Why do people become more hateful as they grow older?

Question

I work in customer service and deal with people of all ages and backgrounds. It is very noticeable that the older the customer, the more likely they are to be hateful, bitter, and overly demanding. I am not exactly young (50s) and see this in my parents also. They were always easy going, but now in their 70s, they have grown very pessimistic and bitter.

Answer 1

If I were a bitter old man,

I would say that as the bell tolls its mournful tome to signal that the end is near, I conclude that the future is so short that it has no joy and the present is only a continual rehash of the past, which was full of broken dreams.

So, my only recourse is to think that it was not me who got me here. It was those damnable others, especially that customer service guy I'm talking to right now.

If life hasn't played itself out in the manner that we dreamed as a child, we may tend to become bitter and resentful of our fate during our waning years.

When we are young and vital, we can always rationalize away our mistakes and bad behavior by thinking that we have time to change.

That option slowly closes as we age.

Answer 2

Yea, some do seem a little on the grumpy side. They become impatient too. One then is how things are done today on the phone. Back in the day, they could call a company and a person answer and they were done. Today it the Button pushing game and this irritates them. I know my mother is 78 now and it like grump about everything and everyone. I try to tell her to find something positive about people. But, I do know sometimes the people we deal with can be a little disrespectful. My sister cashed a check at a bank for $100 and the lady did not give her the money (Not know all the details) but when my sister ask, are you going to give me my money? The lady got all up in the air saying she already had. So, my sister called the manager and said you need to check her drawer balance, and sure enough it was over by $100. The lady never apologized and neither did the manager.

Answer 3

I feel your pain.

I chalk it up to the fact that we live in a very spoiled country. People grow up with the notion that the world owes them something.

T.V. on demand lightening fast internet acess, people want what they want and they want it immeadiately.
It also doesn't help that the inevitable intrusion of REAL LIFE, makes then realize how futile all their complaining is. How eventually they will die, and that in the end most people are working to further their own ends and don't give a crap about anyone else.

Naturally even the most puffy chested indiviguals will feel small and stepped on. Everybody is getting fu#@ed by somebody else in this world.

The trick is to find somebody who has to take your crap. If you're a nobody, which most people are. Customer service reps are the ideal way to go. They have to put up with your crap. By job description anyway.

Restaurant servers, retail workers basicly anything that requires you to cater to a customers needs means, bend over Sally, your gunna be my girly tonight.

So I suppose it is frustrating for most people to grow up in a spoiled society as a nobody. But every now and then they can leave the screaming brat kids,their fat tick like wives and their miserable jobs. So they can yell at some person, who really has no choice in the matter.

It's so they can feel important, because they feel so disposable. So let them rant and rave and throw their lil tantrums.

They're nobodys, let them have their little moment of importance. :D

Answer 4

When the stress of life gets under our skin we become bitter. There are lots of challenges at different stages of life. In old age sometimes there isn't much to live for. Death weighs heavily on our minds. We don't have the physical strength we had and we do have more physical problems. Unless we discover the grace to deal with the problems of old age, we tend to become bitter at life and others. It's a matter of meeting what life has to offer at that stage with a grace rather than a bitterness.

Answer 5

Here are a few phrases to ponder on...
Life is fleeting.
Life asks so much but gives back only what it wants.
Good luck is such a greedy friend.

I think most of us dream far bigger than we achieve. Our desires and wishes get harder to reach as we approach the twilight of our lives. Failing health and seeing our own mortality and death causes many to become impatient and they demand more. All the unfinished and unappreciated actions of our lives makes many bitter. This constant struggle to survive takes a toll on those who have lived a long life. Acceptance and grace are virtues than many find hard to embrace as they stare death in the face.

Answer 6

Think about all of the ups and downs, turmoil and heartache a person in their 70;s or 80;s has endured. Not all elderly people get like this but I agree that many do. I think they also feel that they are treated as if they don;t matter anymore and that is sad to me. These are the people that we should be listening to and learning from the wisdom they have gained over that many years of life. Life takes its toll on all of us. The best we can do is to be polite and kind to all we encounter and try to put ourselves in their shoes. We will all, if we;re lucky, be where they are one day.

Answer 7

Because many people of that age lived a very hard life and all those bumps and bruises of existance wear down on someones mental character. No one has it easy and everyone has problems and over 70 years they add up.

Answer 8

I don't know,,,my mother is 82, and she has had the gift of humor sucked right out of her...maybe it's spending too much time with people their own age,,they forget how the youth act, and all they talk about is their own problems, aches and pains...they need to socialize more....I'm 51 myself, and feel like a school kid when I go to Florida to visit, they are all boring, as you say, bitter, downers....

Answer 9

It is not easy to be a senior citizen in a society like ours that worships youth. Life is tougher for older people, they face many medical problems and the loss of function in various areas, mind, body etc. Be patient, you will be old too someday.

Answer 10

You are drawing to yourself people who are more aware of what they lack and can no longer have than they are of their present abundance. This means you are on their same wave-length. If this is not appealing to you get to a higher consciousness by becoming more aware of all that you have and the unlimited capacity you have to enjoy it right now.