Boomer Resentment

For a long time I’ve held the position that boomers were reaping a perhaps unfair resentment from newer generations. Such generations like Millennials (my generation) and the zoomers are very vocal about boomers, and often proclaim that Boomers are a largely disconnected and insufferable generation. You’ll hear them lament about boomer advice, which is usually always disconnected and rooted in a time where life (atleast the economy) was much more prosperous. Advice like “Just work hard” and a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mindset is indeed, not great advice anymore considering how many of us do just that, and still manage to get the short end of the stick.

I didn’t subscribe to this resentment until I discovered my Boomer boss is basically a sociopath, only out for himself, and will use any means necessary to put his boot on anyones neck if it means he’ll get a leg up – even mine.

I’ve worked for my boss for nearly 8 years at this point. I’ve asked for a raise once, and I’m embarrassed to admit how little he’s been paying me for what I do. I’m not the type to beg for a raise, and I’ve delusionally assumed he’d simply give me one eventually because he recognizes the value I bring to his half a million a year business.

Slap me on the ass and call me Don Quixote!

For years I’ve endured his mind numbing financial rants which always involves investing in the S&P 500 and “conservative” trading. I’d ask myself, is he really so disconnected he doesn’t understand I’m barely keeping my head afloat, let alone possessing surplus to invest in his boomer stocks?

Time after time I’ve dropped hints, sometimes directly, that what he pays me barely even covers my rent. I’ve said time and time again that investing is for people who have a surplus of money, which I don’t have. Instead of pausing and reflecting on the shit wage he pays me, he immediately burrows even deeper, doubling down on his delusional financial waffling. He knows he pays me shit, but he doesn’t care. It’s almost as if he gets a sick enjoyment out of the situation.

On the side I do I.T. work for a number of clients, which doesn’t bring home a lot, but it does contribute to a significant portion of my income. I also have the sales from my book and various affiliate income. Without this extra income I would surely sink, because certainly I couldn’t survive working for my Boomer boss. On multiple occasions he has become frustrated when I tell him I can’t work because I’ve scheduled a client for the day. On multiple occasions I’ve endured his lectures because he feels I’m not making him and his business a priority. Lectures on “responsibility” and other meaningless boomer mantras. In other words, lectures on why I should prioritize what the boomer wants and forget about what I need. How about pay me more ya filthy animal?

Once again, I ask myself – does he realize without my clients I’d be on the streets? Does he not know how much rent is? I know he does, because I’ve made it clear to him how much I pay in hopes he’d see his monthly shekels are not sustainable. I figured something would click and he’d go “Ya know, Fallon has been a loyal employee for years, let me make his life a little easier and pay him what he’s actually worth. Then maybe he’d be more willing to give me his time. After all, I’m a millionaire with no children and almost dead!”

The truth is he only cares about what I can do for him, and getting away with paying me as little as possible. In his perfect world I’d have no clients at all, and simply always available to run his boomer errands – at a rock bottom wage.

This by itself isn’t a huge problem, but to sit there, demand my constant availability, and lecture me on financial planning when he pays me just a little more than a Taco Bell employee is truly rich and beyond disconnected. The self righteous know-it-all tone has become almost unbearable at this point, and I think this is common across Boomers as a whole. Kratom is the only thing that makes going into work sufferable at this point.

It all kind of dawned on me when he refused to give me hours because the business had a single slow month. He became so fearful of losing his shekels, I suddenly became an unnecessary expense. This was last December right before Christmas. No bonus and a measly paycheck. He knew I was leaving for New York and could no doubt use the work, but that was none of his concern. He even told the gardener to stop mowing the grass!

I realized that to the Boomer, everyone is expendable. Fuck them and fuck their Christmas.

Fine boomer, but how about you drop the whole father-son schtick – it’s not my fault you didn’t have kids of your own – I have a father. In the past he would often refer to me as his son in public until one day I suppose my balls were feeling a little heavier, and I told him I had a real father and didn’t need that type of relationship.

I don’t get paid enough to do father-son cosplay.

Even more insufferable is how clueless and bullheaded he is regarding how others see him. Even his wife simply grits her way through his presence because he’s the guy with the gold chain. In his own words “The man with the gold makes the rules.” Does the Boomer see that those around him are simply enduring his insufferable presence? The lack of social awareness is mind numbing. The only reason his wife hangs around is for the millions he’s going to leave her after they bury his rotting carcass. To the Boomer, money is God.

Apart from his boomer dealings with me, he also has a long history of quintessential boomer moments:

• Forcing Costco to take back his one year old Traeger because he wanted the new model. (guess who had to load it up and drive it down.)
• Returning meat items to Costco like a half eaten Ribeye steak (literally bringing in the steak.)
• Spending hours on the phone with his bank to save a few bucks
• Lecturing waiters on the proper way to pour wine
• Always asking for the manager especially at restaurants
• Always asking to talk to the cook, many times walking right into the kitchen to either berate them about his meal, or on rare occasion, issue a compliment
• In general, always entitled and willing to cut people in line, or otherwise get himself ahead at the expense of others. One time he stared down a pregnant mother in a Costco parking so she would load up her groceries and rush out of the parking space he wanted.

I’d say one hallmark characteristic of the Boomer is a self righteous sense that they’re always right. There is no telling a Boomer anything, or educating them. Once they’ve made their mind up, there’s no cracking through. Around the Boomer brain is an impenetrable reinforced steel wall. The boomer looks at his paid off house, his Bentley, and his millions. Such worldly achievements imbue the Boomer with a dizzying amount of self righteous conviction. After all, would they have all these things if they weren’t in fact superior to everyone else? The boomers worldly possessions confirm that indeed, everyone should listen to them.

I’ve often wondered where Boomers get their energy from. Me personally, I’m always exhausted. It’s all I can do to drag ass into work everyday. The boomer however seems to be filled with an almost relentless mania, especially when shilling their advice. These Boomers are well into their 70s but their energy is unmatched even by younger generations. I can only conclude that having amassed all the resources, the Boomer has never endured the drain of living in poverty. Because the boomer derives their entire life meaning from worldly possessions, they are fat with energy. Many people rely on them to survive and this control probably affords them a near constant supply of Dopamine. Like a vampire sucking the blood of his victim, the Boomer is never in short supply of people who put up with their presence simply because they need work. In every relationship there is a give and a take. You can feel the boomer takes more than he gives, and this can be observed as you feel your life leave your body every time you’re around them.

Truly however, this is my fault. I’ve delusionally stuck in this dead end job with my insufferable boomer boss because I’m complacent. I think he knows that, and he suspects I don’t have the balls to do anything else. This brings him great pleasure – to believe that he’s in total control. He can pay me shit shekels and get away with it – and I’ll say and do nothing.

They say the Boomers are entitled and if my boss is a reflection of boomers as a whole, I’d have to agree.

Until I quit this job and find something else the resentment will continue to build, but I have nobody to blame but myself. This is where I differ from most regarding the Boomers. I don’t blame the boomers for being who they are, but I do blame myself for not having the balls to leave their iron rule. My resentment is ultimately caused by myself and my own inaction. I know in good time most of his money will be sucked away by the assisted living establishment, and this in some way provides me with a kind of sick solace.