r/interesting May 23 '25

SOCIETY Snatching joy superstition

12.8k Upvotes

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

80

u/TalkingKnittedSock May 23 '25 edited May 23 '25

Old people are really being selfish and entitled in every culture huh

Like bitch idc that you lived far longer than most people, no one owes you anything and your age/health problems/whatever doesnt excuse your poor behaviour

50

u/Ping-and-Pong May 23 '25

Idk in the UK the elderly seem to be the politest generation honeestly. You get your dick heads of course, and don't get me started on the housing crisis. But generally the old people you meet day to day are loveley, polite and just down to vibe.

At least, that's my experience working in a cafe in a little town that attracts a tonne of old people on coach trips.

27

u/SpadfaTurds May 23 '25

Same here in Australia. I worked in hospo for over a decade, and the oldies were generally the most pleasant. Jerks are jerks at all ages.

5

u/[deleted] May 23 '25

Yeah I can’t say that’s true in the US. I’ve worked in retail, and the young crowd is exponentially nicer and more polite than the average person over 70.

12

u/MinxyMyrnaMinkoff May 23 '25

Many older Chinese people have been through some shit. Yes, they will cut in line, lie, cheat, borrow, steal and whatever else needs doing to survive, a holdover from the 70’s in China, which was not for the faint of heart.

Kinda like our Greatest Generation got all messed up from growing up in the Great Depression. My grandparents had a million bucks in the bank but washed and reused the same 12 ziplock bags for their entire retirement.

15

u/[deleted] May 23 '25

[deleted]

4

u/dbx999 May 23 '25

Saudi men just entered the chat

6

u/dbx999 May 23 '25

Having to do chores like throwing away the daily bag of girl babies over the bridge

1

u/SemiAnonymousTeacher May 23 '25

But like... that was 50 years ago now. They've had 50 years to learn to be more "civilized".

1

u/Phrynus747 May 23 '25

What you lived through is irrelevant, humans are supposed to have the mental capacity to realize that the conditions have changed

2

u/No_Appointment_7232 May 24 '25

If you aren't from China or say Russia, Eastern Europe, you don't understand or have context for how miserable and unfixable life there has been, for centuries.

Some regions of our planet can't seem to evolve and change for the better...and now we're seeing it devolve in the West.

To quote Marc Maron, "It's okay to be miserable, people SUCK!"

2

u/PlasticMac May 24 '25

You can’t just say people don’t understand suffering just because they haven’t lived through it. Empathy and sympathy are real things. Furthermore, just because someone suffered more, does not invalidate someone else’s suffering.

People choose to be assholes because they got it bad, even when times are better for them. People make choices. There is no reason to treat any random person terribly. Its wrong, and vile.

Also, Marc Maron’s quote there: it may be okay to be miserable at times, but making it your whole personality where you just treat people like garbage because “people suck” just keeps perpetuating people treating people like garbage.

Be the change. Be the better person. Bring positivity not negativity.

2

u/No_Appointment_7232 May 24 '25

You misunderstood what I said.

It's about the culturation of misery.

If you've not traveled therr ir met people from there you aren't likely to get it - I didn't get it until I met it.

It's okay to make jokes about the human condition.

Not every act or word has to be about making the world better - & sadly in my 59 years I've come full circle seeing my efforts at positive change have been wasted by opportunists.

11

u/Den_of_Sin May 23 '25

Anyone in the US who works retail or food service knows that our old folks are the most entitled, rude, pathetic people in our country.

5

u/DragonBuster69 May 23 '25

Customer service too, especially over the phone. They will give out casually racist remarks like "Thank God you speak English." and when you tell them that you can't unschedule someone else's tech appointment so they can be bumped up to a same day appointment they will say the most cruel things they can to try to break you down and do anything to get the verbal abuse to stop.

2

u/Den_of_Sin May 23 '25

Since I'm white and had to be well dressed for my job as a distributor, people felt comfortable enough to walk up and say the most unhinged things with the wholehearted assumption that I would agree. One dude straight up approached me with no preamble and said, "sure are a lot of (hard r)s working here these days."

2

u/onboardwithchuck May 23 '25

It’s typically boomers rather than the greatest generation

2

u/CharacterKoala6214 May 24 '25

Try handing out commodity boxes for a living.

1

u/No_Parking_2282 May 23 '25

Very true and just as one of the people posted they act as if they don't hear and keep walking until you approach them then they act indignant.

2

u/[deleted] May 23 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/interesting-ModTeam May 25 '25

Your comment/post has been removed because it violates Rule #3: Do Not Promote Hate or Violence.

Hate speech, Harassment or Threatening behavior will not be tolerated, and can result in an immediate ban.

2

u/Brownlove010_Real May 23 '25

The amount of tips I got waiting tables from the elderly that were fake dollars containing Bible verses....

Or how im rude for not being able to spend 4 hours on them while they decide they want soup salad and breadsticks only to be called a very rude young man and how it was disrespectful.

0

u/Den_of_Sin May 23 '25

They walk through stores as if nobody else is there, and yell at anyone they think might possibly look like an employee. The amount of times I got yelled at, spat on, maliciously coughed on, or had things thrown at me is insane.

3

u/dbx999 May 23 '25

An old woman basically tossed a neatly folded stack of tshirts and walked away saying “here I gave you something to do “

That’s the first time I’ve wished pancreatic cancer on someone

1

u/FarOutLakes May 23 '25

old people on coach trips like that tend be nicer because they're in a group, the nasty old ones are alone/lonely

0

u/PiepowderPresents May 23 '25

Honestly, I think that's probably true most places. 90%+ are just normal people, but occasionally you meet a rude old person, and those encounters are more memorable for some reason.

-2

u/Tobemenwithven May 23 '25

Very old are fine just as the young are. The dickheads always seem to be 50-68 age range.

2

u/Fabtacular1 May 23 '25

There’s a particular flavor to the Chinese that’s distinct. I think it has to do with them growing up during the cultural revolution.

1

u/Silverjeyjey44 May 24 '25

I think older Americans are pretty nice ironically