NationStates Jolt Archive

do you think it's right to respect someone because they're older than you?

do you think it's right to respect someone because they're older than you?
Yep ... if they've earned it like anyone else! :) [ btw ... I'm 61 ]

do you think it's right to respect someone because they're older than you?

yeah, respect bush. all you young eople need to know that the old man only has your best interests at heart so stop disrespecting him.


HA. just try and get an unpolitical post going.


no a lot of old people are stupid and ignorant. these attributes are never worthy of my respect. they have just been stupid and ignorant longer than other people. so that means its ok? i think not

no a lot of old people are stupid and ignorant. these attributes are never worthy of my respect. they have just been stupid and ignorant longer than other people. so that means its ok? i think not

Brilliantly said.

Yep ... if they've earned it like anyone else! :) [ btw ... I'm 61 ]

Agreed.

yeah, respect bush. all you young eople need to know that the old man only has your best interests at heart so stop disrespecting him.


HA. just try and get an unpolitical post going.

hehe
damn you :(




Personally I respect anyone who earns it, being elder or younger, I respect some people younger then me more then some people older then me and vice-versa

Eh, I'll respect anyone who deserves to be, old or young.

You should respect everyone, until they have done something to not deserve it. Even then the bad thing they may have, might still deserve respect.

You can certainly choose not to take their advice -- but given that they've been around for a while, it's usually worthwhile to listen to what they say, even if ultimately you decide it's not relevant to you.

As for common courtesies such as holding a door or offering a seat, certainly. This is not weakness, it's common manners.

You should respect everyone, until they have done something to not deserve it. Even then the bad thing they may have, might still deserve respect.

agreed!

this would be interesting if it was "more experienced" instead of elder

You can certainly choose not to take their advice -- but given that they've been around for a while, it's usually worthwhile to listen to what they say, even if ultimately you decide it's not relevant to you.

As for common courtesies such as holding a door or offering a seat, certainly. This is not weakness, it's common manners.

alot of old ppl just come with useless advice that was good 40 years ago but is totally irrelevant in these days.

tho i dont say there evil, somethings just dont make sense anymore:)

At first blush, in my estimation, this question seemed quite ridiculous; as all people should be respectful to everyone they meet until such a time as individuals prove they aren't worthy of respect. But then I thought about the matter and realized that this is merely MY attitude in regards to how to treat others, and by no means in line with modern society's approach -- which seems to be typically opposing to mine.

Realizing this, I had to think more deeply about it. Typically people have no respect for one another at all until an individual forces one to render them respect. Age in and of itself seems to have no bearing on this for many and immense influence on the matter for some. All in all to me, it all seems to make very little sense. But then, I am perpetually baffled by today's society and why it and its component individuals act and react the ways in which it and they do.

In my thinking, the question should not be "is it right to respect someone older than yourself?" but rather "Is it right to not respect everyone until they give you proof they are beneath your respect?" This is a far more logical, altruistic and ethical approach to the question. However, I fear that this will make little or no sense to those brought up with a different set of values and ethics than I was taught as a child.

As far as I am concerned, respect is earnt in a give and take manner. It's not something that people should have rote, EVEN if they are your parents.

Being older and having given birth to you is no excuse to demand absolute obedience. If your parents respect you, you should respect them, if they do not respect you, then take things under advisement, it's something that really pisses me off about some people.

To me, this whole "respect" bullshit means that you can never have an equal relationship with your parents. How can you? If you're supposed to never question what they say?

I've had arguments with my mother in the past over different things, and yes, in more than 90% of the occasions she was right. However, in that 10% of occasions she wasn't, she's brooded for a few days until she's realised, yeah, you know he is right, and we've sat down and talked about it again. THAT is mutual respect and it is what every person deserves.

I respect very few people. But I'm polite to everyone....especially the old.

Respect is something that should be earned, not given out "willy-nilly".

I think everyone deserves some level of respect, some higher than others granted and age is one catagory that definitely ups the respect level to some degree.

not given out "willy-nilly".
hehe willy nilly, havnt heard that for awhile :D

As far as I am concerned, respect is earnt in a give and take manner. It's not something that people should have rote, EVEN if they are your parents.

Being older and having given birth to you is no excuse to demand absolute obedience. If your parents respect you, you should respect them, if they do not respect you, then take things under advisement, it's something that really pisses me off about some people.

To me, this whole "respect" bullshit means that you can never have an equal relationship with your parents. How can you? If you're supposed to never question what they say?

I've had arguments with my mother in the past over different things, and yes, in more than 90% of the occasions she was right. However, in that 10% of occasions she wasn't, she's brooded for a few days until she's realised, yeah, you know he is right, and we've sat down and talked about it again. THAT is mutual respect and it is what every person deserves.
Your mother is to be commended. It takes a pretty secure person to admit they were wrong, especially to someone lots younger. :)

alot of old ppl just come with useless advice that was good 40 years ago but is totally irrelevant in these days.

tho i dont say there evil, somethings just dont make sense anymore:)

This is EXACTLY what I am referring to in terms of "modern society's approach". While ~I~ often find that the advice and experiences of those belonging to the generation before mine still has a great deal of applicable validity, the generations that come after mine see no value in it whatsoever.

They typically walk into a meeting of minds with those older than they are predisposed to discard the value of that person's experiences based on nothing more than an assumption that because technology has advanced drasticly and because society has changed every bit as drasticly that nothing that person has done or can relate or share is practically applicable.

This is not to say that every person from the last two generations thinks or behaves in this manner, but that it is typical of these generations to do this and observable in the majority of the members of these generations.

I also find that those who will walk into an exchange between two differing generations with this attitude fulfil their own prophesies of futility both in their lack of respect for each other and their lack of real communication between parties. Very little real listening actually occurs - on either side.

I personally find this a little sad, as both generations have a great deal to learn from each other and each has a great deal to offer to the other. But without respect and communication both, this exchange is impossible.

As far as I am concerned, respect is earnt in a give and take manner. It's not something that people should have rote, EVEN if they are your parents.

Being older and having given birth to you is no excuse to demand absolute obedience. If your parents respect you, you should respect them, if they do not respect you, then take things under advisement, it's something that really pisses me off about some people.

To me, this whole "respect" bullshit means that you can never have an equal relationship with your parents. How can you? If you're supposed to never question what they say?

I've had arguments with my mother in the past over different things, and yes, in more than 90% of the occasions she was right. However, in that 10% of occasions she wasn't, she's brooded for a few days until she's realised, yeah, you know he is right, and we've sat down and talked about it again. THAT is mutual respect and it is what every person deserves.

I agree with you on this. My dad's thre worst for acting like that. He NEVER admits that he's wrong and if he makes a decision he sticks to it. He considerfs his word law simply because he's the father and I'm the son. I don't see why I should respect somebody who acts in such a way.

To me, this whole "respect" bullshit means that you can never have an equal relationship with your parents. How can you? If you're supposed to never question what they say?
On this particular point, I must take issue. The parent/child relationship cannot ever truly be "equal." Even now, with my own children ranging in age from 41 down to 31, my relationship with them is very close, very friendly, but definitely not "equal." There are times when I tell them what I think about something they're going to do, even though I know they don't want to hear it and wish that I would just shut the hell up and let them go their own way. But these are my *children* I'm talking about here, not an aquaintence, a stranger, or even a friend.

Part of being a parent is being willing to make your children aware of the dangers involved in their decisions, even if it means that you risk losing your relationship with your child.

I agree with you on this. My dad's thre worst for acting like that. He NEVER admits that he's wrong and if he makes a decision he sticks to it. He considerfs his word law simply because he's the father and I'm the son. I don't see why I should respect somebody who acts in such a way.

Ahhh... now we get into something a LITTLE bit different. The dynamics between parent and child are always going to be a little heated because of a child's natural desire for autonomy before he is ready to or capable of fending for himself in combination with one's friction with authority during an age where we must all naturally at least desire to rebel.

I do not believe that ANY parent is perfect or always right. Participating in the creation and raising of a child does NOT automatically confer omniscience and some exalted state of intellectual and ethical perfection. Everyone is wrong at one time or another.

HOWEVER, this does not translate into "the parent is not worthy of respect" by virtue of his being human and therefor fallable. A person's mother and father must be respected to at least a marginal degree simply for the fact that they shelter, feed and clothe a child, if for no other reason. This position of being provider for the child places him in a place of authority and control, which a child SHOULD respect until such a time as he can do these things for himself and does so.

Before you get all up in arms and go off on some rant about your evil, rotten parents not deserving your respect, understand I say this as a survivor of both physical and emotional abuse from my own adopted parents. I HATE them both. But I still respect that they kept me in food, shelter and clothing, providing for me until such a time as I was able to leave and provide for myself. Im sure your parents are far better than mine ever were, so try giving them the respect they quite assuredly deserve.

Every generation thinks there is nothing to learn from the one that went before. Then they get a bit older and realise that there are things to learn from them and it might have been better if they'd listened earlier. Its probably a universal law...or something...

Every generation thinks there is nothing to learn from the one that went before. Then they get a bit older and realise that there are things to learn from them and it might have been better if they'd listened earlier. Its probably a universal law...or something...
Just one of those constant tensions in our lives. This is the tension between exuberance and experience. If everyone relied on experience, very little would ever get done. If eveyone relied on exuberance, things would quickly get totally out of control. :)

Just one of those constant tensions in our lives. This is the tension between exuberance and experience. If everyone relied on experience, very little would ever get done. If eveyone relied on exuberance, things would quickly get totally out of control. :)
Very nicely said.

I always respect my elders. May not agree with them or even like them, but I still say yes ma'am and no sir and hold the door open for them and stuff. Old people are kinda like children in a way.

Have you hugged the elderly today?

I always respect my elders. May not agree with them or even like them, but I still say yes ma'am and no sir and hold the door open for them and stuff. Old people are kinda like children in a way.

Have you hugged the elderly today?

See, to me thats just being polite....



apart from the hugging, to which the Police aren't very understanding...ehhh, so I'm told.

being polite is part of respect surely.

being polite is part of respect surely.

I agree with that statement. Politeness is a form and a sign of respect.

do you think it's right to respect someone because they're older than you?

I tink it is right to respect someone who has earned respect. IF you have the stereotypical of man who keeps baseballs that land on his yard and blames everything wrong with society on "those damn kids" then he has not earned respect. If they earn it, give it. If not, don't.

Very nicely said.
Thank you. :)

I always respect my elders. May not agree with them or even like them, but I still say yes ma'am and no sir and hold the door open for them and stuff. Old people are kinda like children in a way.

Have you hugged the elderly today?
ROFLMAO!

Um ... does that mean I get a hug? :fluffle:

ROFLMAO!

Um ... does that mean I get a hug? :fluffle:


lol....61 isnt old! It's "mature". My g'ma died at 91.....thats old!

lol....61 isnt old! It's "mature". My g'ma died at 91.....thats old!
I knew there was some reason I liked you! :D

I don't care how old a person is -- if that person has not treated me with respect (i.e. treating me like a human being, not some mindless piece of shit), then I refuse to treat him or her with respect.

but yeah you can get a :fluffle: too. Not enough of that going around these days.


One of my favorite things to do when I was a child was to hear stories from my Grandmother about when she was young. I could sit for hours at the age of 5 and just be mesmerized with her. I miss her so much. :(

In todays society, its not just a lack of respecting elders, its a lack of respect period.

I don't care how old a person is -- if that person has not treated me with respect (i.e. treating me like a human being, not some mindless piece of shit), then I refude to treat him or her with respect.
Probably a resonable response. What do you mean by "treating me like some mindless piece of shit?" Can you be just a TAD more specific? :)

You can certainly choose not to take their advice -- but given that they've been around for a while, it's usually worthwhile to listen to what they say, even if ultimately you decide it's not relevant to you.

As for common courtesies such as holding a door or offering a seat, certainly. This is not weakness, it's common manners.

I'm with Katganistan...

There's no harm in a little courtesy, you can be courteous to EVERYONE, younger or older.

But, should you automatically accept everything you are told, because the source is 'older'? Should you always do as told by those who are 'older'?

No - you have to look to your own life, and make your own decisions, and your own mistakes.

I don't care how old a person is -- if that person has not treated me with respect (i.e. treating me like a human being, not some mindless piece of shit), then I refude to treat him or her with respect.


If an elderly person is treating you like a piece of shit- maybe hollaring at you, cussing randomly at you, telling you youre a good for nothing so-in-so, its most likely due to senility, not disrepect. Most all elderly people were raised with very strict guidelines for respecting others and being polite.

I knew there was some reason I liked you! :D

Hee hee hee! Age is such a slippery fish to grasp. I'm staring at 40 in a few months and people I think of as kids (under 25) think I'm a babe till I tell them how old I am. At which point I get the "dude, that's old" line. Yet I don't actually FEEL old. Not emotionally and not physically. At least not very often.

I suspect that I shall feel old when I hit my eighties and find myself sitting on some porch with my walker and a cigar, shaking a stick at the kids in my yard and bitching about how they don't know how to mosh, while making them cringe and whine about my playing punk, goth and industrial music.

And if they don't give me the respect I have earned, I'll just put my size 4 New Rock boots to use. Hopefully it doesn't give me a stroke.

Respect is some thing earned. It doesn't matter the age. I know some very intelligent and wise 16 year olds that I have a lot of respect for. I also know quite a few people 30+ who are absolute idiots and I wouldn't give them my respect if my life depended on it. Age does not equal respect. A person's actions and integrity is what earns them my respect not their age.

Hee hee hee! Age is such a slippery fish to grasp. I'm staring at 40 in a few months and people I think of as kids (under 25) think I'm a babe till I tell them how old I am. At which point I get the "dude, that's old" line. Yet I don't actually FEEL old. Not emotionally and not physically. At least not very often.

I suspect that I shall feel old when I hit my eighties and find myself sitting on some porch with my walker and a cigar, shaking a stick at the kids in my yard and bitching about how they don't know how to mosh, while making them cringe and whine about my playing punk, goth and industrial music.

And if they don't give me the respect I have earned, I'll just put my size 4 New Rock boots to use. Hopefully it doesn't give me a stroke.

Mmmm, goth/industrial darkwave, and New Rocks....

Yep - that'll be me.

(When you say punk, please tell me you mean Clash, not Good Charlotte...?)

Let me sum up my feelings on this matter this way:

There are a lot of old people.

There are a lot of dumb people.

But there aren't very many old and dumb people.


Personally, I'll respect whoever I feel deserves my respect, or respects me. Just because you're old doesn't make you entitled to respect, especially if you're wrong. (Like, would anyone here really listen to a bunch of those bigoted, racist Ku Klux Klanners just because they happened to be in their seventies, ect?)

I appreciate the wisdom of years that older people have, and their longer life-experience makes them invaluable for being able to see cause and effect, because they've actually lived through it. But respect someone just because they're old? Nah, I mean, they could be old morons after all, they're not common but they do make them every now and then.

If an elderly person is treating you like a piece of shit- maybe hollaring at you, cussing randomly at you, telling you youre a good for nothing so-in-so, its most likely due to senility, not disrepect. Most all elderly people were raised with very strict guidelines for respecting others and being polite.


No, I'm specifically referring to an incident from when I was in highschool. We had this bus driver (she was only about 50 and still driving, so senility wasn't really an option) who loved to scream at us and tell us we were "good for nothing" because I wore band t-shirts, because we were accustomed to a different set of rules due to our previous driver, because we "thought [we] were better than the other kids because [we] attended a school for the gifted." We most certainly didn't think we were better than anyone. Most of the students at my school worked their butts off to get in, and were rather happy to be challenged. (We were also flat broke! Over 85% of the student body at all three of our magnet schools lived near the poverty level.)

The point is, she had no right to insult, demean, harass, and threaten us. She was there to drive the bus, and we were there to sit our asses down and go home. We did nothing to provoke the woman (besides exist, apparently), so a few of us (this being sophomore year in college) still claim to hold a grudge against the bitch.

Mmmm, goth/industrial darkwave, and New Rocks....

Yep - that'll be me.

(When you say punk, please tell me you mean Clash, not Good Charlotte...?)

Good Charlotte? Dude, that's pussy-pop. I'm talking DK and the Circle Jerks. REAL punk.

No, I'm specifically referring to an incident from when I was in highschool. We had this bus driver (she was only abouy 50 and still driving, so senility wasn't really an option) who loved to scream at us and tell us we were "good for nothing" because I wore band t-shirts, because we were accustomed to a different set of rules due to our previous driver, because we "thought [we] were better than the other kids because [we] attended a school for the gifted." We most certainly didn't think we were better than anyone. Most of the students at my school worked their butts off to get in, and were rather happy to be challenged. (We were also flat broke! Over 85% of the student body at all three of our magnet schools lived near the poverty level.)

The point is, she had no right to insult, demean, harass, and threaten us. She was there to drive the bus, and we were there to sit our asses down and go home. We did nothing to provoke the woman (besides exist, apparently), so a few of us (this being sophomore year in college) still claim to hold a grudge against the bitch.

Oh ick. She sounds like a real prize winner. Don't ever equate that kind of thing with age. That's all grade-A mean.

Oh ick. She sounds like a real prize winner. Don't ever equate that kind of thing with age. That's all grade-A mean.

No, I don't think everyone who happens to have a few years on me is like that. I just think the woman was a bitch. She's been driving a bus full of special ed kids since 2003. I wonder how long the parents will deal with her yelling at them.

Hee hee hee! Age is such a slippery fish to grasp. I'm staring at 40 in a few months and people I think of as kids (under 25) think I'm a babe till I tell them how old I am. At which point I get the "dude, that's old" line. Yet I don't actually FEEL old. Not emotionally and not physically. At least not very often.

I suspect that I shall feel old when I hit my eighties and find myself sitting on some porch with my walker and a cigar, shaking a stick at the kids in my yard and bitching about how they don't know how to mosh, while making them cringe and whine about my playing punk, goth and industrial music.

And if they don't give me the respect I have earned, I'll just put my size 4 New Rock boots to use. Hopefully it doesn't give me a stroke.
LOL! I know the feeling. I seriously doubt I'll live much past 70, but I was surprised I lived to see 28, so go figure!

There's a guy on here name of "Chess Squares" who swears I'm not the age I claim to be ( 61 ), but to me, that doesn't even compute; why the hell would anyone claim to be 61??? LOL!

LOL! I know the feeling. I seriously doubt I'll live much past 70, but I was surprised I lived to see 28, so go figure!

There's a guy on here name of "Chess Squares" who swears I'm not the age I claim to be ( 61 ), but to me, that doesn't even compute; why the hell would anyone claim to be 61??? LOL!
Well chess realy is not all that ... um how we say it ... rational

My answer is no. A lot of older folks think they know more because they have more experience, but experience isn't everything, and sometimes it means nothing. It all amounts to what the person has learned from experiences, and how they wish to teach you about those experiences.

When they wish to force what they've learned onto you, it only makes it harder for you to understand. Now, if they give you an explanation of what they learned, and allow you to apply it as you wish, that deserves respect.

What I hate is when elderly people demand respect, just because they are old. It is that type of attitude that I despise the most.

No, I'm specifically referring to an incident from when I was in highschool. We had this bus driver (she was only abouy 50 and still driving, so senility wasn't really an option) who loved to scream at us and tell us we were "good for nothing" because I wore band t-shirts, because we were accustomed to a different set of rules due to our previous driver, because we "thought [we] were better than the other kids because [we] attended a school for the gifted." We most certainly didn't think we were better than anyone. Most of the students at my school worked their butts off to get in, and were rather happy to be challenged. (We were also flat broke! Over 85% of the student body at all three of our magnet schools lived near the poverty level.)

The point is, she had no right to insult, demean, harass, and threaten us. She was there to drive the bus, and we were there to sit our asses down and go home. We did nothing to provoke the woman (besides exist, apparently), so a few of us (this being sophomore year in college) still claim to hold a grudge against the bitch.

Of course she shouldnt have treated you like that. I'm not saying that all older people are good, right, moral people. Respect is earned yes. But when you see a little old lady , whom youve never met so incidentally they havent had the time to earn your respect, and shes having problems carrying her grocery bags down the street....it makes me commend her for walking to the store to get her items and trying to get them back home. Maybe she has arthritis and cant hold the bags very well. I'd dang sure go help her out. Because she earned my respect? No -just because its the respectable thing to do.

I have a feeling my idea of elderly is different from others. 50 isnt elderly to me. Older yes. I'm picturing a granny in a rocking chair working on a quilt or something.

No, I'm specifically referring to an incident from when I was in highschool. We had this bus driver (she was only abouy 50 and still driving, so senility wasn't really an option) who loved to scream at us and tell us we were "good for nothing" because I wore band t-shirts, because we were accustomed to a different set of rules due to our previous driver, because we "thought [we] were better than the other kids because [we] attended a school for the gifted." We most certainly didn't think we were better than anyone. Most of the students at my school worked their butts off to get in, and were rather happy to be challenged. (We were also flat broke! Over 85% of the student body at all three of our magnet schools lived near the poverty level.)

The point is, she had no right to insult, demean, harass, and threaten us. She was there to drive the bus, and we were there to sit our asses down and go home. We did nothing to provoke the woman (besides exist, apparently), so a few of us (this being sophomore year in college) still claim to hold a grudge against the bitch.
That's just plain wrong, regardless of age.

Good Charlotte? Dude, that's pussy-pop. I'm talking DK and the Circle Jerks. REAL punk.

I get sick of people telling me, "Hey I like Punk, too... I like Sum 41, Good Charlotte..."

And thinking that Green Day were the original punk movement... :(

Of course she shouldnt have treated you like that. I'm not saying that all older people are good, right, moral people. Respect is earned yes. But when you see a little old lady , whom youve never met so incidentally they havent had the time to earn your respect, and shes having problems carrying her grocery bags down the street....it makes me commend her for walking to the store to get her items and trying to get them back home. Maybe she has arthritis and cant hold the bags very well. I'd dang sure go help her out. Because she earned my respect? No -just because its the respectable thing to do.

I have a feeling my idea of elderly is different from others. 50 isnt elderly to me. Older yes. I'm picturing a granny in a rocking chair working on a quilt or something.


I've got no problem helping someone out of a random act of kindness. That's perfectly fine.

Also, like I said, she was ONLY about 50. My own father turns 50 this coming year, so it's not that old to me.

I get sick of people telling me, "Hey I like Punk, too... I like Sum 41, Good Charlotte..."

And thinking that Green Day were the original punk movement... :(

I hang my head when people think that Enima of the State was Blink 182's first cd. They used to be good :(

I prefer SoCal punk like NOFX, the Vandals etc..

I get sick of people telling me, "Hey I like Punk, too... I like Sum 41, Good Charlotte..."

And thinking that Green Day were the original punk movement... :(
They wernt!?!? my life is OVER

LOL! I know the feeling. I seriously doubt I'll live much past 70, but I was surprised I lived to see 28, so go figure!

There's a guy on here name of "Chess Squares" who swears I'm not the age I claim to be ( 61 ), but to me, that doesn't even compute; why the hell would anyone claim to be 61??? LOL!

I was shocked that I survived to the ripe old age of 25. Utterly astounded. I was quite sure that I was going to die by misadventure because I was living a pretty hard life at the time.

People still doubt my actual age until they get a gander at my ID and do the math. I guess they genericly assume that once one passes 30 that one becomes all frumpy and drab looking or some such rot and that one automaticly becomes... I don't know... domesticated? Granted, I've settled down a great bit, but I see no reason to become bored and boring just because I'm about to hit 40. Hell, I'm finally about to get the nerve to have my tongue pierced (XMas present from my BF yay!).

But back to the real subject of respect... Respect is an issue that is often actively on my mind. It may be that because I recieve so much DISrespect due to my appearance that I value it much more highly than the average person and am more likely to give it initially, only withdrawing it when DISrespect has been earned.

My answer is no. A lot of older folks think they know more because they have more experience, but experience isn't everything, and sometimes it means nothing. It all amounts to what the person has learned from experiences, and how they wish to teach you about those experiences.

When they wish to force what they've learned onto you, it only makes it harder for you to understand. Now, if they give you an explanation of what they learned, and allow you to apply it as you wish, that deserves respect.

What I hate is when elderly people demand respect, just because they are old. It is that type of attitude that I despise the most.
I went through that with every one of my five children. What I decided to do was when they started wanting to make their own decisions, I tried to help them see possible outcomes and the attendant consequences of each, then help them decide which outcomes they wanted. This approach usually seemed to work.

I have never been able to understand how some parents expect their children to suddenly begin making their own decisions when they turn 18 or 21 when they've had little of no experience at HOW to make decisions prior to becoming an "adult." ( mystified look )

Hee hee hee! Age is such a slippery fish to grasp. I'm staring at 40 in a few months and people I think of as kids (under 25) think I'm a babe till I tell them how old I am. At which point I get the "dude, that's old" line. Yet I don't actually FEEL old. Not emotionally and not physically. At least not very often.

I suspect that I shall feel old when I hit my eighties and find myself sitting on some porch with my walker and a cigar, shaking a stick at the kids in my yard and bitching about how they don't know how to mosh, while making them cringe and whine about my playing punk, goth and industrial music.


Lol, I think I like you.

My brother and I were just talking about that the other day, we were complaining about our parent's obssession with Scott Joplin and The Temptations, when it suddenly dawned on us that those songs were their boy bands and one-hit wonders. Basically the equivalent of all the 20 and younger crowd's hits now.

Made us wonder in a weird sort of way, what the music of the future is going to be like. As far as my brother and I are concerned, with a few exceptions all the "good" music has been made recently (I admit to being a Coldplay fan), all the older stuff is just that. Old music that old people listen too.

I think'll be funny in 2058 when my kids/grandkids beg me to turn off the Maroon 5 album because I'm embarrassing them in front of their friends as they listen to a Zaphod Beeblebrox remix*.







*Yes, that was a bad Hitchhiker's joke. Don't feel needed to tell me, I knew it as soon as I wrote it.

I've noticed that in my experience, age is effectively irrelevant when giving respect. I don't care how old or young you are; if you're a dumbass, I don't like you.

This means that I've met some precocious six-year olds who I respect, and some parents of four who I hardly even would give the time of day to.

On a completely unrelated note, Booslandia is either my hero, or a figment of my imagination, because I'm mostly convinced that women that age don't listen to goth/metal/punk.

Exceptions are awesome, though. <3

I agree with you on this. My dad's thre worst for acting like that. He NEVER admits that he's wrong and if he makes a decision he sticks to it. He considerfs his word law simply because he's the father and I'm the son. I don't see why I should respect somebody who acts in such a way.

One of the greatest traits that parents must teach their children is how to treat others with respect without expecting any in return. They will need it in the real world. Teachers won't teach it because they can't. A teenager's first real job is a great chance to see that enforced.

Many children get jobs at 16 in a customer service field. Customers, just by their relationship with employees, expect respect, but employees have no right to expect the same respect or any at all in return. I work in a customer service job, and if a customer tells me that I eat babies and kick puppies, I can't say anything back. They can curse, insult, ridicule, and make personal attacks all they want; it's their right. Kids must be prepared for such situations; they will likely face them, and they can't expect their bosses to be of any help. Again, bosses have no obligation to respect their employees; they only have the obligation to pay them.

It may even be beneficial for parents to punish kids when they are fully aware they have done no wrong, even framing them for things just to teach them that the world is unfair and is not above scapegoating. Parents who behave as if they are always right even when they are wrong are merely emulating a society where the law is always right, even when it is wrong, and where bosses and customers are always right, even when they are wrong. Nowadays we have, as a society, a superior attitude of "I didn't do anything wrong; it's their fault" and this is why everyone gets sued right and left. If parents stopped coddling their kids so damn much, this might just stop.

It used to be that if a parent heard their kid was in jail, they would let them rot there, since they deserved it. Nowadays, they bail their kids out, sue the state for wrongful arrest, and go home and take their kids out to dinner to celebrate them coming home. Kids could go out and beat the hell out of someone and parents would still do this, so kids have no responsibility. Kids today need to learn a little bit of responsibility, and their parents need to teach it, so kudos to parents who do so any way they can.

One of the greatest traits that parents must teach their children is how to treat others with respect without expecting any in return. They will need it in the real world. Teachers won't teach it because they can't. A teenager's first real job is a great chance to see that enforced.

Many children get jobs at 16 in a customer service field. Customers, just by their relationship with employees, expect respect, but employees have no right to expect the same respect or any at all in return. I work in a customer service job, and if a customer tells me that I eat babies and kick puppies, I can't say anything back. They can curse, insult, ridicule, and make personal attacks all they want; it's their right. Kids must be prepared for such situations; they will likely face them, and they can't expect their bosses to be of any help. Again, bosses have no obligation to respect their employees; they only have the obligation to pay them.

It may even be beneficial for parents to punish kids when they are fully aware they have done no wrong, even framing them for things just to teach them that the world is unfair and is not above scapegoating. Parents who behave as if they are always right even when they are wrong are merely emulating a society where the law is always right, even when it is wrong, and where bosses and customers are always right, even when they are wrong. Nowadays we have, as a society, a superior attitude of "I didn't do anything wrong; it's their fault" and this is why everyone gets sued right and left. If parents stopped coddling their kids so damn much, this might just stop.

It used to be that if a parent heard their kid was in jail, they would let them rot there, since they deserved it. Nowadays, they bail their kids out, sue the state for wrongful arrest, and go home and take their kids out to dinner to celebrate them coming home. Kids could go out and beat the hell out of someone and parents would still do this, so kids have no responsibility. Kids today need to learn a little bit of responsibility, and their parents need to teach it, so kudos to parents who do so any way they can.


I strongly disagree. I am 19 years old, and I have always been forced to take responsibility for others' actions. It only leaves people like me feeling disgrunted and, frankly, pissed off. However, the others, whose actions I took the heat for, got off scot-free and pulled the same shit again.

Also, parents aren't taking responsibility for raising their own children. They think that by plopping the kid in daycare from the time he/she is born, they are doing someone a favor. School is also being viewed as free day care. This is ridiculous!

Mt first job was for no pay at the local newspaper. They ran me ragged -- writing articles, doing photo shoots, running errands -- but I loved it. My employer actually acknowledged that I was pulling my own weight, rather than bitching and whining like the others. Whenever I encountered customers/clients, they actually treated me with respect,probably mostly out of shock (apparently people weren't used to seeing a 16-17 yr old working that hard for no pay).

I strongly disagree. I am 19 years old, and I have always been forced to take responsibility for others' actions. It only leaves people like me feeling disgrunted and, frankly, pissed off. However, the others, whose actions I took the heat for, got off scot-free and pulled the same shit again.

Also, parents aren't taking responsibility for raising their own children. They think that by plopping the kid in daycare from the time he/she is born, they are doing someone a favor. School is also being viewed as free day care. This is ridiculous!

Mt first job was for no pay at the local newspaper. They ran me ragged -- writing articles, doing photo shoots, running errands -- but I loved it. My employer actually acknowledged that I was pulling my own weight, rather than bitching and whining like the others. Whenever I encountered customers/clients, they actually treated me with respect,probably mostly out of shock (apparently people weren't used to seeing a 16-17 yr old working that hard for no pay).

I am 22 and fully expect to take the heat for others' actions. Yes, it makes people disgruntled and pissed off, but people need to learn to accept it. Parents need to teach it instead of dumping them in daycares they refuse to fund because they're allergic to paying taxes. You're absolutely right about schools being free daycare, and it comes down to a refusal to fund them. People here would rather have underfunded schools and kids with no responsibility than actually pay a few bucks in taxes.

Some employers actually respect their workers, but I have hardly grown to expect it. My brother used to work at McDonald's and was paid less than everyone else, when people there screwed around and did nothing while he worked. Some people actually deliberately did nothing just so they could go home early. Did they get fired? Hell no. Of course, neither did my brother, but he left and got better jobs. Although one of my close friends was fired for something inane where he was the only one who did anything at the grocery store he worked at. He opened a bottle of water to take a drink right before paying for it on his break, and they fired him for it. Other people practically got away with murder there and did not get fired. He was disgruntled and pissed off, but did he press charges? Hell no. He accepted the decision and moved on. More people need to do that.

I am 22 and fully expect to take the heat for others' actions. Yes, it makes people disgruntled and pissed off, but people need to learn to accept it. Parents need to teach it instead of dumping them in daycares they refuse to fund because they're allergic to paying taxes. You're absolutely right about schools being free daycare, and it comes down to a refusal to fund them. People here would rather have underfunded schools and kids with no responsibility than actually pay a few bucks in taxes.

Some employers actually respect their workers, but I have hardly grown to expect it. My brother used to work at McDonald's and was paid less than everyone else, when people there screwed around and did nothing while he worked. Some people actually deliberately did nothing just so they could go home early. Did they get fired? Hell no. Of course, neither did my brother, but he left and got better jobs. Although one of my close friends was fired for something inane where he was the only one who did anything at the grocery store he worked at. He opened a bottle of water to take a drink right before paying for it on his break, and they fired him for it. Other people practically got away with murder there and did not get fired. He was disgruntled and pissed off, but did he press charges? Hell no. He accepted the decision and moved on. More people need to do that.

What I'm talking about "taking the heat for" is shit that could have gotten me arrested. (I'm lucky I know too many officers and such around here/on campus.) There is simply no excuse for that.

Also, if someone is sitting around at work, not doing what they're getting pair to do, they should be fired. Employers need to start taking responsibility for their actions when they hire dumbasses who do nothing -- by firing them. It does not reflect well on the employer to have people sitting around doing nothing while one person works his/her ass off.

do you think it's right to respect someone because they're older than you?
Absolutely. They have more years and more experience on this planet, and therefore deserve a measure of respect. There is much I find "right" in that.

I've noticed that in my experience, age is effectively irrelevant when giving respect. I don't care how old or young you are; if you're a dumbass, I don't like you.

This means that I've met some precocious six-year olds who I respect, and some parents of four who I hardly even would give the time of day to.

On a completely unrelated note, Booslandia is either my hero, or a figment of my imagination, because I'm mostly convinced that women that age don't listen to goth/metal/punk.

Exceptions are awesome, though. <3

Got Razed In Black, Icon of Coil and Rotersand cds for XMas. Oh the yummy!

do you think it's right to respect someone because they're older than you?

My elders can kiss my ass, they are old and living in the past and don't know two sh!ts about today's world. The problem with old people is that they get set in their ways, they refuse to grow, they can't accpet change. Well to hell with them and anyone who thinks like them, anyone who wants to go back to the way things used to be. The past is a grave, its death, which I am glad to say is where all of these decrepit has-beens or never-been are headed, hopefully sooner than later.

I strongly disagree. I am 19 years old, and I have always been forced to take responsibility for others' actions. It only leaves people like me feeling disgrunted and, frankly, pissed off. However, the others, whose actions I took the heat for, got off scot-free and pulled the same shit again.

Fruit love, get used to it. THAT is what the real world is like. That is something you will encounter again and again in adult life and no amount of moral outrage will change that. It happens to most of us. That's not to say you can't get upset about it. But just that it happens and that life is neither fair nor just because PEOPLE are more often than not neither fair nor just.

Also, parents aren't taking responsibility for raising their own children. They think that by plopping the kid in daycare from the time he/she is born, they are doing someone a favor. School is also being viewed as free day care. This is ridiculous!

Oh too true. Too very sadly true. There are, however still SOME active, responsible parents out there.

Mt first job was for no pay at the local newspaper. They ran me ragged -- writing articles, doing photo shoots, running errands -- but I loved it. My employer actually acknowledged that I was pulling my own weight, rather than bitching and whining like the others. Whenever I encountered customers/clients, they actually treated me with respect,probably mostly out of shock (apparently people weren't used to seeing a 16-17 yr old working that hard for no pay).

Kudos to you. THAT is worth respecting. Why? Because those are the actions of a person who respects himself.

My elders can kiss my ass, they are old and living in the past and don't know two sh!ts about today's world. The problem with old people is that they get set in their ways, they refuse to grow, they can't accpet change. Well to hell with them and anyone who thinks like them, anyone who wants to go back to the way things used to be. The past is a grave, its death, which I am glad to say is where all of these decrepit has-beens or never-been are headed, hopefully sooner than later.

Yes, Nihil, we love you too. Hope you join us very soon. Kiss kiss.

Yes, Nihil, we love you too. Hope you join us very soon. Kiss kiss.
And I love you too

And I love you too

But Nihil, sweetie... I'm your elder. You want me to kiss your ass and die. Or is that some kinky protestation of passion for me?

But Nihil, sweetie... I'm your elder. You want me to kiss your ass and die. Or is that some kinky protestation of passion for me?

Its just the way things are...the young have to replace the old, old ways have to die in order for there to be new creation...conflict between the generations is inevitable...such is the wheel of life, death and renewal...don't take it personally.

Its just the way things are...the young have to replace the old, old ways have to die in order for there to be new creation...conflict between the generations is inevitable...such is the wheel of life, death and renewal...don't take it personally.

*smiles* Oh no. Not at all. But please don't be upset that I don't respect you based on your blatant disrespect for me based solely on my age. You see, Nihil, we are all of us quite different people and for you to say that I am outdated and fit only for recycling is very much like me saying that you are ignorant, immature and worthless based solely on your age.

Bear in mind that it's not your age that makes me withdraw my respect from you, but your attitude and refusal to base your judgement on individual merit. I'm very glad that many of the younger people I've had the joy to meet have been nothing like you.

Now please. Do get on with your getting old and worthless so that I can chuckle at your surprise when you discover that the world doesn't quite work the way you imagine it does.

*smiles* Oh no. Not at all. But please don't be upset that I don't respect you based on your blatant disrespect for me based solely on my age. You see, Nihil, we are all of us quite different people and for you to say that I am outdated and fit only for recycling is very much like me saying that you are ignorant, immature and worthless based solely on your age.

Bear in mind that it's not your age that makes me withdraw my respect from you, but your attitude and refusal to base your judgement on individual merit. I'm very glad that many of the younger people I've had the joy to meet have been nothing like you.

Now please. Do get on with your getting old and worthless so that I can chuckle at your surprise when you discover that the world doesn't quite work the way you imagine it does.

Life,Death and Renewal is not the way the world works? Well, I got news for geezers....you are all going to die! You see change is constant and everything must come to its eventual end, even you, you may not like the idea but its true. And those ideals, those stories you tell yourself for comfort, the morals you hold so dearly and try to instill in the young, well has the world changes and people find out that those morals and beliefs just don't work anymore they too will perished along with any memory of your existence. The young might be holding on to some remnant of what their elders have told them now but only because they are afraid of the changes that are going on around them and as soon as the inevitable failure of the old ways occur , they will abandon them for the new ways. What will those changes be , I don't know but from what I see , more and more people are coming to the realization that they have been lied too, and that what they beleived in was a falsehood and are coming to embrace what so many generations have feared for millenia. Go ahead hold on to what you believe in, if that is going to comfort you, but realize what I am is not going to disappear and I could be the very voice of the future.

Where did all the old people go? I really want to talk about thos subject

Life,Death and Renewal is not the way the world works? Well, I got news for geezers....you are all going to die! You see change is constant and everything must come to its eventual end, even you, you may not like the idea but its true. And those ideals, those stories you tell yourself for comfort, the morals you hold so dearly and try to instill in the young, well has the world changes and people find out that those morals and beliefs just don't work anymore they too will perished along with any memory of your existence. The young might be holding on to some remnant of what their elders have told them now but only because they are afraid of the changes that are going on around them and as soon as the inevitable failure of the old ways occur , they will abandon them for the new ways. What will those changes be , I don't know but from what I see , more and more people are coming to the realization that they have been lied too, and that what they beleived in was a falsehood and are coming to embrace what so many generations have feared for millenia. Go ahead hold on to what you believe in, if that is going to comfort you, but realize what I am is not going to disappear and I could be the very voice of the future.

Actually - I believe the response to this can be summed up in only four words.

Same Shit, Different Day.

It's the same as it ever was. EVERY generation imagines the world is being re-forged in their own image... and, I guess, cosmetically, it is. But, history repeats itself.

People don't change. Morals don't change. People are just as blind, apathetic and willing to be lied to, as they were yesterday, last year, last century.

The only things that change are the names on the tombstones.

All the big battles have already been fought, it's just that the dinosaurs that lost are too stupid to know they are dead and buried.

Actually - I believe the response to this can be summed up in only four words.

Same Shit, Different Day.

It's the same as it ever was. EVERY generation imagines the world is being re-forged in their own image... and, I guess, cosmetically, it is. But, history repeats itself.

People don't change. Morals don't change. People are just as blind, apathetic and willing to be lied to, as they were yesterday, last year, last century.

The only things that change are the names on the tombstones.

All the big battles have already been fought, it's just that the dinosaurs that lost are too stupid to know they are dead and buried.


Amen brother!

Fruit love, get used to it. THAT is what the real world is like. That is something you will encounter again and again in adult life and no amount of moral outrage will change that. It happens to most of us. That's not to say you can't get upset about it. But just that it happens and that life is neither fair nor just because PEOPLE are more often than not neither fair nor just.



Oh too true. Too very sadly true. There are, however still SOME active, responsible parents out there.



Kudos to you. THAT is worth respecting. Why? Because those are the actions of a person who respects himself.

Perhaps I'm still disgruntled because most of the shit has been over the past 3 months with my own roommate. Of course, I got back at her right at the end. She got fined for all of the permanent damage her drunken fratboy friends and her sorority sisters' jello-shot nights did. It just makes me want to ask one thing -- does EVERYONE get stuck with the roommate from hell eventually, or does it just happen to a few 'lucky' people like me? ;)


And thanks, Booslandia. I finally quit that job when my actual boss left, and her replacement proved herself more ignorant of the English language than a five-year-old newbie troll. Some things just aren't worth the trouble.

Actually - I believe the response to this can be summed up in only four words.

Same Shit, Different Day.

It's the same as it ever was. EVERY generation imagines the world is being re-forged in their own image... and, I guess, cosmetically, it is. But, history repeats itself.

People don't change. Morals don't change. People are just as blind, apathetic and willing to be lied to, as they were yesterday, last year, last century.

The only things that change are the names on the tombstones.

All the big battles have already been fought, it's just that the dinosaurs that lost are too stupid to know they are dead and buried.


Guess what, the world is going to be forge in our image and take a look at that image, we are a generation raised by MTV, Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur...scary isn't it? People don't change? I don't see that many people worshipping Zeus anymore, so i guess people do change...and you old people sure do hate change because it is a sign that your world is dying and so are you, the old have always resented the young because the young remind them of their own mortality.

And morals don't change? Well that is news to me, because behaviors and mores that weren't widely accepted back in the stone age are now being acceptted today....homosexuality is finding acceptance in society whereas back in your day...no one ever spoke of such things in polite society...and here some news for you...you know...coloured folk now have the vote...so I guess things do change.

As for all the big battles being over? Ha! Professor Laurence Kolikoff of Boston U. once said "That's those who don't think there is going to be a big Generational War are on Prozac", in fact there are volumes and volumes of material on this very subject because people are worried about it. One of the reasons for this Generational Conflict is because we are getting sick of the old and how we have to pay for them to enjoy a free ride while we slave away at shitty jobs, and we resent you for what you did to our future...sold it. I personally beleive this coming Generatioanl Conflict will make the War on Terror look like a slap fight between school children. So I will leave you with a quote from one of your own...the great social philosopher....Charles Willis Manson:

"These children that come at you with knives, they are your children. You taught them. I didn't teach them. I just tried to help them stand up."

Have a Nice Day :)

Guess what, the world is going to be forge in our image and take a look at that image, we are a generation raised by MTV, Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur...scary isn't it? People don't change? I don't see that many people worshipping Zeus anymore, so i guess people do change...and you old people sure do hate change because it is a sign that your world is dying and so are you, the old have always resented the young because the young remind them of their own mortality.

And morals don't change? Well that is news to me, because behaviors and mores that weren't widely accepted back in the stone age are now being acceptted today....homosexuality is finding acceptance in society whereas back in your day...no one ever spoke of such things in polite society...and here some news for you...you know...coloured folk now have the vote...so I guess things do change.

As for all the big battles being over? Ha! Professor Laurence Kolikoff of Boston U. once said "That's those who don't think there is going to be a big Generational War are on Prozac", in fact there are volumes and volumes of material on this very subject because people are worried about it. One of the reasons for this Generational Conflict is because we are getting sick of the old and how we have to pay for them to enjoy a free ride while we slave away at shitty jobs, and we resent you for what you did to our future...sold it. I personally beleive this coming Generatioanl Conflict will make the War on Terror look like a slap fight between school children. So I will leave you with a quote from one of your own...the great social philosopher....Charles Willis Manson:

"These children that come at you with knives, they are your children. You taught them. I didn't teach them. I just tried to help them stand up."

Have a Nice Day :)

Nihil, you don't frighten me. You make me sad. Sad because you are wasting your intellect and my air with these futile attempts to devalue everything that has come before you to no end and no purpose other than boredom and to possibly inflate your already bloated sense of self importance.

I hate a lot of things, young man, a lot of things. But what they are, you may never know, as you lack the desire and ability to ask me what or why. When you finally hit reality and maturity happens for you, then... maybe... you might discover these things for yourself. As it stands, others of your generation have gotten a serious headstart on you and will be well beyond you in wisdom and practical knowledge, leaving you at a serious disadvantage. This is, of course, by your own choice.

Your angry young rebel without a clue stance bores me. It's nothing new. My generation did it too. And we probably dressed better while we did it. At least we had the good grace to revere the people we quoted, not discounting them because they died well before we were born. Generational War? Oh please, child, please. MOST of your generation has the sense they were born with, unlike yourself. Get back on your meds, my little dearling, you'll feel better and you might actually do something worthwhile rather than boring these people to tears with your pseudo-Sartrian garbage-talk. As it stands, all you are doing right now is wasting the time, bandwidth and oxygen of those more promising than yourself. You might want to think of that as you reap the rewards of your own arrogant ignorance not too far down your life's road.

Would you like a side of drama to go with that poorly affected nihilism, son? Thank you, please drive through.

Perhaps I'm still disgruntled because most of the shit has been over the past 3 months with my own roommate. Of course, I got back at her right at the end. She got fined for all of the permanent damage her drunken fratboy friends and her sorority sisters' jello-shot nights did. It just makes me want to ask one thing -- does EVERYONE get stuck with the roommate from hell eventually, or does it just happen to a few 'lucky' people like me?

And thanks, Booslandia. I finally quit that job when my actual boss left, and her replacement proved herself more ignorant of the English language than a five-year-old newbie troll. Some things just aren't worth the trouble.

Aweee honey... I'm sorry to hear that. At least you saw some mild measure of justice. I never did. As for the job thing -- there will always end up being some retarded chimp replacing a good, competant manager somewhere along the line. God only knows how or why. Maybe they have incriminating photos of upper management with sheep...?

Yep ... if they've earned it like anyone else! :) [ btw ... I'm 61 ]

I agree. I'll be 62 in May. No one should be respected just because they have lived a long time, but neither should they be disrespected because of age.

I would hold them in high regard based on how they've seen and known so much more than I have. Not everything that the elderly tell you will jive with current ideals, but there's still a sense of knowing. I also look at the elderly as a sort of benchmark. This is what I have to live up to. This is the test of my generation.

this would be interesting if it was "more experienced" instead of elder

Hey, I'm older and don't need this PC stuff.

Nihil, you don't frighten me. You make me sad. Sad because you are wasting your intellect and my air with these futile attempts to devalue everything that has come before you to no end and no purpose other than boredom and to possibly inflate your already bloated sense of self importance...blah,blah,blah

Touche', well executed flame on your part...by the way I am a rather Happy Nihilist, you know the type who beleive in having fun...even if life doesn't mean anything.

alot of old ppl just come with useless advice that was good 40 years ago but is totally irrelevant in these days.

When my son was in his teens and 20's he thought that dad was a stupid old fart. Now that he is in his mid 30's he thinks dad is pretty smart. What has changed?

...Typically people have no respect for one another at all until an individual forces one to render them respect.

No one can ever force anyone to respect them. Respect must be earned.

I respect very few people. But I'm polite to everyone....especially the old.

Respect is something that should be earned, not given out "willy-nilly".

That is a wonderful attitiude.

Part of being a parent is being willing to make your children aware of the dangers involved in their decisions, even if it means that you risk losing your relationship with your child.

I think that comes from the fact that we don't want our children to make the same mistakes we or others we know have made. We can always give the advice, but they have to make the final decision. If they make the wrong one, we suffer along with them.

I always respect my elders. May not agree with them or even like them, but I still say yes ma'am and no sir and hold the door open for them and stuff. Old people are kinda like children in a way.

Have you hugged the elderly today?

I'll gladly take that hugg. Your parents have done well raising you. Thank them for me. :fluffle:

I agree. I'll be 62 in May. No one should be respected just because they have lived a long time, but neither should they be disrespected because of age.
Hi! Nice to see I'm in good company. :)

Help me get all these young'uns sorted out, willya? Heh! ;)

Hi! Nice to see I'm in good company. :)

Help me get all these young'uns sorted out, willya? Heh! ;)

at 47 I'll count myself as one of the young'uns :cool:

I would hold them in high regard based on how they've seen and known so much more than I have. Not everything that the elderly tell you will jive with current ideals, but there's still a sense of knowing. I also look at the elderly as a sort of benchmark. This is what I have to live up to. This is the test of my generation.

Initially, giving them respect for the bare fact that they've survived such a long time is a pretty cool thing, though over time and association, one finds that not all of us are as worth continued respect as others. I've know people in their 80s and 90s that just blew me away with their intelligence and insight and others who just left me wondering how they still managed to draw breath.

I can't say that I'd withhold respect on a person younger than myself just because they were younger, even if they were children. Who's to say that a child doesn't have the spark of something amazing hiding behind the youth and inexperience? This is why I tend to pre-extend the respect and then later continue it or withdraw it based on my perceptions of the words and actions of the individual.

Those who refuse respect until such a time as it has been earned deprive themselves of opportunities to bond with other people on a meaningful and mutually beneficial level. Most of us, when not treated with respect will turn away from the one who refuses it, closing off a door that might have led to great possibilities. But you cannot blame a person from turning away from someone who does not accord them respect, so the blame for the closed door lies with the one who refused to take a chance and give something that costs nothing at all, not even something as worthless as personal hubris.

Respect isn't a limited resource, after all. And having given it, there is nothing that prevents a person from withdrawing it if it proves unwarranted. Unlike love, respect does not leave scars or pain to give and find rejected. It is simply an openness of mind and a willingness to treat someone or something else the way you yourself wish to be handled. Respect is a consideration for someone or something else that confers the possibility of your relating to them and perhaps even eventually caring for them. But then, I find that respect is directly linked to one's own sense of self esteem. If one cannot look well on themselves, they cannot respect anyone outside themselves very much.

So perhaps what we have in these people who refuse to render respect to others is a problem with self-image...?

I suspect that I shall feel old when I hit my eighties and find myself sitting on some porch with my walker and a cigar, shaking a stick at the kids in my yard and bitching about how they don't know how to mosh, while making them cringe and whine about my playing punk, goth and industrial music.


Unfortunately that feeling old will most likely come in your late 50's or early 60's when you get to know such individuals as Arthur Itis, Ben Gay, and Jerry Tol very well. :D

Unfortunately that feeling old will most likely come in your late 50's or early 60's when you get to know such individuals as Arthur Itis, Ben Gay, and Jerry Tol very well. :D

Heheheheh! Ben Gay and his brother Icy Hot have been my bestest buddies since high school when I took up weight training. No... I suspect old won't register on me until I can't get around on my own anymore. And even then, I suspect that will be merely a physical oldness...

There's a guy on here name of "Chess Squares" who swears I'm not the age I claim to be ( 61 ), but to me, that doesn't even compute; why the hell would anyone claim to be 61??? LOL!

Did you graduate from high school in 1961?

alot of old ppl just come with useless advice that was good 40 years ago but is totally irrelevant in these days.

tho i dont say there evil, somethings just dont make sense anymore:)

...like proper spelling, capitalization and punctuation?

You should respect them, but that doesn't mean you have to be their bitches either.

...all the older stuff is just that. Old music that old people listen too.

I think'll be funny in 2058 when my kids/grandkids beg me to turn off the Maroon 5 album because I'm embarrassing them in front of their friends as they listen to a Zaphod Beeblebrox remix*.

Elvis is still the King. The Ventures were fantastic. That was the Great Music! :)

Did you graduate from high school in 1961?
Yes. From Beaver Area Senior HS in Beaver, PA. :)

at 47 I'll count myself as one of the young'uns :cool:
ROFL! Well, enjoy it then, especially in light of the fact that almost everyone else here is lots younger than you! LOL!

My elders can kiss my ass, they are old and living in the past and don't know two sh!ts about today's world. The problem with old people is that they get set in their ways, they refuse to grow, they can't accpet change. Well to hell with them and anyone who thinks like them, anyone who wants to go back to the way things used to be. The past is a grave, its death, which I am glad to say is where all of these decrepit has-beens or never-been are headed, hopefully sooner than later.

Let's talk in about 50 or 60 years.

-- does EVERYONE get stuck with the roommate from hell eventually, or does it just happen to a few 'lucky' people like me? ;)


It happens to everyone. When I was in the military, I spent four hours marching in the snow on a Saturday. One of my roommates didn't clean out a desk draw like he was supposed to, there was one medicine tablet in it. Everything else in the room passed inspection. Life isn't always fair, but it is life and better than the alternative.

It sounds like you are a person worthy of respect. Keep the chin up in spite of a little adversity.

Hi! Nice to see I'm in good company. :)

Help me get all these young'uns sorted out, willya? Heh! ;)

Booslandia is doing a great job of sorting them out. We both should give her our full support. Go Booslandia go! Eutrusca and I are with you. :)

Let's talk in about 50 or 60 years.
I really don't believe that stuff...i just like testing my elders...to keep them on the ball

Yes. From Beaver Area Senior HS in Beaver, PA. :)

Belmont High, Belmont, MA. Class of 61. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, those were the days. ;)

Belmont High, Belmont, MA. Class of 61. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, those were the days. ;)
Not for me! I wouldn't go through that shit again for love nor money! Heh!

I really don't believe that stuff...i just like testing my elders...to keep them on the ball

In that case, how about a "sorry for being a total chucklehead", eh?

ROFL! Well, enjoy it then, especially in light of the fact that almost everyone else here is lots younger than you! LOL!

OMGz yes. So nice not to be the oldest bitch in the pack for a change. Hehehhehe! *gigglesnort* OMGz you're old *chortle* <LOL JK!>

-- does EVERYONE get stuck with the roommate from hell eventually, or does it just happen to a few 'lucky' people like me?

Hee hee hee we all have at least one roomie from hell in our history somewhere. I've had a few. The worst is a guy I will not name due the severity of his stupidity. I'll call him Dork.

Dork lived with my BF and I in a 3 bedroom apartment about ten years ago. He regularly did things like burn candles on the windowsills without holders, getting wax all over the carpeting, breaking our good dishes and glassware, not ponying up his share of rent and untilities, making a lot of long distance calls... etc, ad nauseum... but then he REALLY got bad. He started talking about the aliens. Dead serious. One day he disappeared. Just up and vanished. His parents called us every day many times a day, freaking out on us after about a week. Two weeks later he turns up in another state, arrested for trying to take a handheld crossbow and a few other assorted weapons onto a plane in Texas. Dork got put away for a while, needless to say. THAT is a roomie from hell.

Then there was Dipshit. Dipshit was basicly a nice guy with a serious case of PTSD who slept with a loaded gun under his pillow. He never bothered to have his problem treated and scared us half to death when he'd wake up from violent nightmares waving his loaded gun around. We were quite relieved when he decided to move out before we had to ask him to leave for our own sense of security.

Then there was Bitchex, who would bring her druggy boyfriends home with her and leave them unattended in our place. She would have stayed until she managed to either get our place busted or robbed (don't know which would have been worse really) if my BF and I hadn't told her "no drugs, no strangers, no parties" and pretty much let her know that if we even thought she was on drugs or if we suspected one of her guests was on drugs that we'd be alerting the authorities AND throwing her crap out the front door.

We've had people who regularly had domestic disputes in our place, people who were stupid enough to buy and sell drugs at our place, people who have stolen from us, people who have stiffed us for the rent and utilities... the list of morons goes on and on. And you can never tell how bad they're going to be by looking at them or even working with them.

When it comes down to it, 90% of the time, just assume that roommates=hell.

In that case, how about a "sorry for being a total chucklehead", eh?
Awwwww...do I have too? Okay..okay...I am sorry

Awwwww...do I have too? Okay..okay...I am sorry

*Raises an eyebrow* OMGz it didn't kill you. Heh. Thank you. Forgiven -- for now.

Hee hee hee we all have at least one roomie from hell in our history somewhere. I've had a few. The worst is a guy I will not name due the severity of his stupidity. I'll call him Dork.

Dork lived with my BF and I in a 3 bedroom apartment about ten years ago. He regularly did things like burn candles on the windowsills without holders, getting wax all over the carpeting, breaking our good dishes and glassware, not ponying up his share of rent and untilities, making a lot of long distance calls... etc, ad nauseum... but then he REALLY got bad. He started talking about the aliens. Dead serious. One day he disappeared. Just up and vanished. His parents called us every day many times a day, freaking out on us after about a week. Two weeks later he turns up in another state, arrested for trying to take a handheld crossbow and a few other assorted weapons onto a plane in Texas. Dork got put away for a while, needless to say. THAT is a roomie from hell.

Then there was Dipshit. Dipshit was basicly a nice guy with a serious case of PTSD who slept with a loaded gun under his pillow. He never bothered to have his problem treated and scared us half to death when he'd wake up from violent nightmares waving his loaded gun around. We were quite relieved when he decided to move out before we had to ask him to leave for our own sense of security.

Then there was Bitchex, who would bring her druggy boyfriends home with her and leave them unattended in our place. She would have stayed until she managed to either get our place busted or robbed (don't know which would have been worse really) if my BF and I hadn't told her "no drugs, no strangers, no parties" and pretty much let her know that if we even thought she was on drugs or if we suspected one of her guests was on drugs that we'd be alerting the authorities AND throwing her crap out the front door.

We've had people who regularly had domestic disputes in our place, people who were stupid enough to buy and sell drugs at our place, people who have stolen from us, people who have stiffed us for the rent and utilities... the list of morons goes on and on. And you can never tell how bad they're going to be by looking at them or even working with them.

When it comes down to it, 90% of the time, just assume that roommates=hell.


And I hope you learn your lesson...why I make it a point to never associate myself with people who don't have their head together, unless they truly need some help. But I could never ever tolerate any sort of criminal activity around me even for one second.

And I hope you learn your lesson...why I make it a point to never associate myself with people who don't have their head together, unless they truly need some help. But I could never ever tolerate any sort of criminal activity around me even for one second.

*blink*.........

*sigh*

The thing is, you can never tell until you live with them. Dork was someone we both worked with at the time and had always seemed to be sane and dependable. At that time, none of us was making enough to comfortably afford a decent place in our area and we went with the person that had previously demonstrated his dependability and compatibility. It wasn't until we had all signed a lease together that we discovered that he was an undependable pig who would one day go batshit and run off because the aliens were after him.

We didn't know Dipshit even owned a gun until he moved in with us, and Bitchex didn't really seem to be the druggie-dating type. Various and sundry other roomies from hell showed no indications of their inherent awfulness either. Really, you'll figure that out if you have the misfortune to find yourself renting with others yourself. You NEVER truely know ANYONE until you have to share a living space with them... and appearances are very decieving.

Not to be insulting, but your bold statements about you would or would not do carry the distinct flavour of having come from someone who has not yet been placed in any situation that might show you what you will and will not tolerate in the real world. It's all very easy to SAY that you won't do something when you are sheltered and do not have to chose between breaking a lease and ruining your credit and associatating with someone whose lifestyle or habits you find distasteful or what you will and will not do at a job, etc, etc.

As difficult as life can seem or be while you have the safety-net of the parents to catch you and their roof to shelter you, things can and usually DO become far less easy and so do your choices and judgements when you actually enter the world and must fend for yourself. Part of why some parents are so "strict" with their kids is to try and prepare them for the world outside and to teach them as best they can how to avoid making a lot of the more lethal mistakes. They are hard on you most often because they LOVE you and are afraid that you're going to fall flat on your face when it comes time to leave the "nest". Of course when you're still young, it all just seems as if they're being unfair and mean to you for no real reason... but I digress. Bleh. I do that so often.

I know all of this sounds like a load of crap to you. I'm pretty certain it would have sounded like a load of crap to me 20 years ago. But you really should trust me on all of it. You never know what you're going to end up with when dealing with other people...and life is a LOT harder than it looks when you're starting out on those first couple decades of it.

Guess what, the world is going to be forge in our image and take a look at that image, we are a generation raised by MTV, Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur...scary isn't it? People don't change? I don't see that many people worshipping Zeus anymore, so i guess people do change...and you old people sure do hate change because it is a sign that your world is dying and so are you, the old have always resented the young because the young remind them of their own mortality.

And morals don't change? Well that is news to me, because behaviors and mores that weren't widely accepted back in the stone age are now being acceptted today....homosexuality is finding acceptance in society whereas back in your day...no one ever spoke of such things in polite society...and here some news for you...you know...coloured folk now have the vote...so I guess things do change.

As for all the big battles being over? Ha! Professor Laurence Kolikoff of Boston U. once said "That's those who don't think there is going to be a big Generational War are on Prozac", in fact there are volumes and volumes of material on this very subject because people are worried about it. One of the reasons for this Generational Conflict is because we are getting sick of the old and how we have to pay for them to enjoy a free ride while we slave away at shitty jobs, and we resent you for what you did to our future...sold it. I personally beleive this coming Generatioanl Conflict will make the War on Terror look like a slap fight between school children. So I will leave you with a quote from one of your own...the great social philosopher....Charles Willis Manson:

"These children that come at you with knives, they are your children. You taught them. I didn't teach them. I just tried to help them stand up."

Have a Nice Day :)

1) People do worship Zeus today, they just changed his name. Look at the 'classic' image of the christian god, look at the stories that go around now (but aren't 'scriptural') about thunderbolts and stuff... look back at your 'Zeus' mythology... compare and contrast.

By the way... how old AM I? You call me "You old people", but I assume you ACTUALLY don't know me... so, how old is old?

Let's look at homosexuality, shall we? Wasn't a big deal a couple of centuries ago... only really became a big deal during the era of 'victorian morals'.. and look what THEY considered moral (married men with mistresses, the first major proliferation of easily available pornography).

Homosexuals have always been around... go back two hundred years, the christian church was marrying them... so, where's the big 'revolution' there? History repeats itself, sweety.

Oh, and by the way... there is a tension between every generation... it's nature's way of making the brats leave the nest.... but there won't be a generation war... because, although you'll never admit it.... 15 years from today, you'll be us.

Hee hee hee we all have at least one roomie from hell in our history somewhere. I've had a few. The worst is a guy I will not name due the severity of his stupidity. I'll call him Dork.

Dork lived with my BF and I in a 3 bedroom apartment about ten years ago. He regularly did things like burn candles on the windowsills without holders, getting wax all over the carpeting, breaking our good dishes and glassware, not ponying up his share of rent and untilities, making a lot of long distance calls... etc, ad nauseum... but then he REALLY got bad. He started talking about the aliens. Dead serious. One day he disappeared. Just up and vanished. His parents called us every day many times a day, freaking out on us after about a week. Two weeks later he turns up in another state, arrested for trying to take a handheld crossbow and a few other assorted weapons onto a plane in Texas. Dork got put away for a while, needless to say. THAT is a roomie from hell.

Then there was Dipshit. Dipshit was basicly a nice guy with a serious case of PTSD who slept with a loaded gun under his pillow. He never bothered to have his problem treated and scared us half to death when he'd wake up from violent nightmares waving his loaded gun around. We were quite relieved when he decided to move out before we had to ask him to leave for our own sense of security.

Then there was Bitchex, who would bring her druggy boyfriends home with her and leave them unattended in our place. She would have stayed until she managed to either get our place busted or robbed (don't know which would have been worse really) if my BF and I hadn't told her "no drugs, no strangers, no parties" and pretty much let her know that if we even thought she was on drugs or if we suspected one of her guests was on drugs that we'd be alerting the authorities AND throwing her crap out the front door.

We've had people who regularly had domestic disputes in our place, people who were stupid enough to buy and sell drugs at our place, people who have stolen from us, people who have stiffed us for the rent and utilities... the list of morons goes on and on. And you can never tell how bad they're going to be by looking at them or even working with them.

When it comes down to it, 90% of the time, just assume that roommates=hell.

The dept of housing at my college is the entity that screwed me over..well, kind. She was assigned to me. Of course, she decided before she moved out that she was going to move in with the girl I was originally supposed to have for a roommate. major WTF moment...

If they are between 35 and 65, no. Also, if they are your parents, no.