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Boomer Yells At Woman For Being On Her Phone Instead Of Talking To Him — 'I Was Taught To Not Speak To Strangers'

Baby boomers have garnered a reputation for acting rude, selfish, and all-around entitled. One Gen X woman believed that the stories were a bit over-the-top — at least, until she met one of these notorious boomers herself.

The 45-year-old woman shared her story on the Boomers Being Fools forum on Reddit. "I've been lurking around [the subReddit] for a while and laughing at the posts thinking 'it can't be that bad,'" she wrote. "Karma proved me wrong."

The woman explained that "it finally happened" — she met a boomer who acted rude and entitled, just like the stories she had read.

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"I accompanied my friend to some appointments he had because they're in a city I don't get to go to much," she shared. While she was waiting for her friend during his appointments, she met the boomer.

"Anyway, here I am, minding my own business, surfing on my phone," she recalled. "Boomer walks up to the desk, loudly [announces] his info, and takes a seat right across from me."

The woman reacted kindly but not in any way that would encourage conversation.

"I glanced up and [smiled] because it's polite, then [went] back to my phone," she stated. "He then just as loudly starts explaining, 'Ya know, that's what I hate about you young people [nowadays].'"

Drazen ZigicShutterstock

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The man was upset that the woman was on her phone.

Understandably, she was "confused" by this seemingly random outburst.

"Sorry? What do you mean?" she asked.

"That," he replied, pointing to the woman's phone. "Everyone is on those [expletive] things now. No one talks to anyone anymore."

"Maybe, but I was also taught not to talk to strangers, so…" she responded.

"But everyone is on those things," he argued.

The woman didn't understand since they were alone. "Who?" she asked. "I'm the only one here."

The man felt that perfectly proved his point. "Exactly!" he responded. "We should be talking.''

"Sir, I don't know you," she said, exasperated. "Why would I talk to you?"

After things didn't go well with the woman, he moved on to anyone else he could find.

"He's now wandering around the waiting room, grumbling loudly and talking to anyone who comes in," she said. "Like, I get you're probably lonely, but that's not how you make friends."

Despite what this man may believe, boomers actually spend a decent amount of time on phones.

Based on what this man said, it seems he thinks that boomers never even touch phones. This is statistically inaccurate, though.

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Senior living community Provision Living performed a study comparing smartphone usage between millennials and boomers. They found that the two generations spend roughly the same amount of time on their phones each day, with boomers coming in at five hours and millennials at just over five and a half.

SHVETS productionPexels

Both groups also use their phones primarily for social media, especially Facebook, which was the most used app for both generations.

There is a common misconception that boomers don't like, or just don't use cell phones. Based on this evidence, that is not actually true. Boomers spend a significant amount of time on their phones. Those who don't are just as unusual and rare as millennials who don't use their phones.

While it would be easy to judge this man and consider him to be just another boomer acting rudely, as the woman who posted on Reddit said, he was likely just lonely. Going to an appointment may have been his only form of socialization for the day. While he could have been nicer, we certainly can't fault him for wanting to chat.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest stories.

Struggling To Unlock Your Phone? You Might Have Lost Your Fingerprints

Terri Krejci, 60, from Huntsville, Alabama, was working as an overnight manager at CVS in 2014 when she discovered she had breast cancer. She had six months of chemo, then surgery. Her medical team warned her that she might lose her hair, that she would get nauseous. She had no idea she could lose her fingerprints.

"It was just after my second round of chemo, and I had a Samsung phone that had a touch ID, and it kept saying 'fingerprint not detected,'" says Krejci, who is now retired. "Then one of the nurses said, 'Oh yeah, I guess we forgot to tell you about that. That's gonna happen.' They said it could be quite a while before I would see those fingerprints come back again."

This caused a particular problem—as Krejci needed to use fingerprint ID to get into the cancer unit. Someone had to let her into the center each time, until they finally gave up and gave her the code. Ten years later, her hands are mostly back to normal, she says, but she still has to reset the fingerprint scan on her phone regularly.

Langenburg, the forensic scientist, says issues with fingerprints aren't going to go away any time soon. He predicts the trend will be to use multiple biometric factors to compensate for potential fingerprint issues—a retinal scan or face ID and a fingerprint, for example.

He says that for people who know they have fingerprint issues—construction workers, rock climbers—there are ways to make your hands easier to read. Make sure to hydrate, and use sanitizer gel or hand lotion right before scanning. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, professionals tasked with taking fingerprints use "udder balm," typically used on cows, because it makes the fingers a little sticky, and that helps with fingerprint recording.

Of course, there are some people who want their fingerprints to be obscured—particularly criminals. "They often will pay large sums of money to try to obfuscate their fingerprints through acid or surgery or whatever," says Thomas Busey, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University, who studies the use of fingerprints and accuracy of fingerprint analysis.

But Langenburg says that going through those extensive procedures often has the opposite effect to what's desired, creating a more unique mark. He points to the American gangster John Dillinger, who cut his fingers and then poured acid into them, which scarred the middles of his fingers but left all the tips, joints, and sides all identifiable. "As soon as we see those kinds of red flags, we immediately know this person's trying to hide their identity. It's such a nonsense thing that's been going on for 100 years, and it does not work," Langenburg says.

Busey believes thinks that it's odd that we've ended up focusing on using fingerprints for biometric identification. A criminal fingerprinting usually involves recording all 10 fingers as well as the palms, capturing a vast amount of detail, whereas something like a phone or computer or airport scanner may use only a single finger, or just an area on that finger. It's a very limited identifier if something goes wrong—and also something that gets around.

"You probably have a password for your computer, and you probably don't get into the habit of sharing your password with other people," Busey says. "But when your fingerprint is your password, you're literally leaving your password on every object you touch."

NYC Football Coach Accused Of Smashing Student's Head Into Wall So Many Times, He Needed Staples In His Skull: 'Failed My Son'

A Brooklyn 14-year-old's high school football dreams came to a bloody end when his coach smashed his head into a wall, his anguished mom claims — and now she's heading to court for answers.

Shayson Willock was allegedly pummeled so badly by coach Nicholas Nugent in a James Madison High School stairwell last September that he lost consciousness and needed six staples in his skull, according to a criminal complaint and civil lawsuit.

"I don't know who to trust," mother Deslyn Willock fumed to The Post, questioning school administrators who she felt largely swept the incident under the rug — and left it up to her to report the attack to the NYPD.

The six staples in Shayson's head and the blood-soaked shirt and sweatshirt he was wearing at the time of the assault. LAW OFFICE OF RICHARD M KENNY

"I don't know if I can trust the teachers," said Willock, who filed a $2.5 million lawsuit Monday against Nugent, the city and the Department of Education. "I don't know if I can trust the coaches. I don't even know if I can trust the justice system. I don't know who to trust at this point, because I felt like everyone failed me. Everyone failed my son."

Nugent was arrested days after the Sept. 18, 2023, incident — when he allegedly flew into a rage after the child dozed off during a team video review. The coach was charged with multiple counts of felony assault, endangering the welfare of a child, harassment and menacing, according to the criminal complaint against him.

He is now out on supervised release — although the DOE wouldn't say if he was still employed by the school district.

Reached by phone this week, the coach said he couldn't speak about the case.

"I'm shocked by the phone call to find out it's a news thing, but hey, it is what it is. It's all good," Nugent said. "That's why we're going to trial, because I'm all about defending my freedom. I'm all about defending my rights."

The DOE didn't answer a list of questions about Nugent's employment or the incident and instead issued a short statement.

"The safety of our students is our number one priority," DOE spokesperson Jenna Lyle said. "We will review the lawsuit."

The city's law department declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

Shayson Willock 15, with his mother, Deslyn, says a public school football coach slammed him so hard against a wall that his head split open, and needed six staples to shut. Matthew McDermott

The lawsuit and family claim that Shayson was getting over a rough bout of COVID and was having trouble staying awake during the after-school video review in a classroom when Nugent kicked the kid out and followed him into the hallway.

Nugent then allegedly slammed Shayson into the wall multiple times and pushed him into a metal pole — before the teen ran back into the classroom with blood gushing from his head and Nugent in pursuit.

The high schooler said that's when he passed out.

"He was trying to tell them that he needed to go to the bathroom so I could wipe off the blood," Shayson said.

James Madison High School football coach Nicholas Nugent, who is being criminally charged and sued for allegedly assaulting Shayson Willock, told a reporter "it's all good." X / @Coach_Nu27 Shayson WIllock, 15, with his mother, Deslyn, who said that "everyone failed my son." Matthew McDermott

When Shayson's mom got the call that her son was bleeding from his head, she said, administrators told her that her son fell back during the argument even as she could hear her son screaming, "He hurt me, he hurt me."

Willock claims she arrived before any ambulance did, despite coming from Queens and with an emergency room less than 500 feet away. 

"I saw my son just lying there, bleeding from his head," she said.

Shayson got six staples, was concussed — and hasn't played football since, he and his mother said.

James Madison High School in Midwood, Brooklyn. Paul Martinka

Later MRIs suggest there could be a brain contusion and damage to his spine, said Willock's lawyer, Richard Kenny.

"He has a compromised cervical region with multiple herniations," Kenny said, "which is wholly abnormal for anyone remotely close to his young age."

Another photo shows the extent of Shayson's wounds, which include damage to his spine in addition to brain and head injuries. Matthew McDermott

Willock said she had to take leave from work to care for Shayson, who was out of school for a month and spent nights writhing in pain. 

And although school principal Jodie Cohen was in touch and expressed concern over her son's health, she felt officials didn't seem to be concerned with the coach or reporting the incident to police.

"I don't even think other parents really knew," Willock said, noting she took her son to police herself days later to report the alleged attack.

Shayson has since switched schools, and by some measures, is thriving, but he said he can't imagine playing sports again even if his doctor were to give him the green light.

The city would not confirm if Nugent (above) still works at James Madison — or any other city public school. X / @Coach_Nu27

"I just didn't like football anymore," Shayson said, adding he stopped playing because "I didn't know if it was gonna happen again."

But his mom hopes that with time, Shayson will heal and they'll get justice for what was taken from him.

"When the situation had just happened, he would tell me that he felt like he doesn't have a life anymore," Willock said. "He feels like everything was taken away from him.

"As a mother," she said, "I would love for him to play football one day again."

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