Random items you find in the home of your aging Boomer parents.
Passing time the day after Christmas with quickie shitpost.
The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, or “Twixmas,” has already been meme-ified to death (“Yes, Netflix, we’re still watching”), but it’s still worth noting that most American workers during this weird stretch of not-quite-holiday-time/not-quite-real-time fall into one of several categories:
Slaving away at retail and service industry gigs, as per usual. Truckers, healthcare workers, and other essential employees fall into this category.
Working, though not very hard (lots of white collar employees).
Not working (other white collar employees who are using up PTO before the end of the calendar year). This also include students, educators, and other people on an academic calendar (like myself) who are sort of pretending to work, but doing so at home.
Anyway, the situation is such that a significant portion of the American workforce is sitting around at home, and some of us are sitting around in our parents’ homes, desperately looking for ways to entertain ourselves that don’t involve scrolling social media or watching mediocre bowl games.
All of that is preamble to this list of weird but slightly hilarious things I have found in my Boomer parents’ house. Stuff that I don’t think you are likely to find in the homes of any other demographic.
Old-timey medical devices, like this hot water bottle. Do people still use these?
Vintage toy sets from the 1980s that, were they even remotely intact, would be worth thousands of dollars at auction.
Dangerous space heaters that have been outlawed in most developed countries for 30 years.
That’s it—the list of crap that I have found in the course of my normal meanderings at my folks’ house. What kinds of weird things have you found while staying with family this holiday season?
Haha, this is perfect. We inherited a box of Fisher Price toys from our in-laws when our kids were born and those things are indestructible! Our toddlers abused them the same as my wife and her brother did. We saved them in our house for our own grandchildren to use someday. It makes you wonder how much of your stuff will be "grandpa's things" someday.
The "old-timey medical device" cracked me up. Mom loves her "Mac Daddy," as she calls that water bottle! And I have the same thought every time I see (and use!) that space heater.