Dissed At Blockbuster
By Cafe on May 27, 2007 in Baby Boomer, David Henderson
Commentary on boomer life and experiences by BoomerCafé co-founder and publisher, David Henderson:
I don’t know whether this has happened to you as a baby boomer – a clerk in a store looks at you, and you can interpret their body language and expression to read, this customer is a geezer. It happened to me, sadly, just the other day.
My wife and I were in our neighborhood Blockbuster to find a movie we hadn’t seen. We selected “My House in Umbria,” starring Maggie Smith. (It’s terrific, by the way, and we recommend it.)
At checkout, my wife handled the transaction with the clerk – a young man probably in his mid-20s – and then, my wife asked him about some foreign film title. He had not heard of it but suggested that we check Blockbuster-dot-com.
He then turned his attention fully to me and said, “If you ever go onto the Internet, you can check the Blockbuster Web site.” What I noticed was that he emphasized the word, IF.
All kinds of feelings and emotions ran through me in a nanosecond. It was the way the young man made the suggestion that struck me – he was trying to be helpful to someone he assumed was perhaps a little too old to be actively online, if at all. Heck, for all I knew, he probably assumed I’d never heard of the Internet. 
My wife picked up on his tone, too, although she pointed out that he was talking to me at that point, and not to her. That’s true and besides, she looks 20 years younger than her age, like a young Candice Bergen.
So, here was my dilemma – how could I respond to this sales clerk who clearly saw me as … well, old.
At first, I thought that perhaps I could say something like the fact that I maintain four blogs and five Web sites, have written a book on the digital revolution and am compulsively online about 16 hours each day. Naw, that sounded defensive, I thought.
So, I responded as a middle-aged subtle smartass. I looked at him blankly and asked, “What’s the Internet? … Do I need a computer?” My wife looked like she wanted to run. But it worked. The clerk became befuddled. So, on that note, we departed for home.
It’s got me thinking about how business markets to baby boomers, the largest and most affluent group in America. Some, like Blockbuster, do not. They are in the majority. Even the efforts of outfits like AARP are feeble. Heck, my old friend Greg Dobbs and I launched BoomerCafé in 1999 to show up AARP’s pathetic and expensive attempt to connect with boomers. BoomerCafé over the years has consistently had a greater audience, thanks to folks like you.
Now, marketing to boomers is the hot ticket among some PR agencies and consultants, like they just awoke from a long and deep sleep and only now have discovered this generation.
I would like to hear from you and hope you will share any similar stories. Just email us by clicking here, provided of course that you have a computer.
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On May 27, 2007, GoingLikeSixty said:
Your comeback was just perfect! I might have played it a little longer by asking about those little phones everybody is carrying…
But that’s easy for me to say in hindsight. I probably would have just turned and left without saying a word, then on the way home come up with all the things I should have said.
Nice job.
On May 28, 2007, Rhea said:
Boomers will be ignored at everyone’s peril. I guess they will find out too late.
On May 28, 2007, Dr.Dorree Lynn said:
LOL (wait can a 65 year old write LOL). Yes I agree with the other poster. GREAT COMEBACK.
http://www.fiftyandfurthermore.com
On May 29, 2007, citysquirrel said:
Similar situation — talking to two young women about dating after divorce, I mentioned that I’d signed up with a couple of online dating services. One of them cocked her head, smiled condescendingly and said: “Good for you!”
To which I replied: “Oh, I think I can handle it. After all, I’ve been using e-mail since 1981.” (Absolutely true, btw, although I didn’t have a whole lot of people to e-mail TO.
I think your response was funny, but I think a verbal slapdown is good for these kids’ souls, not to mention the entertainment value of the looks on their faces.
On May 30, 2007, thesavvyboomer said:
After a fairly technical discussion with a Best Buy early 20’s employee about how I could configure wireless for my home network of 4 computers, when we were walking with the necessary gear to the cashier,
Her: I think you might even be older than my parents (I’m 60) but you sure know a lot more about technology than they do. How come?
Me: I went to work with IBM after I graduated in 1974 and have basically worked in IT ever since.
Her: Wow, were you like one of their first employees?
Me: No, they started making computers back in the 50’s and tab machines way before that.
Her: Oh really? Yeah I heard my mother talk about tab-but I thought she said Coke used to make that.
Me: No, that was what the machine was called that pre-dated computers.
Her: Oh really? Well, she says life was pretty simple then
Me: Yeah she’s right-here’s my Visa.
On May 30, 2007, mizmell said:
LOVE your response to the clerk! Why not have a little fun with it?
On May 31, 2007, prairiegourmet said:
Don’t blame the 20’s something employees. Very likely most of their in-store boomer customers are not internet savvy. We old techies are renting from Netflix (or now Blockbuster.com). I haven’t been in a video store since Netflix arrived on the scene. The stores never have the obscure, independent or oldies movies that I enjoy. 10,000+ selections on-line make dealing with annoying uninformed clerks in the stores obsolete.
On Jun 6, 2007, WI2CA said:
That was great!
I think I would have smacked him, sorry, but I don’t have the ability to come up with witty comebacks on the spot. I think the witty travels straight to my arms.
I get the same reaction and I am not yet 31. I recently had a 20something ask about my PC. I told her about my Blogs & Websites and she was shocked!
I think it’s strange for them to react this way. The PC and the ‘net have been around long before they were speaking sentences.
Were we all that rude and presumptuous in our 20’s?
~RB, CA~
On Jun 7, 2007, HM said:
I think many if not most of us boomers were more respectful in our 20s … more respectful of just about everyone. Sure, we were pains at times but not like 20-somethings today.
On Dec 20, 2007, Mike Petrie said:
Hey, it’s not just tech stuff that gets Boomers dissed. I was in a local surf shop recently looking at new boards. I commented on how much more boards cost these days than when I bought my first surfboard. The “kid” working the store, with no hint of making a joke, replied, “Really? Was your first board fiberglass?”
Hmmm, since fiberglass boards have been around for, at least, as long as I’ve been alive … I figured I had just been dissed.
I might’ve responded with, “Hey, if it were not for my generation of Baby Boomers, who made both skateboarding and surfing a part of popular culture (i.e. Jan & Dean’s big 1964 hit Sidewalk Surfin’ and all the other beach music and movies of our youth … not to mention the first truly great surf movie EVER (from waay back in 1967), whose title is still a rally cry to beach lovers everywhere: Endless Summer), you little surf dudes of today might never have even heard of these things.” But that would have sounded far too much like the day my dad told me my generation was a bunch of spoiled kids who never had to walk five miles in the snow to get to school.