the elderly

[2nosey]

why are people so nasty to the eldrely. it makes me sick. they should be treated with royalty and respect. they have had they're ups and downs in life so why top it off with little brats saying nasty stuff in they're most vunerable stage in life. the elderly are wise and make me laugh by telling funny stories.

people act as though their going to stay young all their life and won't become grandads or grandmas! the elderly have served the communities we live in so they deserve peace of mind. and i'd just like to say thank you to all the elderly people on AB for everything

[B00]

Get a grip gail snail!

I wasnt talking about the inferm or any elderly person with disabilities!

I was talking about the elderly who are still sprightly on their feet and can be very vocal with their mouths!!!

Just because in my previous job I had to deal with the elderly alot, and most of these people were not nice, it doesnt mean im an OAP basher at all, i'm just stating that not all of the elderly are sweet little grannies or granpas.

[dot.hawkes]

wind your neck in you lot, i have had the same experience B00 has had, (but that's another thread) being mid-life, I have experienced the cheeky little sods who think they know everything and the old barstewards who think they are owed a living after blowing all their money in the bookies or the pub and beating their wife every night and twice on a friday. We are a generation between the politically correct and the tuppence for a loaf of bread brigade, try living there.

[kazza12345]

again, by your arguement, if a 15 year old says something nasty to you - why worry? it's not the end of the world after all!

[tinkertontom]

couldnt agree more dot.hawkes

[felinechums]

I hate it when people talk about "the elderly". The elderly what? elderly cats? elderly dogs? The point is, that to identify any group simply by their condition (eg the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill) totally dehumanises them, and makes us think of them solely in terms of what they are, and not who they are. If we want to have respect for older people, we should begin by acknowledging the fact that they are human, and calling them "elderly people".

[newtron]

I agree felinechums. 2nosy, your views of old people are discriminitory. You view elderly people as different. You even compare them to kids. When I get old, I don't want people to treat me special. I just want to be treated like a normal human being. Also, there are nice older people and mean older people just like there are nice young people and mean young people.

[Pippa68]

Being elderly is no excuse to be rude! I give out respect if it is earned..it isn't a right.

If someone is polite to me then I return that politeness ~ regardless of age.

I live in a town chocablock with elderly people..sure there are some very nice polite ones (actually the majority) but the rude ones have mouths like sewers. I don't expect anyone to swear at me..again, regardless of age and life experiences.

[sixpence]

I think I am qualified to speak on this, being retired, but still fit and able to do most of the things I have always done. The brain is still working and I can still manage to pedal my bike.
I genuinely don't find that young people are rude to me, any more than older ones are. The only difference I find is that once you get grey hair, people sometimes ignore you.This is a nuisance in Sainsbury's queue, but a great benefit in the High Street when the people with clipboards are about. They don't stop me, because they obviously think that I don't have an opinion.

[2nosey]

kazza-my point exactly!and due to your frequent lack of understanding i'm assuming your a man because their not very sensitive when it comes to things like this.if your a woman then my mistake and i am very surprised!

i'm not discriminating the elderly at all i'm just saying give them a break and yes your right they shouldn't be treated differently (most the time you cant help it) but so is everyone else whatever their age you wouldn't speak or treat a child the same way you speak or treat to an adult

this was a perfectly harmless question and i don't see why people don't understand what i'm trying to point out. i'm sure lots of OAP would appreciate what i'm saying even though you don't.

sorry if i have affended you in any way and thankyou for your posts.very interesting even though i disagree with some of you.

[2nosey]

oh and it's 2nosey newtron thankyou very much

[newtron]

Sorry about the misspelling 2nosey. So, why do you automaticlly assume that "the smallest things said to them will hurt them in ways you can't imagine" ? If anything, most elderly people probably know how to objectively interpret things said to them better than younger people due to their vast life experience.

[2nosey]

i didn't automatically assume. the older people i have been around are very sensitive and worry about everything and some people that i know add to their distress.

i understand what your saying about their life experiences help them interperet things better however their not all the same are they? some of them will and others won't because they don't all lead the same lives

by the way i wasn't telling you off by the way for spelling my name wrong ;)

[newtron]

Yes, I agree: "they're not all the same".

[2nosey]

and i never implied they were. some are lovely nice people and others aren't.

[kazza12345]

and yet you are implying "they" should all be treated the same?

I am not deliberately misunderstanding you, but i think you are deliberately trying to drive me bananas! giving out respect to people should be based on one thing :- that they are people. Not because they are over 80, or because they have a short time to live, or because they have interesting stories. I Dont know if you are deliberately trying to be utterly patronising to "the elderly" (what do you condiser "elderly" anyway?over 40? over 50? over 60? over 70? over 80?) or if you are trying to be very understanding and nice, but making an utter hash of putting it in any coherent form!

If someone is a git in their 70's, does their 80th birthday automatically trigger a signal to the rest of us that they need respect because all of a sudden they cant cope with things and little things might hurt them in indescribable ways?.

Lastly i would like to point out that young people serve their communities and also deserve peace of mind surely

[2nosey]

no i'm not trying to drive you bananas i was going to ask you the same question!

i didn't say they should all be treated the same i think you should read my posts again because i really do feel like i'm repeating myself. also your repeating yourself and i know that your trying to say: whatever age the person is they all deserves the same ammount of respect and your right we should all treat others the way we would like to be treated young people do serve the community.

maybe you might not like my veiws but this question has come from what i have experienced and what i see on the news which has really upset me.

i know that this is a bit off the subject but when do you ever hear on the news a OAP giving a younger child grief? it's the other way round and in some cases theres a gang of youths beating up a OAP. or do you ever hear an OAP breaking in to someones house taking their money and beating them up?

your saying that they should be treated differently depending on what their like,so does that mean they shouldn't have pensions and nurses to look after them because they are old gits and grumpy?

and i don't mean to sound patronising i'm trying to see it from their point of veiw.

[kazza12345]

lol :-) we are not going to see eye to eye over this issue, are we?? I didn't say that people who are grumpy can't have nurses/health care nor would i ever say that. What are we arguing about if you agree with me that people should be given respect if they deserve it whatever their age?

I'm still really interested in your definition of "oap" and "elderly". do you consider pensionable age elderly? An "oap" (65 year old) recently mugged someone in my village, and was caught. In my nearest big town, i notice in our local paper that over the weekend severl "elderly" (pensionale age) people were arrested after pub kicking out time. I think the problem is that you are relying on stereotypes of older and younger people that just might not be true!

[2nosey]

if i made you mad my apologies. but i thing we'll have to agree to disagree kazza.

[2nosey]

i meant 'think' not thing

[kazza12345]

so no definition then ;-)