BOOMER ROOMERS FROM THE 70’S

Boomer roomers in the 70’s were called roommates.

Everybody had one.

From dorms to apartments to houses, we had company.

Was it fun? Let’s see:

My first dorm roommate was a friend from high school.

He left after fall term and an assigned roommate moved in.

The mood changed from young and fun to old and serious.

The guy was a senior and living in the dorm, which didn’t seem to follow any path I’d heard of in eighteen years.

Since we were required to live in the dorm freshman year, getting out was the big goal.

And my new roommate chose dorm life?

I was suspicious, but all he was was a dedicated student who needed a place to sleep since he spent the rest of the time in the library and labs.

 Eventually I learned to respect his academic ambitions.

All it took was one summer of sawmill work before dropping out and joining the Army.

That my old roommate went to school year round sounded pretty good from the barracks.

 

My Second Real Roommate

This was a guy named Mike.

His academic ambitions included medical school after a University of Pittsburgh summa cum laude graduation.

We met when he signed up with the Air Force to pay for school.

He was a local in Philadelphia so I hung out with his buddies. He lives in Idaho now. (Hey Meyers)

The big thing was going to concerts.

We saw The Who, Elton John, and Queen in full bloom.

Other than that it was two guys sharing a two bedroom apartment with a kitchen/living room in between.

I had the back bedroom, he had the front.

The stairway up to our second floor also included the third floor, so the guys that rented the top had to come through our place to get there.

They were all medical students and I was an Army medic, which wasn’t a problem.

The problem was that they were all Steeler fans and I was a Cowboy fan.

 

Aging Up With Boomer Roomers

These many years later things have changed in the world of boomer roomers.

Back then we were young with everything out in front of us whether we knew it or not.

You’ve heard of ‘old souls?’

Some guys are done by twenty, some by thirty, and they keep doing the same things that bring despair and disappointment and call it life.

They might be drunks, drug addicts, or weirdos, but keep it all under control until they’re your roommate.

Yikes.

They may have had bad divorces that haunt them, a passed spouse they mourn for, and deal with their feelings by dulling them down to the point you decide to help out.

 

You: Maybe slow down on the booze a little bit?

Them: Who are you, my mother? You have no idea.

You: I see you do this every day, more and more every day.

Them: Then don’t look.

You: I don’t want to come home and find you dead.

Them: What’s the big deal. It’ll only happen once. I think you can handle that.

You: I can help you.

Them: Not asking.

You: You need help.

Them: Says the guy with the perfect life who doesn’t want for anything. How’s that working out for you.

You: I don’t like what I’m seeing and I don’t think you do either.

Them: Look, we’re roommates, not counselors. You don’t have to like what you’re seeing and you don’t need to change me.

You: Sure, but I don’t want you burning the house down because you get too wasted. I don’t want you hurting yourself because you get too wasted.

Them: Am I too wasted? Do I look too wasted?

You: Yes, you are too wasted, even when you’re not.

Them: I think what we have here is a failure to communicate.

 

Bonafide Boomers

What makes a good boomer roomer?

Someone who has had a life and still looks forward to the next day.

Someone who knows how to occupy their time productively like a writer, a blogger who writes penetrating posts.

Someone with a connection to the past that goes beyond nostalgia.

A good boomer roomer is not a hoarder, a collector, or an endless researcher collecting data in assorted thumb drives.

They need a good handle on their health issues, their financials, and their family.

I knew a guy who said he was only interested in dating orphans so he could avoid meeting the family.

In a sense, a boomer roomer is an orphan.

They might be abandoned, deserted, and chased away, but it’s not their fault.

You too might be abandoned, deserted, and chased away.

And it’s not your fault?

You might want to talk it over with your boomer roomers.