Why You SHOULDN'T Respect Your Elders

I know this sounds a bit ridiculous, right? We're all taught to always respect our elders, and who says we shouldn't? Me, I say we shouldn't. Respect and age do not go hand in hand.

Why shouldn't you give a one year old the same amount of respect as the eighty year old? They're both in diapers and struggling to walk, right?You're not going to push either down on the playground, so what's the difference? A lot of people have this idea that you should respect your elders more than someone your age or younger because they are older and have been around longer. True (about the 'been around longer' part). However, that doesn't necessarily mean they know better. That doesn't necessarily mean they deserve to be respected.

Respect is something that is earned. It's a lot like trust. I will always try to respect and trust you no matter what until you've done me wrong or until you have insulted me or something/someone I care about. I'm not saying you shouldn't respect your elders, however you shouldn't only respect them because they are your elders. You should respect them because they are human beings.

I'm so sick of people that are older than me that think I should give them more respect than they give me. Why do you think I don't deserve the same amount of respect as you? Why do you think so highly of yourself to think I don't deserve to be treated like a human being?

In order for me to be able to respect someone, they must in turn respect me. I don't think anyone, old or young, deserves respect if they can't give respect. I was once in Walmart with my dad and there was an old man walking to a locked door and my dad informed the man that it was in fact locked for the night. The man then decided to be rude and basically cuss my dad out. This man did not deserve any sort of respect my dad was trying to give him.

Elders often think that the younger generations are "screwed up" or whatever they're saying. But, aren't our elders the ones that set up the road to us being who we are? This attitude doesn't make me want to respect you.

When an elder says something ignorant as "these kids have no respect anymore" that reflects on you. You raised us, you taught us. We didn't just end up like this for no reason. Your generation taught us to fight for our freedom, to speak our minds, to follow our dreams and not let anything stop us. But, then you come to us and tell us we have no respect? I find that funny because it's not that we don't have respect, it's more like some of these older generations don't have respect. I don't care if you think we are children still, I don't deserve to be treated like one. I don't care if you think my ideas aren't good enough, I'll show you that they are. The "olden days" are over and I don't, as a woman, live to serve you. That's not my job and I'm pretty tired of older men telling me that I need to learn how to cook because I'm going to have to cook for my man someday. This world is so much different from what it used to be and my generation and generations younger than mine are about to fix all of your generations mistakes.

Disclaimer: This is not what I think in the professional world. Oftentimes in the professional world, the people with the most experience and knowledge is of the older generation. Which I will say the older generations often get left out because companies are looking for younger people to work for them. These opinions are for those older people that cut in line because they think they can and for those older generations that often think that the younger generations are messed up. Also, this is a rant.