I was on the bus the other day, grumbling how the youth of today have no respect, and thinking about how old people have been grumbling about this for centuries.. yes, I'm that old.. ;P
So, I figured.. hang on.. is it possible that people have been losing respect for the elderly for such a long time? have we gotten worse and worse? is it even possible?
Maybe sure, maybe in times gone by, the youth of my grandfathers day would bow politely to their elders, address them with 'sirs' and 'madams' and over the years, we've lost that.. well, I often greet the elderly with respect.. but, again, as I think about it, I don't remember doing this when I was younger.. not as much at least.
So, maybe as we get older, we have more respect for our elders, and as we notice the world through these eyes, we notice that youth do not have this, and we begin to believe that the youth of today have less of it, than we did.
As to the rest? I think its more about fear. The times of sirs and maams were times when you could be run over in the street and no-one would think twice, well tsk tsk, life is like that, sorry but I can't be worried about every little street urchin who gets under the wheels of my carriage.
So maybe instead of sirs and ma'ams out of respect, it was more, if I dont say the right thing, they might just run me down out of spite.
Then again, maybe its just "Oliver" or "Dodger" that gave me this idea of Victorian times, and no-one had any respect for their elders back then neither.
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| Image from brotherhoodofthegame.com |
So, I figured.. hang on.. is it possible that people have been losing respect for the elderly for such a long time? have we gotten worse and worse? is it even possible?
Maybe sure, maybe in times gone by, the youth of my grandfathers day would bow politely to their elders, address them with 'sirs' and 'madams' and over the years, we've lost that.. well, I often greet the elderly with respect.. but, again, as I think about it, I don't remember doing this when I was younger.. not as much at least.
So, maybe as we get older, we have more respect for our elders, and as we notice the world through these eyes, we notice that youth do not have this, and we begin to believe that the youth of today have less of it, than we did.
As to the rest? I think its more about fear. The times of sirs and maams were times when you could be run over in the street and no-one would think twice, well tsk tsk, life is like that, sorry but I can't be worried about every little street urchin who gets under the wheels of my carriage.
So maybe instead of sirs and ma'ams out of respect, it was more, if I dont say the right thing, they might just run me down out of spite.
Then again, maybe its just "Oliver" or "Dodger" that gave me this idea of Victorian times, and no-one had any respect for their elders back then neither.
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