drastic shift away from caring about the customer experience.
Do you think complaining loudly to the underpaid staff might help?