Rude Old People and their Words of Wisdom!

[Gunny Highway]

What annoys me is other peoples attitudes about old people. They let old people get away with everyhting just because they're old. Everytime I hear some thing like, "They're old. They deserve it," I want to kick someone's ass.

People do not suddenly turn nice because they're old. These same old people were just plain assholes when they were young, and a lot of them are still assholes. Now there are some good and wise old people that are deserving of respect. But they're not deserving of respect just because just because they're old.

[Blarg]

Everybody's deserving of respect until they prove different.

[Gunny Highway]

[ QUOTE ]
Everybody's deserving of respect until they prove different.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't necessarily agree. I think respect has to be earned, but I think we're talking a slightly different definition of respect.

Regardless, I suppose in my post, respect was not the correct word to use. I was not talking about giving common courtesy. I was talking about a reverence that allows people to overlook the old person being an [censored] just because they're old.

[Blarg]

If you think respect has to be earned, then you're saying you don't deserve any either. At least until you jump through the hoops other people set for you pretty much at random. God forbid they're in a bad mood that day because the hoops will be higher and more narrow.

I don't think anybody deserves reverence, though, especially not lasting. That's more appropriate for ideas or gods or something. Applied to people, it usually just either turns them into monsters or winds up making you harbor a festering resentment toward them because of the unnatural and insupportable status you give them. There's a thin line between revering someone and hating them.

[Gunny Highway]

[ QUOTE ]
If you think respect has to be earned, then you're saying you don't deserve any either. At least until you jump through the hoops other people set for you pretty much at random. God forbid they're in a bad mood that day because the hoops will be higher and more narrow.

[/ QUOTE ]

True. But again, I think we're talking slightly different definitions of respect.

[OtisTheMarsupial]

Yesterday I saw the rudest guy I've seen all year. He was about 30. He yelled a a lady saying, "You handicapped people are all alike. Lazy!" And he stole her seat in the cafe.

[uw_madtown]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you think respect has to be earned, then you're saying you don't deserve any either. At least until you jump through the hoops other people set for you pretty much at random. God forbid they're in a bad mood that day because the hoops will be higher and more narrow.

[/ QUOTE ]

True. But again, I think we're talking slightly different definitions of respect.

[/ QUOTE ]

Blarg tapped a good word to describe the type of respect you're talking about: reverence.

Everyone is deserving of respect until they show otherwise.
No one is deserving of reverence until they show otherwise.

[Gunny Highway]

[ QUOTE ]
Blarg tapped a good word to describe the type of respect you're talking about: reverence.

Everyone is deserving of respect until they show otherwise.
No one is deserving of reverence until they show otherwise.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I used the word reverence, but that's not what I'm talking about either. I guess I'm talking about:

Respect - 1. A feeling of appreciative, often deferential regard; esteem.

Deference - 1. Submission or courteous yielding to the opinion, wishes, or judgment of another.

I think you're talking about respect in terms of being worthy of common courtesy, etc. No? This is all shades of gray anyway and not really worth any further discussion. I don't think we're really in any disagreement.

[uw_madtown]

Sorry, thought I read that in Blarg's post.

And yeah, there's no disagreement here I don't think. Just liked the word "reverence" to describe what people unnecessarily give old people simply due to their age.

[Blarg]

Gunny was kind of using the word respect clumsily, so I thought, and so he tried to clear it up by talking about reverence also, and I commented on both respect and reverence from there.