Kids Nowadays!

One time when I was babysitting, my niece burst into the room announcing that her brother had “said the ‘S’ word”. I quickly ran through my vocabulary of curse words mentally, and prepared myself to discipline my wayward nephew. Being the dutiful Auntie, I called my young nephew into the room and sternly asked him “Did you say the ‘S” word?” He hemmed, hawed, shuffled his feet, and shrugged his shoulders. “What did you say?” I demanded in my best “Grown-Up-Disciplining-Small-Child” voice. Finally, he looked up with tears in his eyes and whispered…….”shut up”. Aren’t you proud of me? I didn’t even crack a smile! I realized that to these little children, the word “shut up” was the equivalent of swearing. Because my age and life experiences had taught me that there were so many other words that I would considered swearing, I found this innocence amusing. We saw the world a little differently.

Now, many years later, I realize that we all look at the world a little differently than the next person. Whether it’s a small thing—dinner vs lunch vs dinner vs supper, or whether it is on bigger things—when is something too much trouble, or too stupid to bother with.  Different perspectives on life! I have to come clean here, I don’t do well with the lack of common sense in others. Of course this assumes that I  have common sense, which could occupy hours of debate. I have a tendency to be less tolerant with people that I feel should “know better”.  My employment background has been working with people who have developmental disabilities and those who have sustained traumatic brain injuries. My patience always seemed to just “be there”. It wasn’t a conscious decision for me, it was simply the way I dealt with them. But when I look at the people I come into contact with outside of work, I’ve taken a step back to examine my own behavior and am aghast. I find that my intolerance for what I perceive as “snippy” attitudes and general lack of respect really boils down to—I’m getting old!

How do the two relate? Do you remember when you were younger and some adult started their sentence with “Kids nowadays….” Yup! I’m right there! I think every generation has endured the scornful looks and words of admonishment from the old fogies. Whether it was our choice of music, way of dressing or distinct phraseology, we raised eyebrows. But now in my work, I have found that eyebrows have fallen back in place and the Generation Gap is hardly a splinter. You’ve heard the phrase: Time Marches On, well I’d like to clue you in, Time Also Catches Up. I am now a part of the old fogies saying “Kids nowadays”. A crowd that I swore I’d never be part of. So to the KIDS of every generation, just a reminder—keep a civil tongue in your mind’s voice. Someone is probably looking at you as one of the old fogies.

Jane Murakami

Golden Years Planning

(507) 403-3875

Www.goldenyearsinfo.com