Age and respect

Many older people believe that because they are older, by default they are somehow wiser and therefore they believe that is grounds that younger people should respect them.

There are few faults with that theory:

1. You are assuming that wisdom can only come with age. The reality is that a young person can have almost the same amount of wisdom as someone who is old. How? Its not just about how long you have been living on earth, but its also about the kind of experiences you have on earth.
2. Respect is a two way street. If you are going to be rude and disrespectful to me, why should I have to respect you? Just because you are older than me doesn't mean you deserve respect. Just like a war veteran doesn't deserve respect if he goes off and hurts others.

I go with the philosophy of 2 types of respects.

The first type is the "initial respect". In this case, when you do not know someone you will automatically give them the benefit of the doubt. This is only for when you are first meeting someone though. The idea about this kind of respect isn't so much respect for the person, but more of a "I am not going to treat you wrong, and start problems with you". Pretty much trying to avoid early problems.

The second type of respect is the "earned respect". This kind of respect comes when the person does something to no longer earn that initial respect given. This usually involves people you know and are somehow a part of your life. This kind of respect is also more indepth than initial...its more about one's character and being and their effect on your life.

In my opinion, old people get angry that young people don't respect them, but they have never stopped to think that maybe its because they do not respect younger people. Just because you are older than me or others doesn't give you the right to talk down to me or treat me like a child. I am 20, and by law since I was 18, I have been an adult.

I personally get annoyed by the snotty remarks by old people insulting the young. My generation has a different philosophy about respect than past generations.

I come from the "you respect me, I will respect you" era. We just don't get the logic in respecting someone simply for being born a few decades before us, especially if they are rude or mean to us.

But at the same time,it also annoys me when old people assume that with age comes wisdom. Wisdom isn't only limited to age. The longer you live, the more experiences you have. So really its about the experiences you have. There are people, my age, who have had 50 years worth of experiences in only 20 years of their life. So yeah, wisdom isn't limited to age. Heck some old people lack wisdom...some old people old people are very hateful and ignorant...thats not wisdom if you ask me.