Why do some older people have no respect for anyone, yet want all the respect in the world just for being elderly? I was in the store today and the older woman in front of me was being such a crab to the cashier. So, being me, I asked her, haven't you learned some respect in your years? And she said, 'Excuse me, I'm 72 years old, I deserve some respect.' So I said, 'Excuse me, I'm 22, and I have to earn mine.' She didn't say anything. This is a common phenomenon. Why do older people feel this way?
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Name : phillip, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 22, City : Orange City, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : Irrigation Contractor, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, I work in a nursing home that's chock-full of elderly people. Rarely will one of these patients say 'please' or 'thank you.' Usually they make demands such as 'Give me a drink of water!' or 'Hand me the remote control.' Many of these people are in their right frame of mind, and some even resort to hitting, spitting or smacking the employees who are there to take care of them. If you don't believe me, just ask anyone who works in my field. Maybe there's someone at Y? Forum who can verify this. I'm so frustrated that I'm considering finding another occupation, and I'll NEVER help an old lady across the street again!
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Name : MsJacquelle, Gender : F, City : Louisville, State : KY Country : United States, Occupation : Nurse, Old people in general are grumpy and rude. I've always wondered why they feel everyone ought to walk on eggshells to accommodate them but are belligerent AND obnoxious to everyone else. I treat everyone - kids and the elderly - with equal respect.
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Name : Jay20845, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Like my grandmother used to say: 'There's no fool like an old fool'. I heard her say this when she was up in her 90s. So the fact that she recognized and applied this observation to people in her own age group tells you that not all elderly people are that way. However, too many, it seems, are. I think when people retire and suddenly find they have too much time on their hands, they forget what it was like to have to deal with all the stresses people in the work-a-day world, like that cashier, have to deal with every day. In a sense, they tend to lose touch with reality, and all of a sudden, things like going to the store become the most important thing in their lives and they act accordingly. I think it's great that you called her on it. Not too many people would have, and because they don't get called on that type of behavior, they think it must be all right. In reality, you or I might act that way, too, if someone didn't point out that it's wrong. But the elderly too often are allowed a pass out of respect or some other reason.
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Name : Joe-B30582, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 46, City : Louisville, State : KY Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I grew up in the 50's and the times dictated that you respected the elderly (or anyone even a year older than you), and you showed deference to girls and women. I remember my father telling me that it doesn't require any ability to grow older, so respect people for what they do, not for old they are.
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Name : Mike Urciolo, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 56, City : Naples, State : NA Country : Italy, Occupation : Communications Tech, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I'm an EMT and everytime i walk into the convalescent homes i hear patients screaming for nurses and/or sounding their alarms but when the nurse comes into the room the elderly patients throws everything in their reach at them for not coming sooner then demanding water or food. another example is when i respond to a 911 call for an elderly sick person, but when we get there they demand we change their burnt out porch light and take out their trash, i can understand this since theyre to weak to do it themselves and have no one else to call but the attitude of the elderly person is always rotten and ungrateful. then there are the ones who actually have something wrong with them so we work them up then transport them to the hospital and the whole way they fuss up a storm about bumps in the road or anything im doing. OCCASIONALY there are the nice sweet ones who just want to talk to you the entire time because they are lonely and thats cool, i wish they were all like that. it would make my job alot easier
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Name : emt, City : Concord, State : CA Country : United States, A lot of it probably depends on their health/condition. Even the perkiest 20-year-old can be a real bear when they have a sinus infection. Imagine walking around stiff-jointed worse than after working out, with chronic sinusitis, your hearing's muffled and your vision's blurred. I think old folks get cranky because they feel like poorly. This doesn't make it any easier to deal with them, nor does it excuse poor behavior, but feeling poorly will almost always translate into acting poorly.
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Name : Brian23027, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 28, City : Peru, State : IN Country : United States, Occupation : management, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I know exactly what you mean. I work at a credit union and on the 1rst and the 3rd which are retirement paydays if you don't know the elderly flock. Some of them are as mean as can be and think that they have a right to be just because they are set in there ways.
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Name : Daniel Malnati, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : Mount Morris, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : bank teller, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I find that my experiences with the elderly are very different from those of the other posts. Maybe it's because I'm from a rural area? The elderly that I am in contact with are for the most part cheerful, helpful, and polite. I have found that the elderly that aren't were that way when they were younger too. Maybe the people that you're encountering were not very nice when younger either. Also, some of the elderly have medical problems and pain which tends to make anyone grumpy. Now, having defended the elderly I must say that they don't have any 'right' to be rude or disrespectful. If they're being jerks they should be treated as such.
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Name : PaulB, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 51, City : Appleton, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : farmer, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 
EdParticipant
I think that some people are natural born jerks. They're jerks their whole lives, and when the get old they just become old jerks. Only when they get old, they just don't care anymore, and completely cut loose with their jerkness. So the old people who are really jerks tend to be more vocal than jerks of other generations, and that gives the perception that old people in general must be jerkier than normal.
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Name : Ed, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Milpitas, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I agree that respect is earned. However, its important to realize that a lot of these people are living in fear: uncomfortable with modern life and technology and knowing that they're getting closer to death every day. I've noticed at work (retail) that many of them will be quite crabby when first dealing with something like a computer, but once you take the time to explain something to them they become friendly again. But really, I think fear is the biggest reason why many of them act so rude.
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Name : jason31279, Gender : M, Age : 27, City : columbia, State : SC Country : United States, I think that our culture has a lot to do with it. I am not going to defend the older woman's rudeness, because there's no excuse for being rude. However, I went to college in a Latin American country and one thing I noticed right away was a difference in the way we see old people. In some cultures, nursing homes are a rarity, and old people mostly live with relatives who take care of them. Sadly, in the United States, nursing homes are the norm.
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Name : Gretchen, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 25, City : Greensboro, State : NC Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, ALL of them don't. That woman was just being rude and using her age to excuse it. There are people like that everywhere, using other excuses like ethnicity, color, gender, handicaps. I noticed ruder older people when I was in Florida once. When I wasn't older myself. I just thought that there were a lot more of them (and they mostly came from places in the east where people are ruder anyway). They aren't all like that!
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Name : N. Hall, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 60, City : Aberdeen, State : WA Country : United States, Occupation : retired teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, I don't really have any help for you...but I'd just like to echo the sentiment. Wow...you've lived to be 70. Congratulations. I've lived through gang-wars just outside my apartment, being raised by a single mom, having to skip bills some months and go without dinner sometimes. I'm sorry, I think I've earned a lot more respect than most old people. But then there are some old people who are really sweet, kind and congenial. I think it's a regional thing.
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Name : Randy, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 17, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, I don't know about the 'respect' thing, but as for elderly people being grumpy and sometimes abrupt, I have noticed as I get older that some days I am in so much pain, from arthritis, etc., that I have to make an extra effort to be 'nice'. Sometimes, when my feet, my back, my knees etc., are aching, and I have a headache on top of it, I do get pretty grumpy. These days I make more allowances for this behavior in others, because I can see it in myself.
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Name : penny guinn, Gender : F, Age : 50, City : honolulu, State : HI Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 
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