What happenned to TACT in our Elders? - Page 3

WINGY · 10-05-2005, 22:37

I agree on this one too. why is it that we feel it polite to ask how people are? hoping that the answer will be "yeh i'm not too bad" as we answer when asked the question, usualy for ease i might add. But for some reason once you reach 70, the reply has to go something along the lines of "oh my piles are playing me up today" !!!! or something equally sickening!!

slinky · 10-05-2005, 22:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by WINGY

I agree on this one too. why is it that we feel it polite to ask how people are? hoping that the answer will be "yeh i'm not too bad" as we answer when asked the question, usualy for ease i might add. But for some reason once you reach 70, the reply has to go something along the lines of "oh my piles are playing me up today" !!!! or something equally sickening!!

LMAO wingy..........yes I agree and thread wondering but (welcome home buddy)

WillowTheWhisp · 10-05-2005, 22:43

Nice to see you back Wingy.

cashman · 10-05-2005, 22:45

it happens to quite a lot of elderly people in my experiance,i try to make allowances but depending on my circumstances wether i manage it, then i feel guilty if i don't theres not really an answer to it,but has the way societys changed over the years been a factor?i tend to think its made some contribution,in my teens i lost my gran grandad,2 aunts and a few elderly family friends, i can honestly say none of them used to behave like this,thats what makes me ask the question

chav1 · 10-05-2005, 22:56

what cracks me up is people still say dont forget these people fought a war for us when in fact most of the people that fought in ww2 are long dead and burried

the majority of todays old people merely lived through the war as children

ive lived through 3 wars that spring to mind ( 2 iraq wars and the war with argentina) now wheres my damn respect

respect of course to those that are still around who actualy fought in the war

Gobsmacked · 10-05-2005, 23:39

I think living through times during which wars were fought on foreign soil and living through a war which involved the country you live in being bombed are quite different situations.

cashman · 10-05-2005, 23:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gobsmacked

I think living through times during which wars were fought on foreign soil and living through a war which involved the country you live in being bombed are quite different situations.

agree they are differant situations but whats it to do with RUDE IGNORANT old people?

Gobsmacked · 11-05-2005, 00:00

Having lived through a difficult period in history doesn't give anyone an excuse for rudeness. There are even those who can be rude without having lived through difficult times. The post war years were probably also a struggle with rationing still being in place.

Personally I find that pain makes people grouchy and due to various assorted ailments elderly people do tend to suffer more aches and pains. Perhaps that accounts for some of it.

cashman · 11-05-2005, 00:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gobsmacked

Having lived through a difficult period in history doesn't give anyone an excuse for rudeness. There are even those who can be rude without having lived through difficult times. The post war years were probably also a struggle with rationing still being in place.

Personally I find that pain makes people grouchy and due to various assorted ailments elderly people do tend to suffer more aches and pains. Perhaps that accounts for some of it.

agree no question that accounts for some of it i still feel the way societys changed accounts for most % of it though

Acrylic-bob · 11-05-2005, 05:11

Like others I was always brought up to believe that I should treat my elders with respect, but it does become very difficult when respect is regarded as a one-way street. It is true to say that for some people (note I say some, not all,) the acquisition of a pension book is seen as a licence to be as rude and obnoxious as possible.

I don't think that aches and pains are really the cause of most it though. I have noticed that as they get older people tend to become less like adults and more like wilful children, with some of the more unpleasant traits often coming to the fore; self-pity, aggression, impatience etc.

Speaking for myself, I have only fifteen years to go before I am handed my licence to gratuitously offend - I can hardly wait! It will be my reward for having behaved myself for fifty years.

fireman · 11-05-2005, 08:02

I have always understood that times of hardship, fear, and deprivation served to bring people closer together. It is not our fault we were not around when the wars were raging so why should some of these people throw it in our faces. I don't buy it , a lot of them just want to be awkward to say the least.

Mick · 11-05-2005, 08:25

Fireman you are lucky you are only looking after 1 old person like slinky Anne is a senior care assistant in a nurseing home and they have 14 in there ,
i have seen Anne come home in tears before now with what the old people call her she has even come home with bruses after being hit by them .
and the language some of them come out with ......

garinda · 11-05-2005, 08:36

I'm just going to say a word for the older people l know who aren't at all grumpy and rude. I have lots of friends over 70 who are intelligent, vital, and full of fun, and like the rest of us only get grouchy when faced with something worth it- such as telephone cold sellers phoning in the middle of your tea etc.

I think as you get nearer those Pearly Gates, some older people must decide it's not worth being pleasant, and they are the ones in the minority we have mentioned on here.

Fireman, you seem unlucky in having a grouchy elderly in- law, perhaps now the weather's getting better if you unshackle her and tether her in the garden, the sunshine might reflect in her temperament?

fireman · 11-05-2005, 11:03

Nice thought Garinda and she is not grouchy a lot of the time but she is always very tactless. It would be unfair to leave her in the garden as she would be totally marooned, and if she spoke to the plants like she does to us sometimes the garden would soon be a baron wilderness (joking).

fireman · 11-05-2005, 11:06

I know all about it mick as I said earlier my wife is a nurse and used to be sister in charge of a large acute medical rehabilitation unit at fairfield hospital. The tales she can tell make your hair curl,(and then fall out before you get that one in)