A Boomer and GenXer Walk into a Bar
Wit and wisdom, some smart assery, and a Mother and Daughter questioning “Are we even related?”
A Boomer and GenXer Walk into a Bar
Campfire Drama And The Petty Neighbor S:2E:11 (Sorry for the technical difficulties but this was too good to try to re-record!)
Ever been turned into a character in someone else’s story? On a fall road trip from Branson’s easygoing trails to Memphis’s revamped Graceland, we found ourselves starring in a stranger’s blog as “grumpy OCDs” who “do everything outside” and “aggressively launch Kleenex boxes.” The truth was far less dramatic—a tossed tissue box between laughs—but the misread sparked a bigger conversation about pettiness, projection, and how fast fiction spreads when people crave content.
We share what’s new at Graceland and why the exhibition center is finally worth the hype, plus the simple pleasures that make RV life great: campfire evenings, Dutch oven meals, dogs under the stars, and a short walk to the light show. Then we pivot to the psychology behind petty behavior—insecurity, boredom, the itch for control—and how judgment thrives when you only see a slice of someone’s day.
If you’ve ever been misjudged by a neighbor, side‑eyed for enjoying yourself, or tempted to clap back online, this conversation is your permission to choose peace without losing your edge. We lay out a traveler’s code—mind your space, skip the creep narrative, and remember that not every moment needs an audience. Press play for road stories, Elvis nostalgia, and a thoughtful look at how to stay generous in a petty world.
If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves RV life or Graceland lore, and leave a quick review—your notes help more curious listeners find us.
email: boomerandgenxer@gmail.com
Welcome welcome welcome welcome welcome welcome to a bar coming to not from the rabbit hole studio but in the rabbit running studio where actually uh three of us were in three different locations this time. So we may experience a little bit of technical difficulty, but we're gonna get through this as best we can. So bear with us. You're still going to experience some wit and wisdom, some smart assary, and this mother and that daughter questioning, are we even related? My name is Jane. My co-host is my daughter Bobby, and for the next few minutes, we are here to entertain Bobby.
SPEAKER_01:How are you doing? I'm good. Other than, you know, it's Thanksgiving Day here. So uh I'm fat and happy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and so uh one of the things that I think our listeners need to know is Bobby, what was your favorite dish on the buffet line today here at your mother's house?
SPEAKER_01:The buffet line, uh, the 50 deviled eggs that I ate.
SPEAKER_02:The 50 double uh deviled eggs that she ate. Uh, there weren't quite 50, but I will say this kid, uh, where's your where's your emotional support chicken? He's gotta be pissed off at you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, he's uh he's not talking to me right now, so he didn't time out.
SPEAKER_02:So you don't even have him with you, right? Nope. So today this is this is gonna be kind of fun. I'm gonna tell the viewers what's been going on with this. So Dr. Domain and I decided we were gonna take a little vacation, and then he was gonna go on down to Georgia, and I'm staying here in Iowa for the holidays. So we did some camping and we have a motorhome, and so we decided to go down to Branson. What a great time to go to Branson if you're going to Silver Dollar City or if you're going to any shows down there, if you're just going to Branson to hang out, because all the kids are back in school and it's not as busy as it typically is. And it was just it was really great to be down there, and then from there we went ahead and went on down to Memphis. I told you that, Bobby. You knew that we were down in Memphis, right? Right. And so we stayed at the Elvis, not the Elvis, Presley, at the Graceland RB park. And I've been to Graceland before. Have you been to Graceland, Bobby?
SPEAKER_01:No, never.
SPEAKER_02:So it's pretty cool. So I had been there before, but I'll be honest with you, it's been years ago. And it was really just a tour of the house for what we had to pay. I was kind of really unimpressed. And I said, ah, it isn't worth the travel to go all the way down there for that. But now they have this kind of like an entertainment center or a uh what would you call it, Dr. Domain? It was really an exhibition center that they have opened up here a few years back. And I'm not kidding you, it was super cool. All of the things from Elvis, you know, that had been in storage or all of the outfits that he wore in Vegas and just so much history about him and Graceland and the family. And it is definitely, definitely worth the trip now. So anyway, Bobby, hopefully you'll be able to get down there next year because I think you and your sister are trying to figure out how you can get down to Branson and maybe you can go on down to Memphis. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, one day. I mean, one day we'll get down there because I know that my niece, um, my one of my sister's children is a huge, huge Elvis fan. Um, just like just like our grandmother was. My grandmother on my father's side was a huge Elvis fan.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, she was. I forgot about that. So hopefully you'll make it down there and you'll get to experience it. But we stayed at the Graceland RV park, and uh we have a motorhome. I've said this before. And so we stayed at the at the uh uh Graceland and it was right across the street, so it was so convenient. I mean, we could just walk, right? And so uh it was interesting because uh what we're gonna talk about today is kind of associated with what our experience was when we were down there because it is so funny. Anyone that knows me know and knows Bobby knows that we joke around all the time. I mean, we're laughing all the time, we're smiling, we're talking to people. I mean, people come up to us all the time and go, Man, you'll talk to anybody. Yeah, because you know, we just love talking to people.
SPEAKER_01:And well, I mean, I try to not talk to people, but for some reason I always get sucked in.
SPEAKER_02:You have this magnet, this thing on your head that says, uh, come talk to me, even though I'm really not in the mood.
SPEAKER_01:I have a face for radio, I don't know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_02:So, anyway, what we're gonna be talking about today is pettiness. Petty, petty, not Tom Petty, but petty. Hey, your chicken could be called Tom Petty today. Oh, absolutely, absolutely he should be. I hate pettiness and I hate people talking behind other people's backs. And when I was raising the girls, there were times when these girls were fighting, and one of them would say something to me, and I'd say, Hold that thought, your sister's gonna be here in a minute, and you can say it to her face. Because I really despise people talking behind somebody else's back, um, somebody prejudging people, you know, just I always say, you know, give you don't know their story, right? I mean, nobody knows your story, and nobody knows mine, uh, unless they're listening to these podcasts. But now the whole world knows this. But um, I I thought, you know, this experience that we had, let's talk a little bit about pettiness because I'm gonna be petty today. How about that, Bobby?
SPEAKER_01:Well, you know, I mean, I think I'm I'm one of the pettiest people of all time, but I I kind of play the long game when I do it. So my pettiness, I mean, it could be two, three years later, and all of a sudden it'll smack you on the head. Yeah, and I I've experienced that.
SPEAKER_02:Uh, I'm more of a snap pettiness. Uh, if you want to be petty with me, I usually do not participate, but if I do, it's a snap. It's a snap and a slap and get out of my way. So, anyway, let me tell you what happened down there. So, we were parked in the RB campsite, and when we are camping, we love being outside. I mean, we Dr. Domain, you can chime in here anytime you want, but we love, love, love hiking, we love biking, we love being outside all the time.
SPEAKER_01:And that's kind of the whole deal about camping is you're not inside of a building, you're outside, you're by the campfire, you're, you know, hanging in your lawn chairs, you're, you know, things like that. That's kind of the whole point of camping.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and the weather was so beautiful. I mean, we just wanted to be outside because we knew that, you know, it's come, you know, winter's coming and we're not going to be able to experience this. And so, anyway, we love being outside. And so we actually experienced something that I've never experienced before. And to be honest with you, it kind of hurt my feelings at first. And then after I thought about it, after I thought about it for a while, I started laughing to hard because I thought, wow, this is a prime example of people just judging people and being petty. So here's what happened, folks. Um, and I've already told Bobby a little bit about this, and we do everything outside. We and Dr. Domain is really great using a Dutch oven. They're super cool. I've never done it, and I'm always intrigued by how they, you know, how they work. And I mean, it's not like it's an electrical appliance or anything.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, you you say you say Dutch oven, and I think of somebody farting and pulling the covers over your head. That's that's the only Dutch oven I know.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, I never even thought about that. So I'm glad you brought that up. That is not what we were talking. So, anyway, Dr. Domain, he cooks outside and we sit outside. And of course, you know, with the big units, you have the TV sets that are in the belly of the beast, and so you can watch TV outside. And of course, our dogs are outside most of the time because they love being outside, and so we're outside with them. And uh anyway, we had another unit that was parked next to us. Never thought anything about it. We had some conversations with the male part of this couple, and he seemed nice enough. I mean, he came over to check his water lines or something and said, Hey, you know, yeah, I want to make sure the dogs don't come over to me. And and so I said, Oh yeah, yeah, let me get them back. And I I kind of pulled him back so that they didn't bother him. That was really the only encounter I even had with him, and I never even saw her. And so we got over to this exhibition center, and they came walking up to me and and Dr. Domain and said, Hey, you're our neighbors, right? And I said, Oh yeah, yeah, over here at the RV park, we are. And he said, Uh, your back door's open. And I kind of panicked at first because I thought, wait a minute, Dr. Domain just locked that. And I said, Oh no, because you know, the dogs are in there. I didn't want them to get out or push the screen door open. So Dr. Domain took off, you know, walked back over to the campsite, checked, made it sure that the door was closed. And as it turns out, everything was closed. There was no problem. And so I stood there and talked to him for a little bit, and and ultimately, you know, he was talking to me. She really wasn't saying anything. And I introduced myself. I told him my name and my hand out, and he shook my hand, and she kind of looked like she wasn't gonna shake my hand. Now, maybe it was just a hesitation. I don't really know. I'm not gonna judge that because I don't really know. And we went our separate ways for our tours. And later on, I saw him and and found out that there was a light show for Graceland. And I said to him, as I saw him, hey, the light show starts at 6:30. That was the end of our conversations until we got back to our campsite. And Dr. Domain stood outside and talked to this gentleman for quite some time. How long would you say that you spoke to him, Dr. Domain? Maybe 20, 30 minutes?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, maybe about 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_02:And I don't even know what all you were talking about. But at one point I made you both some peppermint, uh, a peppermint drink, and I brought him out. And he said, No, no, I'm I've got wine waiting. And I said, Okay, that's fine. And I gave Dr. Domain this drink and went back into the motorhome, and that was it. And so the next day their motorhome was gone, and they're hardly tour.
SPEAKER_01:So I thought it was my first thought when she's telling me this is oh my god, they're swingers, and they left a pineapple card or something on your door, something like that.
SPEAKER_02:I would have I would have considered that a compliment, to be honest with you. This is not a compliment, and and it's just so funny because we looked it up, and um the title of this comment that they put on their website is called That's Probably Not Going to Leave a Mark. And here's what they wrote. And you gotta bear with me here, folks, because this is the pettiest thing I've ever seen. It's it's funnier than heck. It says the OCDs are next to us for the next few nights, it seems. The OCDs. Well, I mean she pegged you. She pegged me, I am OCD. She said, and I don't know if it's him or her, they said uh they are grumpy buggers who never smile. And I'm thinking, I never even saw you. I mean, I and when I did see you, it was in the dark. They do everything. This will blow your mind, Bobby. It says they do everything outside of the RB, cooking meals. Oh how appalling is that? Eating meals, oh my gosh, watching TV, etc. Oh my goodness, what kind of oh my gosh, the audacity that we have.
SPEAKER_01:So everything you're supposed to do when you're camping, you're doing, yeah. God forbid.
SPEAKER_02:God forbid, and the audacity we might have, must have. And it goes on to say, it's as though they do not want to upset the inside of the camper by any means. Uh we like being outside. What does that have to do with anything?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we don't want to be in the three feet of space that's in there. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:And then it goes on to say, today, though, they are not pleased with each other and have taken to aggressively launch Kleenex boxes at each other. What the heck? And so Dr. Domain and I are looking at each other and we're like, are they talking about us? And then we see this picture, this hand-drawn picture of a Kleenex box and a hand coming out of the out of the camera. And here must be me standing with my two dogs because one is black and white and one's brown, and that's my dog. And I am just laughing. And I'm looking at that and I'm thinking, oh my gosh, first of all, anybody who knows Dr. Domain and I, I don't, we've never, first of all, we don't fight, we don't argue, there's nothing to argue about. And I don't think I don't think I've ever heard him raise his voice at me. And I the only time I've ever raised my voice at him is usually in a car when we're driving or something. Um, but what was really funny is I had said to him, I said, hey, throw me out that box of Kleenex, would you? And he did. He just threw it out the door. And so when he came back, I just threw it back in at him. And and I didn't think anything about it. We were just playing around. I mean, throw me the box of Kleenex. And so it just I I'm sitting here thinking, I mean, what goes through your mind, Bobby, when you hear that story?
SPEAKER_01:I think that, well, at first I was laughing about it because I know you two, and it's like, uh, were they hearing a different couple fighting and thinking it was you guys? Like, right? But no, my whole thing was, you know, at first I was like, wow, you know, she what a story to make up. And then I I rethought about it and I was like, are their lives that boring that they need to, you know, obviously they have a blog, so you know, they they're trying to get people to read this, and it's like, do you have to make up these stories in order for people to follow you? Otherwise, your life is just boring as shit. Like, what's going on?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I see there's zero likes and zero comments, so I'm not sure how many people are looking at this. I pooped three times today because uh, like I told you, they either left that card in our door because number one, one of them put that posted this and the other one didn't know it, and now voila, we found out, or number two, they knew that we look we're gonna look at it and they wanted us to see this post, or what would be number three, Bobby?
SPEAKER_01:I don't even know. Uh they they wanted you to follow and like and share with your friends. I I don't know, I really don't because yeah, I mean, like maybe you know, he gave you the card and and she wrote the post, didn't tell him about it, or you know, he doesn't he obviously probably doesn't read it, um or or they or she, you know, one of them wrote it, knew that they wrote it, and then left you the card to be like, hey, fuck you, I don't know in your face.
SPEAKER_02:And we had people on the other side of us, and um, him and one of the gals and the guys, um, they had a beautiful unit. I mean, it was it was super nice, and they were kind of arguing a little bit, but not where these people would have ever heard it, they weren't being loud or anything like that. But I just kind of walked by, I didn't pay any attention because you know what, it was none of my business.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I don't that's crazy though. I mean, you go to Graceland and you know, you do this stuff, and the thing that you write about is your neighbors. Honestly, I mean, she sounds no, or he or she sounds nosy enough that they probably did hear the other people camping on the other side of you and thought it was you because you know, when you're that nosy, you can hear five miles down the road.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I had asked Dr. Domain, I said, Do you remember us arguing it about something? And it's like, first of all, we had nothing to argue about. Do you remember anything, Dr. Domain? I mean, I don't.
SPEAKER_00:No, I don't. I just think it's funny how people who don't even know you have so much to say. And if if that's the highlight of their day, it's pretty pathetic. Um, you know, and we don't we don't need to sit inside an RV criticizing strangers to feel better about ourselves.
SPEAKER_02:So that's exactly right. And to say they don't ever smile. I mean, do you want me to walk around the campsite with a smile on my face like a freaking sociopath?
SPEAKER_01:I mean the fact that they took the time though to illustrate it, right? To not only write it, but to actually have hand-drawn illustrations.
SPEAKER_02:I'm just like and I just want to say this out loud to everybody, all of our listeners. I did not give my permission for them to post a picture of my dogs. Because obviously, it's a pretty good likeness. So um I had to look this up. Better than a police sketch. Yeah, yeah, here's what she looks like, and here's what her two dogs look like. Um, I had to look this up because you know, a lot of times when people are petty, it's because they're either stressed or they feel guilt or they have a feeling of powerlessness. And because you know me, I want to look up the psychological effects and the factors associated with this, and so insecurities and low self-esteem, people may act petty to feel superior to others or to compensate for their own feelings of inadequacy. The other thing is is jealousy or dissatisfaction. And I'm thinking, man, they have a beautiful unit, they had nothing to be jealous of us about.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, is there something in there that says just because it's fun and you want to do it?
SPEAKER_02:Uh no, no, no, it doesn't you mean that they post it?
SPEAKER_01:No, no, no, no, about being petty, like the reasons why is uh I be petty just to be petty, like because I'm bored and uh it's funny, like yeah, but yeah, I was gonna say there's a whole different angle for you because first of all, you're smart, Alec.
SPEAKER_02:And number two, you're funny, and you do do it to be flex my skills one way or the other, so you know one of the other reasons is jealousy and dissatisfaction, uh, feeling envious of others or dissatisfied with your own life, uh, can lead somebody to be petty or have spiteful behavior. Another one is the need for control. Now I'm a control freak, and I will say I'm probably the grand imperial wizard. Oh no, wait a minute, I give that title to your sister. Um, but I am a close second, I am the VP of uh of control. But pettiness can be a way to exert power or control over a situation or another person when someone feels powerless. And I don't know why these people would have been petty like this. I just I'm having a hard time understanding it because we've seen some pretty weird things at campsites and we've seen some pretty weird things, you know, while we were out and about. And I don't write about it, I don't blog about it, I don't do any of that stuff. We do a podcast about it, we do a podcast, but how many times do we really talk about a specific couple? How many times or a specific person? We haven't done that. We talk about psychological behavior, we talk about experiences, but I don't recall really talking about one or two specific people and then drawing pictures about them.
SPEAKER_01:So what so what what's your what's your favorite? Do you have a favorite uh petty petty thing that you do to people?
SPEAKER_02:A favorite petty thing that I do. Um, I think probably the most petty for me is when somebody I know is talking to me and they're full of crap and they're lying to me. I start asking so many questions that are so fundamentally basic that at some point they look at me like I'm the one who's an idiot. And you know, so I just do it to be petty. I really do.
SPEAKER_01:What do you do besides crack jokes and be I was gonna say I a lot of the stuff that I do, I just I I don't think I want to talk about it because there could still be some uh pending court cases. But um, you know, like I said, I do, you know, I'll do petty stuff, just you know, I've said it once and I'll say it again. You take it low, I'll take it to hell. I don't care. But um I I do I love to play the long game on things, so you know, I'll I'll find something out or you know, I'll see something or notice something, and I will wait an entire year before I will exact any kind of revenge or pettiness on it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, see, I'm uh like I said, I'm more of a snap, I'm a snap slap, uh, snap slap and uh walk away. I just you know, I don't have time for people like that, and I don't like it. You know, when when I've seen you be petty, there's times I've looked at you and just start laughing because I know exactly what you're doing. I have said to you before, Bobby, stop. You can uh I've seen you really demean somebody before.
SPEAKER_01:So I mean, you know, it's it's it's it's all in fun usually. I mean well, my fun, yeah, absolutely. But I mean, like it's even to if I'm in a store and you know somebody's behind me and they're just you know, bad mouth and the the person checking people out, or bad mouth and the person who's checking out maybe they're a lower income or using food stamps or something like that, and they're just behind me shit talking the whole time. I'm gonna let people go around me and in front of me. And guess what? Yeah, now you're standing there because today I got time. Okay, like I'll do petty stuff like that, but I'm I'm really more confrontational than anything because um my mouth is like the wild west. I mean, you never know what's gonna come out of it. And if I hear something or see something, I mean, I'm gonna speak up, I'm gonna say it. It goes off pretty quickly. It's got a hairpin trigger, I'm telling you. You know, but I mean, you know, some petty things that I know other people do is like um, especially with exes and stuff, you know, you find those things you sign up for, like emails and stuff, and you give them the email address, you give them their phone number, and that way they're spammed for like the next year with I don't know, boner pills or something like that. Or um, you know, if you're out and about and uh somebody somebody will come up and be like, hey, can I have your phone number? And you give them your ex's phone number, you know, type of thing. Um, that that's I think pretty classic of people. So it's still petty, but it it's it's really not harmful in in any way.
SPEAKER_02:And again, you know, at first I will say, you know, this when I looked at this and and Dr. Domain read it to me, it kind of hurt my feet, my one feeling I have. And then I started laughing, and we just we were just I we just thought it was comical because you know, when you think about pettiness, again, those were some of the behavioral things that we talked about. Competition is also another um element, which is an excessive need to win or one up uh someone else, and that can be and you know, social conditioning in some contexts, such as group situations, people can act pretty petty if they feel that they can't speak up. Now, she you know, when I told you I spoke to both her and him, he was doing the talking. She really didn't speak to me, and that was okay. I mean, I didn't think a thing about it, so yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Um yeah, and I was sitting here thinking and I was like, you know, me and my best friend, um, we are I wouldn't, well, a lot of people would call him petty, I guess, if if we weren't such good friends, like if I did this to somebody that I felt have wronged me, but like um I I've had some stuff done to him. Like I I sent a a tube of where the the glitter explodes out of the tube when you open it. Um, except it wasn't just glitter, it was penis-shaped glitter. And so he was cleaning up penises for like a year out of everything.
SPEAKER_02:Well, well, who else do I know that does stuff like that, Dr. Domain?
SPEAKER_01:I like I buy the caps that go on uh the valve stems of you know the tires and their you know their little penises, and I just screw them on there, don't tell them about it and and just you know go about their way, things like that.
SPEAKER_02:That's funny, you know. To me, that's that's kind of more of a funny thing or kind of a god.
SPEAKER_01:It's if you're friends, it is, you know, if you're friends, that's cool, but if you do it to your enemy, god does it piss them off. It does like okay, here's one. Um, so you actually gifted this to me after you got it. Um, do you remember the uh the box that you got that said a gift for you is inside and you opened it and it said eat a dick and it was a chocolate dick? Yes, I do remember that.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, that was a long, long time ago. That was a long time ago. I mean, it's not like you were a kid at the time.
SPEAKER_01:Oh no, I was an adult, but I mean, I'm saying, you know, if you send it to a friend or a family member, that's funny, but if you send it to an enemy, that's a whole nother message then.
SPEAKER_02:That's absolutely true. That's absolutely true. Well, I wanted to talk about this, and you know, uh just the petty behavior some people have, and sometimes it's due to deep-seated psychological factors. And we both know that you and I both have deep-seated psychological factors, uh we just really don't want to discuss. And you know, I just uh like I said, I don't like the pettiness. I could be really petty here and tell everybody what this website is and have them go in and comment, but I'm not gonna do that. Uh, I may go in and comment and say, hey, you know, that was us.
SPEAKER_01:And um, you might want to listen to our podcasts because you'll hear a little bit about new listeners, we might get new listeners out of it, and then they'll tell their friends about it while their friends are listening. I mean, we could hit you know another couple of cities at least.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, uh, people need to know. I mean, I don't know. Uh I might even put this on here. Hey, we're podcasters and we're in uh 20 some countries or whatever we're in, and we're in 200 and some cities.
SPEAKER_01:And uh I would even put, you know, while I'm not petty, my co-host sure as hell is. So uh if you get some hints on your travel vlog there, uh that might have been because she uh she dropped the link on the Facebook page. So um hint hint.
SPEAKER_02:Hint hint. Well, I think that's all I have to talk about on that. I I just listen, if you've got some of these psychological behaviors, folks, get them under control. Um, you know what? It doesn't pay to be petty, it isn't worth it. And to be up, disagree. Okay, well, yours are funny pettiness, but I some of your stuff you need to get under control too.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, hey, listen, if you want to be petty, we'll petty back and forth, you know, just call me. I mean, it's on. It is on.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's you in the ring, then there, little Miss Petty. So I think that's about all I've got for today.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Well, hey, that is all the absurdity and pettiness that we do have for today. But we do appreciate you joining us here at the Rabbit Run Studios. So be sure to follow us because we look forward to spending time with you each week. Like us, and if you have a positive feedback or a topic or comment or follow a website you want us to spend up, drop us a line. You can either do that on Facebook and our official page or at boomer and gmail at gmail.com. Give me something to do during these winter months. I've got lots of comments, all right. Oh no, you know, uh, I mean, you can still something we can do that also.
SPEAKER_02:Let us know what you can post about the joint.