Why I feel so "Old"

There are many tell tale signs that I am getting older. The fact that I am finding more and more gray hairs popping up everyday. The reflection in the mirror has definitely change over the years. Having aches and pains in parts of the body that you never thought could hurt. I turn on the oldies station on the radio and hear songs of my youth, knowing that the toys that I played with are now rare collectibles and have spots in some antique stores and museums. Seeing the athletes that I looked up too as a child looking like someone's grandparents. Going to a Doctor that is younger then I am. Watching the same daughter that I held in my arms get ready for high school dances. But these are not the things that make me feel really old.



The thing that makes me feel like I am some ancient being from some long lost era is seeing the way the world has changed. Certain ways of thinking and acting that were inbreeded in me from a very young age.Manners,morals and respect have all seem to become some kind punch line that the younger generation use to make older people feel like we were from some other planet. I am sure that the older generations that have passed are looking down at us shaking their heads wondering how could it get so bad in such a short period of time. I remember as a young boy visiting my grandparents, my grand pop would take me out to the back yard to do some yard work. And as I was raking the leaves he would not miss the opportunity to tell me how a gentleman was supposed to act. Always open a door or offer your seat to a lady. Never use foul language in front of children, a lady or the elderly. When you shake someone's hand, look them in the eye and give them your word, you always follow through with what you promise. He taught me that your honor is much more important then your ego. Then he told me about respecting your elders and the elderly, because if it wasn't for them we would not have what we have now. They are the ones that paved the road in making this country what it is today.



The whole idea for this blog came to me in a very strange place. I was at the super market picking up a few things last night. As I was standing at the end of the isle I saw a little old lady struggling to pick up a case of spring water to put into her cart. Every time some young person walked past her like she wasn't even there I got more and more ashamed of what has become of us as a people. I quickly made my way over to help her. She smiled and thanked me and say it was nice to see there were still a few gentlemen in the world. What she said made me feel good and sad all at the same time. I think I would have felt happier to see a young person help her. After that I made my way to the closest check out line to wait my turn. Standing not 5 feet away from me in the next line was a young mother, couldn't be any older then 23 or 24. She had her little boy, maybe 3 or 4 in the cart. She was on her cell phone talking to someone, and every other word out of her mouth was profanity. She used language that you would expect to hear coming from a construction site. But here she was using in the presence of her young child and in front of mixed company. The little old lady I had helped was standing behind her and by the look on her face she felt the same way I did, completely disgusted.Have we as a people forgotten how to express ourselves without using vulgar language? Have we forgotten how to show love and compassion to others? Are we really so self centered that we believe the rest of the world isn't as important as we are?



I know that when I was a child growing up not to far from where I live now, I would have never seen the things I saw last night.The world has changed so much in the past 25 years, and I don't even mean the technology. So many of us have lost all respect for others and for ourselves, if that's the way we are going to act. I really do believe that we are on a downward spiral as a culture. I for one refuse to let myself get caught up in the "ME, ME, ME" attitude that so many have nowadays. I will continue to be the person that my grandfather hoped I would grow up to be. And I will keep reminding my children the importance of living a good, loving and compassionate life.So I am making a plea to all that read this, let's try and bring back the old and out dated way of treating our fellow man. It would be a much nicer place to live. Well this was some serious ranting.I just hope that there are some people out there that agree with me. It would make me feel alot less old.LOL!!! Love your life and it will love you back.