"Respect your elders"

Accyexplorer

Accyexplorer

Nori Brick
Tackler
This maybe the wrong subject for me :D

Anyway I have been thinking (yes your heard it right :D) about how some older generations seem to end up in life wanting this 'entitlement of respect' from the younger folk.
It puzzled me for a while when I was a teen, should I just automatically respect anyone older than me simply out of 'tradition'?
It also puzzled me how folk could claim they're in someway better than me just because they've been alive a few extra years.
Yes, I get it, they've lived longer than the younger folk,they've got more life experience.But that simply does not give elder folk an innate right to belittle the younger generation (even if they do sometimes deserve it).

Now (believe it or not) I am all for respect for others (I know what some are thinking,stay with me ;)) but only when that person is showing me a similar amount.
Sometimes I just get tired of hearing the elder generation moan and complain about the younger generations and their lack of respect.

I feel that this innate sense that elders should be respected is coming to an end. It's not like it was 100 years ago when few folk lived past say 50 years of age and that meant that they'd earnt their respect , No I think respect is 'finally' coming to where is needs to be earned and not just expected (rightly so if you ask me).

Now, I'm not trying to start any arguments (this time), I believe this would be the wrong forum for that anyway due to its elder members, or hurt anyones sensitive feelings, I am just looking to have a dialogue on this topic and wondered what you folks feel about it.

Personally I'm one of those 'Respect has to be earned' kind of guys. People don't just get my respect because of some arbitrary number. If their age means they have done things I should respect them for,then surely the thing I should be respecting them for should stand on it's own (MPs service to the NHS for example) with no need to refer to their age, which isn't inherently deserving of respect.
In my experience the folk who usually 'demand' to be respected because of their age - tend to be (insert swear word) and not really worth my respect.
 
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I do not expect respect from anyone.
Age alone is not a reason for respect.
However, I think that courtesy and kindness are the lubricants of social interaction.
They make life a lot smoother.
It costs nothing(in financial terms anyway) to be courteous.
We meet people on a daily basis and touch their lives.rarely do we know the difficulties that person is living through. Most people, even those who do a lot of moaning, will have private worries and anxieties which may colour how they are perceived.
So a kind word from us(or at least a word which is not calculated to be sharp and cutting) may make all the difference.
So, don't respect me for my age, because inside this old shell there is a nineteen year old wondering what the hell happened. Don't respect me for my past work.....it is gone. I did what I did to earn a crust. It isn't that relevant to who I am now.
If you must respect me, do it from how you find me to be right now.
 
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This is not to say that I do not get 'heated' myself at times(some issues just do that to you)....just that I try to put my thoughts as clearly and politely as possible.
Once the personal insults start flying it means that the argument/discussion is lost.
 
Surely age is irrelevant, doesn`t everyone deserve respect until they do something that proves otherwise?
 
I don't think this thread can stop at the respect for elders question, it is the general attitude of society in general. I am old school, and I still hold doors open for people, no specific age, and the only time I get a thank you is from people of my own age group (I am very old now ). So to me it is not an age issue, it is a time period issue, my informative years were surrounded by politeness and guidance in the correct way to behave. The number of times I have been down town and been passed by the "youth of today" shouting, swearing, and just generally absorbed in their own importance is un-countable.
But let us not forget today's generation is the generation we have created and passed the baton too............run for your life..........we are ALL DOOMED
 
Margaret Pilkington said:
I do not expect respect from anyone.
Age alone is not a reason for respect.
However, I think that courtesy and kindness are the lubricants of social interaction.
They make life a lot smoother.
It costs nothing(in financial terms anyway) to be courteous.
We meet people on a daily basis and touch their lives.rarely do we know the difficulties that person is living through. Most people, even those who do a lot of moaning, will have private worries and anxieties which may colour how they are perceived.
So a kind word from us(or at least a word which is not calculated to be sharp and cutting) may make all the difference.
So, don't respect me for my age, because inside this old shell there is a nineteen year old wondering what the hell happened. Don't respect me for my past work.....it is gone. I did what I did to earn a crust. It isn't that relevant to who I am now.
If you must respect me, do it from how you find me to be right now.
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Firstly,I like what your saying,very noble indeed.
Secondly, thanks for your honest reply (not that I'd expect anything else) but i'm not one to erase a past lifetime of contributions just because someone's "shell" may be a little worn (I guess what I'm trying to say is Im not sure if someone's contributions to society become obsolete as they grow older).

Anyway,I'm glad your head is still a very reliable engine even if the shell is a little worn. ;)
 
davemac said:
(I am very old now ).
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Just because you frequently have a wet gusset doesn't mean you are very old........if you keep on getting down in wet grass that is what happens(folk, I will let you draw your own conclusions there).
The fact that you can get down onto wet grass - and more importantly get up again, without the help of a JCB, gives lie to what you said.

I think you are right though, it is generational. Though to be fair, there have been some old folk that have been incredibly rude.
I have had my ankle barked with those wheeled shoppers more time than I care to count - and not always by grumpy women. Men have started using them too.
I will consider myself old when I resort to using a sholley. Please Lord....Never!
 
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Margaret Pilkington said:
Just because you frequently have a wet gusset doesn't mean you are very old........if you keep on getting down in wet grass that is what happens(folk, I will let you draw your own conclusions there).
The fact that you can get down onto wet grass - and more importantly get up again, without the help of a JCB, gives lie to what you said.

I think you are right though, it is generational. Though to be fair, there have been some old folk that have been incredibly rude.
I have had my ankle barked with those wheeled shoppers more time than I care to count - and not always by grumpy women. Men have started using them too.
I will consider myself old when I resort to using a sholley. Please Lord....Never!
Click to expand...

It's not the wet gusset that marks me as old, its the fact I can now get Dubbin on prescription, also now when I get down on wet grass people rush over and start to give me CPR, and its the authorities that help me up, and escort me from the premises, they get the hump if you do it in M&S.

I think the sholley brigade come into a different category, that's the "I am disabled" bracket, who think once they use a sholley they can use it like a Tank, and you have to put their grumpy attitude down to medication.

Another thing, I don't use the bus very much, but if there is a lady standing I give her my seat, but I think we have all observed kids sat on seats with older people standing.
Have to sign off now, going down town and have to oil the wheels on my sholley
 
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