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My father commanded respect, even with multiple strokes, he was bright, funny, and cognizant of his surroundings; firm, definitive, and precise in his thought processes. He had a biting sense of humor and a sharp perspective, and everyone admired him from the time he was in his 20s til he died at 72. He didn't tolerate the sympathy of those who thought he was old and frail or a cripple - even when he was. He was always a perfect gentleman - even with a cane or a walker, he would hold doors open for women.
My mother on the other hand was a very silly woman, she spent thousands of dollars on psychics, "cheap land in Baja, California!" and after my father passed found an ad in the Globe grocery-store paper from a guy who promised "I can get you all the money from the government that you deserve!". She sent him her Social security number as well as my father's, and ALL of her personal information. When her SS and retirement money started disappearing right after it was deposited, she - blamed the bank tellers for stealing it. Even though I proved to her that the guy was wanted in 7 states for fraud, and was being sought by several attorneys general, She insisted that it couldn't be him - he was nice. My father and she had seperate bank accounts for this reason; he was very frugal and when he passed left her not only three insurance policies, but $37,000 in the bank - he had even paid for their burial spot in advance. In less than a year she was broke, and had to move in with us. She stayed with us for 4 years, usually hiding the vodka bottles under her bed. Then, solvent again, she bought a new Lexus and moved 150 miles away to my brother's house, and never paid another dime on the car. A year after she passed, they were still looking for their money or the car - which my brother kept in his garage.
Whom do you think I respected more?
People earn respect. Age, pregnancy, physical disabilities have nothing to do with it. I've known quite a few women who got pregnant to 'trap' a man (yes, still in this day and age) or to get money from the government, and people who drank or got stoned and ended up shot or crippled because of their behaviors. I am polite to folks I don't know, but I don't respect them until I know them - and only when they have shown that they are worthy of respect.
The last sentence of your post makes more sense than anything else posted on this thread.
Old people can earn my respect by doing ordinary things, which young people cannot. My great-grandfather used to mow his own lawn at the age of 92. He could have easily paid some kid in the neighborhood to do it, but he didn't - out of pride, maybe. I don't know. A teenager mowing lawn doesn't earn my respect. A 35-year old mowing lawn doesn't earn my respect. But a 92-year old mowing lawn earns my respect.
Respect is EARNED, and I don't feel it has anything to do with "length of service". It's attitude. Attitude can emcompass many things ~ how well a person is liked and admired, what that person has done for the greater good, etc.
Young people can cop a bad attitude, yes. But so can seniors. I know this from my job.
No, but I do think you need to respect someone based upon their actions...not their age. If they are respectful, respectable, decent human beings, they probably deserve our respect.
Couldnt agree with you more, i remembering taking over a project that an older woman maybe in her 50's (i was 28 at the time) who was unable to keep up with the work flow, we met and i told her how i needed the work, it was design stuff so i stated the format i needed the files in etc etc, a few weeks later she gave me the files not in the format i asked for, never supplied the fonts or converted them to curves and to top it all off all her advert sizes were wrong as well as the final magazine dimension, i had come in late to this project so much so that we were already behind in the deadline and i litreally had to start from scratch, contact each client, build each advert, etc etc...i hve no doubt she did this because she was bitter she had been replaced even though it was her own fault....i let her have it, screamed at her for almost 30 minutes flat, gave her her disc and threw her out (not litreally) then i got a call from the big boss saying she had just called him and that i treated her so badley and that i should have treated her with the respect she deserves BECAUSE SHE IS OLDER THAN ME? i mean come on... if you want to be respected, then treat me with respect....never heard from her again lmao
I respect those who act in a respectable manner no matter what their age.
I've met disrespectful people of all ages, and people who are situationally disrespectful even when there is no call for it.
Seems like some classifications , although being based on what seems to be solid evidence, in many cases do not take into account different variables or changes over time.
Everyone deserves to be treated humanely. But I think respect is being confused with honor here. Respect denotes both a positive feeling of esteem for a person or other entity, and also specific actions and conduct representative of that esteem. It also involves treating someone the way they wish to be. For example, if my name is Chet and you call me Brett instead, that is disrespectful.
Honor, going beyond mere esteem, is assigned with praise to someone who has proven to to have behaved above and beyond average, or people who have performed courageous acts of bravery in behalf of their fellow citizens. Those who have lived long and built up a dignified reputation for honesty and integrity, by their longevity, have proven themselves deserving of honor and respect, where as such may not be yet the case for someone starting out in life.
I've noticed that some senior citizens tend to carry a kind of entitlement complex whereby they think they are at liberty to behave with incivility towards younger people with impunity. It is really off-putting, and actually gives me more of a reason not to respect them as much as I probably would have otherwise. Simply put, having managed to avoid death for 80 years doesn't give you the right to act like a toddler when things don't happen to go your way.
I've noticed that some senior citizens tend to carry a kind of entitlement complex whereby they think they are at liberty to behave with incivility towards younger people with impunity. It is really off-putting, and actually gives me more of a reason not to respect them as much as I probably would have otherwise. Simply put, having managed to avoid death for 80 years doesn't give you the right to act like a toddler when things don't happen to go your way.
Very true. I have noticed some older women can be very jealous and act so rude with younger women. I had a horrible time at some jobs because I was the youngest female there.
Nowadays it seems some young folks have better manners than older ones.
I am a senior. I want to be respected for who I am, not for the act of surviving so many years.
That said, when I am walking home from a shopping expedition, often our local Jr/Sr high is letting kids out for lunch. They will push me off the sidewalk if I let them. They should learn basic courtesy for all people. It is a neighborhood of children of mainly easter European migrants, so maybe they do that in their country and the parents don't know any better.
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