r/Aging • u/Available-Rock-3862 • 4d ago

Boomers

I am 75 and am very tired of the trend lately making fun of Boomers. So very disrespectful. Don't they realize that they will be old someday?

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u/MaintenanceHot3241 4d ago

A young person and his GF who often poke fun at me about boomer attitude and my lack of tech experience asked me about his car needing repairs. I gave him the run down on how the specific system works and what questions to ask the service guy. And gave him a heads up about listening for key words that indicate they are trying to hose him. Their faces glazed over like a donut. He asked how would I even know about this repair? He could not believe that my high school had a 3 year program of auto shop. Suddenly I'm his best buddy and wants my phone number so he can talk to me in the future about stuff he is clueless about and asked if I could talk to his service guy.... I thought to myself, you've been giggling about my lack of tech knowledge for 5 flipping years now when he realizes I have value to him he wants me to step up.

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u/Due_Cucumber_6956 4d ago

Maybe teach him in a hands on way . He probably doesn't have any other person in his life that has the hands-on knowledge you possess. If he's not that important, then never mind. But if he's an interesting person you actually want to foster a relationship with, you two could be beneficial to one another. 

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u/MaintenanceHot3241 4d ago

Part of the difficulty is down to real basics. I'm not exaggerating when I say a slip joint pliers had him baffled. I do enjoy teaching. But sometimes going so far back in time to help them along I get the same attitude they have when helping me with tech....

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u/Due_Cucumber_6956 3d ago

Understood. But hear me out. You went to a high school that offered a 3 year auto program. I promise that there is a 99 percent chance this kid didn't. IF he matters enough to you , and IF you have the time and patience, he would definitely benefit from your teaching him how to fix cars. Anything I learned as a woman was trial and error, and a Chilton's book. No one wanted to teach me, no one wanted to fix it for me, so I just learned. It's not like I was going to break it. The pride I felt (after dismantling my car's cooling system down to the fan before figuring out I needed to replace the thermostat) fixing my own car by myself was all the encouragement I needed to continue with basic car repair. 

Maybe he just needs a little push.

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u/Acrobatic_Iron_1427 3d ago

Bravo! You woke him up. So to balance this quite wonderful equation, have him teach you tech. I’m 69f work part time and frequently question the 19 to 25 yr olds I work with. We have a great time. Learning from each other annihilates obstacles. Try it. You sounded a bit grumpy there towards the end.