How do you view young people now that you're older?

Just to clarify...at the age of 80 I'm feeling mortal. I see school buses full of kids, adults working their butts off to get ahead as we all did, and for what? They don't have a clue. They as we will croak, and another crop of the clueless will go on and follow the same path. What's the point of it all?
 
Chet said:
Just to clarify...at the age of 80 I'm feeling mortal. I see school buses full of kids, adults working their butts off to get ahead as we all did, and for what? They don't have a clue. They as we will croak, and another crop of the clueless will go on and follow the same path. What's the point of it all?
Click to expand...
The point? The point was the journey, my friend... the journey. @Chet

I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

 

JustDave said:

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” ― Socrates​

Click to expand...
I love this quote and is a reminder that each upcoming generation is often viewed the same way throughout the ages. I view the younger people much the same way as I am sure those my parents age viewed my generation when I was younger.


Yuppies were a product of my generation (and more specific my age group) and they were some of the most selfish and apathetic people I have ever run into . Most outgrew that label but sadly many did not.
 
At work one of the engineering departments sent four graduates to us to collect some office furniture that we didn’t need anymore. It didn’t need four people to collect the furniture, two would have done. I couldn’t help wondering that they had previously got nothing to do, & someone had given them this task simply has something to do?

The graduates explained to me why they were here, so I gave them the keys to a four seat pickup we have in our department (a vehicle test lab). When they eventually managed to drive it into the building, they (all four of them) then found some difficulty in opening up the back in order to put the furniture in.

Then they literally spent the next 15 minutes trying to figure how to move the furniture over to the pickup so they could load it up. We kind of sat & stood there in awe, as we watch them slowly moving around, two of them checking their phones. Even people who were visiting our department were taken aback with what they were seeing.

I considered helping these graduates, but I thought they first need a little more time to figure this out for themselves. They just seemed to be slowly moving around, waiting for something to happen. They didn’t approach us to ask for help, but eventually someone did help them. This person pretty much did it all for them, it then took about four minutes to load up.

I’m sure they are knowlagable in whatever field they have studied -- I couldn’t help wondering whether the future productivity of the company I work for is now in doubt? We did get our pickup back, eventually.
 
My niece (goddaughter) gets into trouble at high school. She has decided that her name is now a colour, a neutral colour. And wants everyone to refer to her as this colour. Her parents have stated refering to her as this colour. Mu niece knows even without me telling her that I will only call & refer to her buy her own name.

One of the reasons she gets into trouble at school is because she feels it should be acceptable for her to use the boy’s toilets & changing rooms, and she does use them. At the same time, she is also very much a girl, or young woman.

I need to spend more time with her – I have a big world to show her.
 
Last edited:
MarkinPhx said:
I love this quote and is a reminder that each upcoming generation is often viewed the same way throughout the ages. I view the younger people much the same way as I am sure those my parents age viewed my generation when I was younger.


Yuppies were a product of my generation (and more specific my age group) and they were some of the most selfish and apathetic people I have ever run into . Most outgrew that label but sadly many did not.
Click to expand...
Except that Socrates wrote nothing...must be from Plato?
 
Some of the kids I see interviewed on news programs these days are more mature and articulate than most people my age, including me! :ROFLMAO:

I think there are all kinds of kids now, just like when when we were kids. We had our problems — mainly the war and the bad economy. Today's kids have a good economy, but expensive higher education, overpopulation, polarization, and now AI, which is going to eliminate a lot of jobs. And of course, inflation. We had access to the "American dream." Unless you're from a well-off family, kids today see the American dream as being out of reach and they resent us boomers for what our (the U.S.) country has become.
 
While I try to remember that times have indeed changed since[My Day-hehehe]and youngsters are gonna do their thing like we did, but some of these kids are NUTS [yes I said it]no respect- no regard for anyone- will hurt you regardless of your age if you say anything to them about the attitude- these are deadly times and some of these youngsters just don't care...that's the part I don't like...not all of em but[six out of ten is way too many] but when they will listen I still try to reach em if I can because folks reached out to us st that age, only difference is......MOST OF OUR GENERATION LISTENED, at lease some of the time!!!
 
and the beat goes on…

“The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century... unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today.” - John F. Kennedy
 
Glad Fritz revived this thread. I somehow missed it before.

How do i view the young now that i'm old?
The same way i view those in my age group and the generations between me and the latest one--as individuals. My opinions are formed on individual behaviors (with their words counting as a behavior) towards others and me, not any demographic descriptor.

It may take a bit more effort to reserve judgement, but in the long run it has been well worth it to me. Knowing people often respond to the attitudes we display toward them, it is my habit to be open, with perhaps a bit on the friendly side of neutral affect. As a result i have had a broad range of observations & experiences with people of all ages, (as well as other demographics) confirming my basic principle that we are doing a disservice to ourselves as well as others to view (form opinions on, judge) them on the basis of some descriptor they have no control over rather than what they say & do.

As for minors behaving badly in public, i see no more of them than i do of other generations behaving badly, especially when we go into the city. Perhaps because i've been a people watcher since childhood i notice a full range of human behaviors from all kinds of strangers in public, not just the unpleasant ones.
 
feywon said:
Glad Fritz revived this thread. I somehow missed it before.

How do i view the young now that i'm old?
The same way i view those in my age group and the generations between me and the latest one--as individuals. My opinions are formed on individual behaviors (with their words counting as a behavior) towards others and me, not any demographic descriptor.

It may take a bit more effort to reserve judgement, but in the long run it has been well worth it to me. Knowing people often respond to the attitudes we display toward them, it is my habit to be open, with perhaps a bit on the friendly side of neutral affect. As a result i have had a broad range of observations & experiences with people of all ages, (as well as other demographics) confirming my basic principle that we are doing a disservice to ourselves as well as others to view (form opinions on, judge) them on the basis of some descriptor they have no control over rather than what they say & do.

As for minors behaving badly in public, i see no more of them than i do of other generations behaving badly, especially when we go into the city. Perhaps because i've been a people watcher since childhood i notice a full range of human behaviors from all kinds of strangers in public, not just the unpleasant ones.
Click to expand...
I sometimes peek to see what the guests are looking at. I didn't even realize it was an old thread. Sorry.
 
I remember from my own youth how important it was to my counterparts to fit in with their peers, but I don't remember it even coming close to the pressure that that today's youth are under.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I remember from my own youth how important it was to my counterparts to fit in with their peers, but I don't remember it even coming close to the pressure that that today's youth are under.
Click to expand...
I remember the kids I went to school with and how mean they were but after witnessing how the kids today treat each other...OMG! I would've been terrified to go to school. I see them swear at their parents and treat them like crap and they just let them. We'd have gotten a slap across the mouth for that kind of stuff.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top