So my husband calls me yesterday whining about his social security statement and how pitiful it was. I was like what you bitchin' about anyway? Not like social security will even exist when we are old enough to use it. So that got me to thinking about old people, and about me being old, and then about me being old and poor and having to live on cat food. I hear that happens to the elderly more often than you'd think. God, I can't even stand to smell my cat's cat food in the morning, and I sure as hell can't imagine actually dining on it myself. Then that thought got me thinking about how the elderly are treated in general and then I got pissed off. So many young people in America treat the elderly like they are garbage, throwaways, and inconveniences in their vigorous pursuit of never-ending complacency.
Do you grasp the simple reality that the elderly are the very people you should be thanking for your ignorant, ridiculous, self-serving existence? Can it at all sink in that these are the people that survived the Depression, rebuilt the economy, suffered, sweat, bled and died so America could be the thriving power you all get to blindly enjoy on a daily basis? These are the men and women that build our railroads, built the homes many of us live in today, built the power line systems that bring you The Surreal Life, American Idol or whatever show created for the viewing pleasure of complete morons is #1 this week, built our sewer systems, built our emergency systems, built, well, everything?
It sickens me, absofuckinlutely SICKENS me when I see the elderly being mistreated and disrespected by todays' test tube youth. Hold a door open you whiny little bastard, pretend you are a gentleman. Give up your seat on the bus you IPod toting, ignore-the-world-as-it-moves-around-you fuck. Help out a senior in your neighborhood by giving them a lift to a doctor's appointment once or twice a month - many medical plans do not offer transportation assistance anymore. When you are at a stop sign, and you see an elderly person who needs to cross the street, don't just pause and then fly through the intersection as if you own the goddamn world. Instead, sit your pansy little ass at the fucking stop sign and PATIENTLY, with a smile even, wait until they are safely across the street. My god, are we all in such a huge rush to get to the next appointment in our pathetic lives that we can't slow down for a mere 30 seconds in the interest of safety and courtesy to another human being?!?
My father taught me, since infancy, that respecting those around you, particularly your elders, is respecting yourself. You are showing that you treat everyone the way you feel you deserve to be treated. You are doing the right thing. Period.
One day, like it or not, you will be old and your priorities and attitude will have changed. And when some foul-mouthed, disrespectful kid treats you like shit, you will have lost your right to bitch about it.
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