today's rant
Can someone please explain to me why people of a certain age are not subject to the same rules of polite conduct as the rest of the population? In the last two days I have been offended by a woman coming up to me in a crowded restaurant, where I was waiting for a table by the door, and being told "you're standing in front of my coat, move." Witness to the woman at the table next to us not saying a single polite thing to her waiter, never even occurred to her to say Thank You after he busted his butt getting her order straight because she wouldn't actually eat anything on the menu. Then today there were two women having a very loud extraneous conversation in the archives. It's like a library, whispering is the accepted volume. But the staff will not tell them to shush because they're old, however if two teenagers were having an identical conversation, they would have been asked to use a quieter tone.
I don't buy the fact that the old deserve to be treated differently just because they're old. If I had behaved like that as a child my mom would have sent me to my room. As an adult I subscribe to the golden rule and would expect someone to call me on it if I was rude to my waiter or disturbed the other patrons. I think the fact that someone has lived a long life and is still able to get out and do various activities is commendable and to be hoped for in our own old age. I don't think that anyone should forget common courtesy and feel entitled to behave like an ass just because they happen to have lived longer than you.
2 comments:
That's really interesting. However, I still believe that anyone behaving rudely should be made aware of their behaviour so that they can at least make an effort to correct it.
That is good advice.
Post a Comment