- Sep 6, 2005
- 145,183
- 95,026
- AFL Club
- Fremantle
No one gives old people the time of day anymore 
They're just meant to shut up, go away, not look at you, shuffle off and die. No interest in their thoughts, stories, or general chat.
In the old days, old people were treated like wise beings, respected, etc. While there are still many people who still feel that way, it seems the majority of people are far more dismissive of them in everyday life.
Of course, regardless of age and social standing, respect must be earned, not simply afforded to someone because they're old(er). There are many crazy foolish old people, yelling at clouds, or creepy weirdos. Or those insufferably lonely ones who hold up lines at the mall or bank by chit-chatting to the person at the counter. Also, most of the political and corporate world is made up of old people, who have contributed to the poor state of the world and the suffering of the masses....but that's more a result of power and greed than age itself. There are young(er) politicians and business people who are doing the same thing.
I mean more just day to day. The old man or woman who approaches the counter of a shop, the attendant says "yeah what do you want", just rude, dismissive, often may not even look the old person in the eyes because they're old (hence unattractive, so not worth their effort).....that kind of thing, where the old person has not even been given the chance to show their personality, or isn't a weirdo trying to engage in time-wasting chat.
An old(er) man, say 50, looks at a woman say 35, and she ewwws him away simply because he looks old. Some men/women aged 50 can look very attractive still, so that may not happen to them as much. But generally, an old(er) looking person is essentially dismissed immediately due to gray hair, wrinkles, balding, drooping neck skin, etc, all those signs of old age. You see them in the corner of your eye and they don't merit your eyes, you want nothing from them, you don't want their eyes or their conversation, you're not interested in getting to know them. People only wanting the company of people because they're attractive or appealing in some way, there's something they can provide you, otherwise they're worthless.
I see it every day, millions of examples, but for instance, a 70 yo man meeting up with a male personal trainer, i was standing around waiting for someone, and watched them interact....the old man tried to say something, a quick story about something, and the young trainer wouldn't even look him in the face, just 'yeah yeah ok shut up' attitude with him. As they got started, the old man asked something, and the trainer just irritably nodding him away without looking at him, giving him a hurried unsatisfactory answer to his question.
Those are examples of strangers in public places, but it happens in the workplace too among colleagues. A lot of 20-30 year olds, and a smattering of 50-60 year olds where i work. They obviously talk among themselves, what they've been up to, socialize at work and after work, but they dismiss the old people, they don't look at them, go up to them to say hi how was your weekend, they don't involve them in anything at work or after work, they sit alone at rhe cafeteria being dismissed. I go out of my way to socialize with them too, to ask them what they got up to on the weekend, share stories and jokes with them, sit with them too. I'll harmlessly flirt a little with the old women, little compliments that they appreciate because they're used to being thought of as unappealing or over the hill.
But also in the workplace i see it with meetings and team huddles, ideas or feedback being sought from the managers (30-40 yo), they don't ask the old people, or they dismiss their ideas while they fawn over the ideas of those younger.
Basically, growing old sucks. You are no longer appealing to the opposite sex per se, if you're unmarried or divorced and still looking. You are no longer appealing as a potential new friend or acquaintance either. You have meant to have lived your life already, and now you are outside the radar of people currently living their lives. You had your time going out, meeting new people, making new or lifelong friends, sowed your seed, got married, had kids, whatever, and now you're supposed to just shuffle off and die. The world is for the young.....they have dreams to aspire to, they have seeds to sow and friends to make and trends to create.
But what if you're old and still want to live and make new experiences with people of all ages? What if you're old by age number but still youthful in looks and physical ability? They can spot you're a little "too old" for their friendship or romance, or you tell them your age and their jaw drops because they thought you were 20 years younger, so now they shun you, can't reconcile with that. A 50 yo man asks a 25 yo co-worker if he wants to go have a beer with him, nah, that's creepy, or what for? There's nothing in it for the young guy. But another 25 yo asks him, sure let's go.
As Rob Zombie wrote in a song...."I want more life, mother*er, I ain't done".... that's kind of my perception here with this topic. If you're old, or, old by age but still youthful, and you still want to live and have experiences like a young person, like when you were younger, but you're not "allowed" to, you're being pushed off to the glue factory by other people, strangers in public places or colleagues at work. And/or you start seeing yourself age in the mirror, all those signs of old age, no longer appealing to look at, and/or, your health slipping badly, closer to death than birth.....all that is just very sad really. Depressing to grow old, to be an old person. Especially too if you're unhappy with your life, didn't get to fulfill your dreams or fully experience life when younger and still have the thirst to live, to make up for it later.
They're just meant to shut up, go away, not look at you, shuffle off and die. No interest in their thoughts, stories, or general chat. In the old days, old people were treated like wise beings, respected, etc. While there are still many people who still feel that way, it seems the majority of people are far more dismissive of them in everyday life.
Of course, regardless of age and social standing, respect must be earned, not simply afforded to someone because they're old(er). There are many crazy foolish old people, yelling at clouds, or creepy weirdos. Or those insufferably lonely ones who hold up lines at the mall or bank by chit-chatting to the person at the counter. Also, most of the political and corporate world is made up of old people, who have contributed to the poor state of the world and the suffering of the masses....but that's more a result of power and greed than age itself. There are young(er) politicians and business people who are doing the same thing.
I mean more just day to day. The old man or woman who approaches the counter of a shop, the attendant says "yeah what do you want", just rude, dismissive, often may not even look the old person in the eyes because they're old (hence unattractive, so not worth their effort).....that kind of thing, where the old person has not even been given the chance to show their personality, or isn't a weirdo trying to engage in time-wasting chat.
An old(er) man, say 50, looks at a woman say 35, and she ewwws him away simply because he looks old. Some men/women aged 50 can look very attractive still, so that may not happen to them as much. But generally, an old(er) looking person is essentially dismissed immediately due to gray hair, wrinkles, balding, drooping neck skin, etc, all those signs of old age. You see them in the corner of your eye and they don't merit your eyes, you want nothing from them, you don't want their eyes or their conversation, you're not interested in getting to know them. People only wanting the company of people because they're attractive or appealing in some way, there's something they can provide you, otherwise they're worthless.
I see it every day, millions of examples, but for instance, a 70 yo man meeting up with a male personal trainer, i was standing around waiting for someone, and watched them interact....the old man tried to say something, a quick story about something, and the young trainer wouldn't even look him in the face, just 'yeah yeah ok shut up' attitude with him. As they got started, the old man asked something, and the trainer just irritably nodding him away without looking at him, giving him a hurried unsatisfactory answer to his question.
Those are examples of strangers in public places, but it happens in the workplace too among colleagues. A lot of 20-30 year olds, and a smattering of 50-60 year olds where i work. They obviously talk among themselves, what they've been up to, socialize at work and after work, but they dismiss the old people, they don't look at them, go up to them to say hi how was your weekend, they don't involve them in anything at work or after work, they sit alone at rhe cafeteria being dismissed. I go out of my way to socialize with them too, to ask them what they got up to on the weekend, share stories and jokes with them, sit with them too. I'll harmlessly flirt a little with the old women, little compliments that they appreciate because they're used to being thought of as unappealing or over the hill.
But also in the workplace i see it with meetings and team huddles, ideas or feedback being sought from the managers (30-40 yo), they don't ask the old people, or they dismiss their ideas while they fawn over the ideas of those younger.
Basically, growing old sucks. You are no longer appealing to the opposite sex per se, if you're unmarried or divorced and still looking. You are no longer appealing as a potential new friend or acquaintance either. You have meant to have lived your life already, and now you are outside the radar of people currently living their lives. You had your time going out, meeting new people, making new or lifelong friends, sowed your seed, got married, had kids, whatever, and now you're supposed to just shuffle off and die. The world is for the young.....they have dreams to aspire to, they have seeds to sow and friends to make and trends to create.
But what if you're old and still want to live and make new experiences with people of all ages? What if you're old by age number but still youthful in looks and physical ability? They can spot you're a little "too old" for their friendship or romance, or you tell them your age and their jaw drops because they thought you were 20 years younger, so now they shun you, can't reconcile with that. A 50 yo man asks a 25 yo co-worker if he wants to go have a beer with him, nah, that's creepy, or what for? There's nothing in it for the young guy. But another 25 yo asks him, sure let's go.
As Rob Zombie wrote in a song...."I want more life, mother*er, I ain't done".... that's kind of my perception here with this topic. If you're old, or, old by age but still youthful, and you still want to live and have experiences like a young person, like when you were younger, but you're not "allowed" to, you're being pushed off to the glue factory by other people, strangers in public places or colleagues at work. And/or you start seeing yourself age in the mirror, all those signs of old age, no longer appealing to look at, and/or, your health slipping badly, closer to death than birth.....all that is just very sad really. Depressing to grow old, to be an old person. Especially too if you're unhappy with your life, didn't get to fulfill your dreams or fully experience life when younger and still have the thirst to live, to make up for it later.
