"You kids, get OFF my lawn!"....
....or why "old" people are grumpy.
Speaking for myself, I sometimes resent not having some of the "abilities" I see younger people have today.
1. I wish there had been a pension/401K when I started working 40+ years ago. I was a nurse; I guess I didn't need one.
2. I would have loved to have a family medical leave to use when my daughter was born. I could have saved up sick time and vacation and stayed home with her longer. As it was, she was born in December, I went back to work every weekend in February and then full time in March.
3. Again with the Family Medical Leave - maybe I could have used my own sick days to cover the times I stayed home with Heather who would seizure with a high temperature. I couldn't and I was disciplined for excess absenteeism the year she had infected ears almost monthly. In fact the assistant director of nursing for the hospital told me to "leave her with a neighbor" so I could go to work. The conumdrum for nurses still is: why should I leave MY sick family member to go take care of someone else's sick family member.
4. I would have loved to have my nursing school classes continue to be credited towards a college degree - as most are now. I went to school for three years with only 2 weeks off a year - but those credits were only good for so many years. And I had no money to go back to school - not at the grand salary of 4000/yr - gross.
I think as we get older we see how society has progressed and we (us oldies) may sometimes feel left out or that we had to somehow "work harder" for what we accomplished - if we feel we've accomplished anything.
So that's why the Grumpy Old Man may be yelling at the kids on his lawn - maybe he's forgotten that he had more than just someone's lawn to play on. Maybe he's forgotten that his playing fields are now paved and covered with foreclosed homes and empty businesses.
Maybe Grump Old People should just get out the lawn chair and lemonade and watch the kids play on their lawns - or even join in.
Maybe one day the kids will stop and listen to the stories of "the olden days" - or maybe not - but at least they'll be in the sunshine and not inside in the gloom of memories.
Speaking for myself, I sometimes resent not having some of the "abilities" I see younger people have today.
1. I wish there had been a pension/401K when I started working 40+ years ago. I was a nurse; I guess I didn't need one.
2. I would have loved to have a family medical leave to use when my daughter was born. I could have saved up sick time and vacation and stayed home with her longer. As it was, she was born in December, I went back to work every weekend in February and then full time in March.
3. Again with the Family Medical Leave - maybe I could have used my own sick days to cover the times I stayed home with Heather who would seizure with a high temperature. I couldn't and I was disciplined for excess absenteeism the year she had infected ears almost monthly. In fact the assistant director of nursing for the hospital told me to "leave her with a neighbor" so I could go to work. The conumdrum for nurses still is: why should I leave MY sick family member to go take care of someone else's sick family member.
4. I would have loved to have my nursing school classes continue to be credited towards a college degree - as most are now. I went to school for three years with only 2 weeks off a year - but those credits were only good for so many years. And I had no money to go back to school - not at the grand salary of 4000/yr - gross.
I think as we get older we see how society has progressed and we (us oldies) may sometimes feel left out or that we had to somehow "work harder" for what we accomplished - if we feel we've accomplished anything.
So that's why the Grumpy Old Man may be yelling at the kids on his lawn - maybe he's forgotten that he had more than just someone's lawn to play on. Maybe he's forgotten that his playing fields are now paved and covered with foreclosed homes and empty businesses.
Maybe Grump Old People should just get out the lawn chair and lemonade and watch the kids play on their lawns - or even join in.
Maybe one day the kids will stop and listen to the stories of "the olden days" - or maybe not - but at least they'll be in the sunshine and not inside in the gloom of memories.
posted by Mitzi at Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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