Please advice?

Question

What is the best way to bridge the gap between the elderly and the younger generation specially in todays' times when the younger generation wants to be helpful and caring towards its elders?

Answer 1

I did not know that the younger generation wants to be helpful and caring towards the elderly. I see indifference and neglect.
When people become elderly I feel the young sees this as that they have nothing more to contribute so they basically ignore them unless they are pushed by their parents to call occasionally or to ask for money.
So to bridge that gap, visiting, sharing their precious (?) time with the elderly, listening to them even though they may tell the same stories over and over, just give them your time and some attention. They still have feelings and could be like me. I'm a 20 Y.O. trapped inside a 52 Y.O. body.

My great grandfather was a ball. I loved to watch him watch TV. He never could grasp the concept of TV or he was a bit senile. If John Wayne got killed in a movie and the next week he was in another movie Pa would say,"well lookie there, that guy died last week and he's back again."
He loved to play the harmonica for us. He lived to be 98 and I feel that he died knowing he was treasured while here on this earth. Time, Tolerance, Love.

Answer 2

I thank you for wanting to be helpful and caring to the older generation. I'm 51 and I've visited folks at a nursing home for several years now. The most important thing I learned is that each person, reguardless of age, is an individual. They need to be treated as such and not clumped into an 'age group' with expectations of being like everyone else in that group. They've all had different lives, feelings, needs, etc. and they have already done or been through many of the things you are going through or will one day. Older folks have a wealth of information to share if you will let them.

Answer 3

I don't know what age group you are in, but the best way to help bridge that gap is "respect". I'm 50 and what I see more than anything else from the "younger generation" is the lack of respect for their elders. Kids nowadays seem rude, disrespectful, spoiled, and arrogant. But I'm sure that's said of every "new" generation. From personal experience, a young person who shows me respect gets treated much better in return. "Respect" and "liking" are NOT the same thing.

Answer 4

Spend a little time each week as a volunteer in a facility where they reside. You will learn a whole new appreciation for the elderly. They are fountains of knowledge and stories. You may have to hear the same ones each time you go but they enjoy telling it over and over so just listen.

Answer 5

I really appreciate your question.....but from the senior stand point.....I haven't seen much of any indication of young people having any concern for the elderly. Except how to get rid of them...how to take advantage of them...or gee...if I want a job it's to take care of the old codgers and then despise every minute of it.

We aren't all that different. Getting older doesn't mean we feel differently about things or have all the answers. Or that we are so stupid we don't know our butt from a hole in the ground.,

I used to get so upset when a little kid would come to the counter to order another burger or ask for a packet of ketsup and be ignored.....just like now where they push the old aside as if what they want isn't worth the attention.

No one wants to feel vunerable.....I don't care what age you are. No one wants to be ignored or abused no matter what age you are. Everyone wants to share what they know no matter what age they are. Everyone wants to be heard, acknowledged and appreciated....no matter what age they are.

But it's also the same question I think almost every generation asks......

I love the questions when they ask did you do something against your parents? Did you have sex before marraige? I don't know why people think that once you've gotten old you were never onry or ever worried about your looks or ever felt insecure etc.....they make it sound like we are different than everyone else.

I almost in a way feel like a teenager....old enough to know but not old enough to be taken seriously. It's either "hormones" for the young or "dementia" for the old folks.

Remember the phone commercial where the pre-teen is just babbling? I realize sometimes elders are like that. Think of those conversations....oh gaud..he looked at and me then I breathed and then Ashley came up and she winked at him and I pretended not to notice, but then Jermy walked up and he said....no...no...she said....blah blah.

Not much different than....well...went to dinner...she had the chicken...no, no...I had the beef....well then there was cake and pie...no there wasn't....there wasn't any cake...remember they were out.

A young girl worries about zits...an older one worries about wrinkles. A young girl worries about what's happening to their body....so does an old one. One's sore breast might mean pregnancy while another is cancer.. crazy hormones can mean puberty or menopause.

Answer 6

I agree with Gary, the young too often think everythings just for them. They think we were born old and know nothing, when in fact we probably know a darn sight more than they do, we were their age once and went through the same things they are now doing, and so much disrespect, there's just no need for it.

Answer 7

I am 56 and I agree with Gary V. Respect is what I see missing with most of the youngest today. Patience is also missing. I, for one, don't move as fast as I once could.