Personally I'm not easily offended. Not because I'm thick-skinned, which I'm not, but because I seldom see what someone's said or done as offensive. I'm more likely to conclude they're just being ignorant, or insensitive, or thoughtless, or having a bad day. Or simply looking for attention.
If I took offence at every opinion about old people for example I'd be doing nothing but firing off complaints. Every day there's an abundance of crazy comments about us oldies. Such as:
- Old people are an increasing burden on the NHS
- They've outlived their usefulness and should hurry up and die
- They drive slowly and erratically and hold up other drivers
- They're greedy and take too big a share of our resources
- They're an embarrassment when they try to dance
- They're all fascist reactionaries who voted for Brexit
- They've sabotaged the life prospects of young people
- They clog up supermarket aisles with their trollies full of All Bran
- They're totally out of touch and living in the past
- They're pernickety fusspots who want everything to be just-so
Mostly I simply ignore it all, and liken it to the half-baked ramblings of the irascible drunk in the local pub.
The elderly irascible drunk, naturally. These old people, just no inhibitions....
As a geriatric fascist reactionary burden on society the buggers - should I have given a trigger warning there? - can say what they like without disturbing my doubtless egoistic equanimity...but don't let them think they can try to do something...then I might rouse myself from my entitled lethargy and do something to seriously damage their life prospects, following the warcry of an elderly colleague when I was starting out..'Mind now...have their balls for cufflinks!'
ReplyDeleteFly: Excellent. We have to put these young whipper-snappers in their place and stop them getting above themselves! I first heard that warcry many years back - other versions have garters and earrings instead of cufflinks.
DeleteWhere do you hear or read those sort of comments? Besides getting behind a slow, elderly driver, I just don't hear any complaints about the elderly. If anything, people feel sorry for them.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Oh goodness, many different sources. Every day someone says the ageing population is a burden on the NHS. Ditto, we baby boomers have left the young a terrible legacy. The young are always saying oldies shouldn't be dancing. Likewise they say oldies are out of touch if we don't have smartphones or the latest app. And so on. Perhaps the UK is a more judgmental society than the USA?
DeleteI don't understand this post. I am around youth and elderly, a lot. And the elders I know are active politically and engaged with what is going on with the youth who are disenchanted - frighteningly so in too many ways to list here but sympathize and a jazz club around the corner has a mixed age group dancing together on Friday nights.
ReplyDeleteUK and I guess NI must have a lot of ageist prejudice if you're hearing this when out and about.
XO
WWW
www: Well, here's an article about Age UK, which says that ageism is rife in Britain, with millennials holding the most negative attitudes towards ageing: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/08/ageism-widespread-in-uk-study-finds
DeleteYes, we messed up the world for the young, every generation does so in one way or another. Their turn will come.
ReplyDeleteLinda: I have to disagree with you. Some of my generation may have messed things up for the young, but most of us have always wanted succeeding generations to have better lives than us, not worse lives. It was the politicians and those voting for regressive parties that have left young people where they are today. I never asked for tuition fees, soaring rents, soaring house prices, declining wages, welfare cuts, cuts in public services, or a crumbling NHS. All that happened totally against my wishes.
DeleteI did not say we wished for it. But, did we vote for the people who made it happen? Or refused to vote so got what we did? Or requested more services at less cost? Or move into more house than we needed without giving a thought to the environmental consequences? Or bought clothing without thinking of the people who made them? Or indulged in any of the other behaviors of so many of our generation?
DeleteLinda: This is a big, big subject, it deserves a detailed email exchange, but you're probably not up for that! I mostly blame the Tory government for their relentless cost-cutting and running-down of public services, and I've never voted Tory in my life. I've always voted, and I would like to see compulsory voting. We have quite a large house but for most of my life I've lived in bedsits, flats and much smaller houses. I buy as little clothing as possible, and I'm very aware of the conditions they're often made in. I've been thrifty and environmentally aware my entire life. That's just me, but I'm sure there are many oldies with similar attitudes who are not in any way responsible for the situation the young now find themselves in. On the contrary we wanted life to be better for them than it was for our generation.
DeleteAndy and I notice people around town are nice to us, no dirty looks that we are aware of. And Andy gets a lot of respect from our neighbors up in the mountains.
ReplyDeleteJean: It seems to me that oldies in the States and Canada are treated much better than those in the UK. The UK is turning into a very ugly and callous society.
DeleteI don't really notice ageism myself.except from elderly people I've always thought that sort of sniping comes from people who don't have much to their lives
ReplyDeleteJenny: I think it's more than that. So many people now feel free to judge and condemn other people. Usually not to their face though, just behind their backs.
DeleteThere seems to be a general feeling that ageism isn't as common as I suggest, that I'm greatly exaggerating (or even making it all up). But just because you or I aren't personally affected by ageism doesn't mean it's non-existent.
ReplyDeleteAgeism exists in all sort of insidious ways, I see it a lot in the U.S. I take pleasure in knowing everyone will age eventually, if they are lucky.
ReplyDeleteColette: You take pleasure? That's a bit unkind! But I know what you mean. A touch of schadenfreude. I'm glad you see it a lot in the US. I was beginning to think there was serious cognitive dissonance going on here! But yes, the youngsters will share the delights of old age one day....
DeleteI hear far more complaints about the young folks (who are just trying to live in a world we've screwed up for them) than I do about the old.
ReplyDeleteAgent: That's interesting. I don't hear many complaints about youngsters but maybe I don't move in the right circles! As I said to Linda, I don't agree that all oldies are responsible for the problems the young are having to deal with. It's mainly the politicians, who we may not even have voted for.
DeleteSince I belong to the well over 65 group, I think that I am fortunate to be living in India. I think that you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteRamana: How are you fortunate? Are older people better looked after in India?
DeleteYes. While urbanisation and to some extent Westernisation is eating into the older value system of respect and care for elders, tradition still dominates our society. I am a living example of such a value system and I know of any number of others in similar situations.
DeleteRamana: Good to know there's proper care for elders. The elderly are often very badly treated in the UK. Care workers who rush in and out of people's homes because they have "targets", tiny state pensions, GPs who over-prescribe and cause all sorts of side effects etc.
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