Senior Citizens
...r citizens who deserve respect, because they’re knowledgeable mentors with much experience (Latino, 1). I think all grandparents tell stories that start out like, “ I remember back in the day…” Kids these days don’t listen and don’t respect what their grandparents are telling them. They are trying to teach their grandkids lessons on life, so they won’t make the same mistakes as their grandparents did. All grandparents are trying to gain respect as mentors from their grandchildren. Senior citizens sometimes don’t even respect themselves and their individuality. They sometimes have a hard time accepting the terms of aging and they have doubt in their life. For Example, I went out to eat at my favorite restaurant with my grandparents. We arrived at the Old Country Buffet or as I call it, “ The Hog Trough”, and waited in line for about forty-five minutes. After this exceedingly long wait in line we were at the cash register. My grandpa said, “senior citizen”, my grandma said, “adult”, and I said, “fifteen years old”. My grandpa got the senior discount, grandma paid full price and I received the children’s price. Now this was very odd and troubling to me at the time, because my grandma and grandpa were of the same age. Now I understand that grandpa had accepted and respected the fact that he was a senior citizen. However my grandma was ashamed of the status. Athletic events, advertisements, television shows, careers, and jobs are just a few examples of cultural reflections on a youth oriented culture. Athletic events may be for all ages, but what age do they mostly originate from? The athletes are young and the spectators are even younger people that look up to the athletes. At the games, most money is made off of younger people. Kids buy the toys/souvenirs and people in the lower twenties buy alcohol. Advertisements and television shows are youth oriented, because younger people pay attention to the ads and TV shows closer than the older people do. Also, for the majority, younger people watch more TV than older people. Careers and jobs are typically youth oriented. When people get old they tend to retire and then tend to collect social security. Cultural reflections such as these tend to be based on a youth oriented culture. Senior citizens don’t receive the respect they deserve from people in society today, because of the youth oriented culture. C...