Boomers on the Edge
Before smartphones. Before social media. Before anyone thought to record the evidence.
Boomers on the Edge is a weekly storytelling podcast where two lifelong friends revisit the wild, reckless, and often unbelievable adventures of their youth. Kenn and Ron trade stories from the 60s, 70s, and 80s — the mischief, the bad decisions, and the close calls that somehow didn’t kill them.
From gritty Detroit bars and summer days on the lake to high school locker rooms and blue-collar job sites, every episode blends sharp improv, vivid memories, and outrageous true tales.
It’s unfiltered nostalgia — raw, irreverent, and laugh-out-loud funny.
If you like your comedy honest, slightly inappropriate, and full of “there’s no way that really happened” moments… welcome to the edge.
Boomers on the Edge
You Roared?
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In the 1990s, as Boomers settled into parenthood, everyday life came with its fair share of chaos—and comedy. In this episode, Kenn shares a story that perfectly captures both.
After noticing a neighborhood kid picking on his son, Kenn pulls him aside and gives some blunt, old-school advice: if the bully doesn’t stop, he has permission to punch him in the nose. Not exactly textbook parenting—but very on brand.
A few days later, while chatting with a group of moms as the kids play nearby, Kenn spots the same bully causing trouble again—this time smacking kids with a piece of rubber tubing. Suddenly, a loud scream cuts through the air. The bully is crying.
Kenn rushes over, expecting the worst, and asks his son what happened. His son, looking a bit sheepish, simply says: “I roared.”
Confused at first, Kenn quickly realizes—his son didn’t throw a punch. He scared the bully off by roaring like a lion.
Seizing the moment, Kenn rallies all the kids to roar together, turning it into a lesson: you don’t always have to fight back—you can stand your ground in other ways. Meanwhile, he can’t help but enjoy watching the bully get a taste of his own medicine.
Just another unconventional—and unforgettable—parenting moment from Boomers on the Edge.
- Boomer rating: Under the Edge.
https://www.boomersontheedge.com
boomers@boomersontheedge.com
Hey, and welcome to Boomers on the Fucking who still think they're starting to be your hosts Ken and Ron. Let's get started. Let's talk a little bit about uh what it what we learned as kids in terms of how to defend yourself, so to speak. What kids are doing today? What kids are doing today. And Ken, don't you have a little story about how you were trying to teach your son?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, you guys, prior to these podcasts, we have little discussions with each other and says, what are we going to talk about? And you know, you can't stand it as a dad, especially when you're one of us boomers and we grew up, I don't know, in a different world. It made me think of a story where, you know, we had a kid in our and you know, as young parents, young boomers with child age kids, we, you know, we had the little assembly area where kids came and played in our yard, and there was this one kid, Michael, who used to like to pick on most of the other kids. He didn't care if it was a girl or a boy, he'd pick on everyone but his brother, his older brother. But one day, you know, I saw him picking on my son, and I got really kind of miffed about it. And so I took my son and I said, If if that ever happens again, you I know all the PC people are gonna say this is wrong, don't be a bully, it's too violent, and all that. But I said, All that can go by the wayside. I said, You punch that kid as hard as you can in the nose, and he'll never do it again.
SPEAKER_00Why what was the kid doing to him?
SPEAKER_01Well, anything. He would always like push them, whack them, smack them with a stick or whatever, you know. And so I told him, You will not get in trouble if you do that. I will have your back. I promise you. I know we can't listen to this podcast anymore. We can't listen because it's too violent. But anyways, but give me some cut me some slack, people, cut me some slack, because it gets better from here. So one day this kid came into contact with some rubber tubing, and he was walking around and he was whipping the people on their legs, their bare legs. It was summertime, their arms, whipping them with this rubber uh tube. Oh, it was giving welts and it was stinging, you know. Well, anyway, so so here, picture this. The moms are kind of assembled on our patio. I'm sitting there with them, you know. My wife's not home from work yet, but the kids are out frolicking in the backyard playing on the swing set and stuff like that. And Michael's whipping them with these tubes, you know, and all of a sudden we're just chit-chatting. Michael starts screaming bloody murder. The moms all jump up, you know. They got that special radar. They jump up and and Michael. Were you a mom at this?
SPEAKER_00No, I was sitting with a bunch of moms. Okay, I just wondered. Okay. I didn't know if you were a stay-at-home mom in this.
SPEAKER_01No, I'm still identifying as a male at this point. I was the only adult male there, yes. That's what I'm asking. Michael jumped.
SPEAKER_00What the heck was there? Why were all the rest of them women there?
SPEAKER_01Well, they didn't, they were stay-at-home moms. So Michael's in his his mother's arm and he's crying and tears are rolling down his face. And I have to walk over there like I give a crap, you know, and I'm hoping, and I'm hoping that my son punched this kid in the face. So I have to walk over there like the bully was crying in his mom's arms, and I have to act like I give a crap. I clean it up by just saying crap, by the way. And I said, I said, uh, okay, you guys, what what went on here? And my son's looking real sheepishly downward, you know, and he's like looking like, and I can tell he's the guilty one. And I go, what went on here? I hear my son go, I roared. I go, you what? He goes, I roared. I go, I still didn't really hear what he said. I says, Did you say that you roared? And he shakes his head. He's like crying. He goes, Yeah. I go, you roared. I go, like what? And he goes, and I go, that's how loud you roared? He goes, no, I go, was it louder? He goes, yeah. And I go, well, what did it sound like? He goes, Oh my God. I jump back and said, oh my gosh, that would have scared the crap out of me. And now I don't like this kid, Michael, you know, because he's always bullying. And I look at him and he's in his mom's arms. They stand right next. I could see why that's making Michael cry, because it was very scary. And so now we have like these five other kids standing around, and I'm going, okay, though this is a learning opportunity here. Hey kids, yes, Mr. Mac. Do you know what we just learned here? They go, What? You know, sometimes when things get out of hand and someone's, you know, not treating other people correctly, we don't have to resort to fighting. Okay. All you have to do is roar. Yeah. And they're like, and they're all they're all excited now, you know. But you know what? Before you ever roar, I go, you gotta learn how to do roar really, really good. So why don't we all practice our roaring right now? Michael, I hope you don't too skip, get too scared about this because we're gonna have the kids roaring, okay? But it's just for practice. And I'm so happy that I'm rubbing it in because maybe that's the bully in me. And I'm sorry, I'm not proud of that. But I said I had all the kids roaring, and I thought that was a good learn life lesson.
SPEAKER_00You demonstrated to the other mothers that you know that I cared. Yeah, that you cared. That's right.
SPEAKER_01Without being violent. I like that story. But I still would have let my kid punch him if he wanted to. Of course you would have. Anyways, but I didn't have to give in to that at that point.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening, guys. Hope you enjoyed it. Yeah, I love that story. Hey, thanks for joining us here on Boomers on the Edge. We hope you'll join us again. And until then, have a great time. Thank you.