The answer is kindness.  Even though older generations have left newer generations with a daunting responsibility to help make our world sustainable, they have also helped improve our environment. But how? 

After a lovely visit with Senior citizens at the Atria in Newburyport, the seniors and I gained insights into how much our society has progressed. 

Not only did we evaluate how much our society has progressed, but we were also able to connect on a deeper level.

One of those things was learning about my grandma’s past experiences. There is something about the elderly that just makes one feel good once they finish conversing with them. From talking to them, one can learn that although there are problems within our society, there are little things one can do daily to improve it.

Common Criticisms of Older Generations

What is to like about old people? People tend to dislike older citizens because of the stereotypes that they are grumpy, untechnical, and especially slow. I can even say from personal experience that they take a while to answer a simple question. But at least you can tell they care since they are thinking about their answer to make it insightful.

 Moving on, while older people are slow, another criticism is that they always seem to “wake up on the wrong side of the bed,” but there is nothing like hearing a shrill from an older relative who wakes up to an empty coffee pot to remember that they forgot to make it from the previous night. 

When I was given the opportunity to interview Jocelyn Travis, a junior at Pentucket Regional High School, she did not disappoint when telling a personal story from when her grandma was staying with her. The coffee was not made when she woke up, so she “yelled as loud as she could and ran around the house looking like a mad woman.” 

You heard it here, folks. Grannies do not like to wake up without coffee, but then again, who does?

Along with the societal belief that the elderly are crabby, people also tend to critique how slow older people drive. There is nothing like coming off the on-ramp on the highway and doing a nice merge into the first lane. This feeling is exhilarating for new drivers. However, there is one thing that can damage this moment; slow drivers.

You may be thinking there is a speed limit for a reason. That being said, the typical highway speed limit is 65 mph. It is well known that people can drive 5-15 mph over the speed limit on the highway, but sometimes you can get stuck behind a slow driver. When this happens to me, my dad says, “Go around that granny,” but even I can not get up to speed sometimes. We are all only human.

Not only do older people have a stereotype of being slow at driving, but they are also known to be bad with technology. 

When asking Pentucket Junior James Cordaro, for his opinion on how older people are with technology, he did not hesitate to reply, “It certainly depends how old they are. Personally, I think that the explanation for why people in their 80s are terrible with technology is simply because they did not grow up with it around. Therefore, this is all very new to them.”

Cordaro then painted a picture of what it was like when he would visit his grandfather when he was younger: “My grandfather used to ban phones in his house because he did not understand them.” Ironically, Cordaro’s grandfather had a cell phone.  

Generations have been changing year after year, so after considering it, it is up to you to decide what road you will follow. A standard lesson in life is to think before you speak because while you may be criticizing another person one day, you could be doing the same thing they are doing in the future.

Sometimes, it is best not to stress the little things; think about how while the person in front of you may be driving slowly, the sky looks so pretty, and their driving could save you from getting a ticket.

Like transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau once said, “Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. Men say that a stitch in time saves nine, and so they take a thousand stitches today to save nine tomorrow”(Walden 12).

Here, Thoreau depicts how humans live life hurriedly with nowhere to go. Furthermore, in certain situations it is okay to not be prepared because why do we always suspect the bad? Looking on the bright side in life brings more benefits then it does negatives. 

Importance of Appreciating Older Generations

People tend to act like they know almost anything and while they might know a lot, they can not ignore the fact that older generations are more experienced since they have seen more.

Although our society has progressed, we have also taken steps back. If you think about it, people used to commerce with strangers everywhere. For example, before cell phones people would talk to random people at the bus stop about little things like the weather or who won the recent sports game. Nowadays, people will sit on a bench waiting for a bus and go on their phone or put airpods in to blur out others around them. 

When asking 92 year old Dorothy, a senior at the Atria Assisted Living in Newburyport, if she feels like she has lived her life purposely, she did not hesitate to blow me away. When she was younger, Dorothy bought a mansion on the Cape with her husband, and they lived happily in it together, however she felt like something was missing.

Dorothy is able to empathize with others, and this makes her very admirable. One reason Dorothy feels she has lived her life to the fullest is because she “ turned [her] mansion into a homeless shelter for women”. There is so much hate in the world, but Dorothy chose to be the light at the end of someone’s dark tunnel.

In society one can either conform or not conform. If one chooses not to conform, they are allowing themselves to embrace their full individuality and choose their own path. This is exactly what Dorothy did. All it takes is one person to make a difference. Even in the grand scheme of things, no action is too small.

Although the younger generations have a lot of responsibilities to attend to in order to improve our world, older generations have proved to be role models for the future generations. We can see this through the elderly’s actions of kindness that younger generations need to catch up on.

Another lovely lady at the Atria Assisted Living in Newburyport is Janet. Janet spent most of her career being a gym teacher. Today, she is intrigued by all of the new sports available to students. She remembers that when she was younger, the only to experience sports was through summer camp.

Janet shared a touching story with me explaining how when she was a teacher, she remembers “walking through the halls and seeing a boy named Jose who was wearing a rainbow necklace,” Janet then went on to say how “I complimented his necklace and I remember seeing him grasp it in embarrassment”.

Two years later Jose walked up to her at a pride parade and she recalls him saying to her “the day you said you liked my necklace I was on my way home to commit suicide until you complimented it”. 

Out of the kindess of her heart, Janet complimented Jose because she genuinely liked his necklace. This shows how a compliment, smile, or holding the door open for someone can really make someones day, or in Janet’s case, someones life.

A main takeaway from my conversation with Janet is that one can not judge a book by its cover. No matter how unapproachable someone may appear, chances are they are a really nice person or have something going on. A bonus in this is that being nice to someone is free so there is no excuse not to be.

It also shows how older generations really do lead by example.

Progressions in Society Today 

Not only did I talk to Dorothy and Janet, but Shiela and Barbara also brought some of their insights into our interview. When talking about technological advances in society, all of the ladies recall how they got their home phone when they were about ten years old. 

This was an amazing moment in their lives because they could call their friends whenever they wanted to. However, one downside to the telephone was that anyone in their house could pick up the phone and eavesdrop on another family member’s conversation.

A lot of people would use the telephones to call people and talk to them when they found that they did not want to say it to their face. For example, Barbara recalls how for prom all of the girls would huddle by the home phone waiting for it to ring with a handsome guy on the other side of the line, ready to ask them to prom.

Today in society cell phones are more common than home phones. In fact, it is proven that 73% of households use cell phones more than landlines and only 27% use landlines more often. Cell phones are considered a progression in the elderly’s eyes because they can bring it anywhere with them and there is so much information readily available to them on the web.

People need to be patient with older generations because that is what helps people cooperate and work together. Dorothy knows about cooperation because when she is having conversations with her grandchildren, she often feels that they talk too fast and she ends up not getting the whole point of their story.

When this happens, Dorothy came up with a signal so that if her grandchildren are talking too fast she can put both hands up and bring them down slowly to show them to slow it down. The fact that her grandchildren comply with her and are able to show that they care really makes her feel secure with them.

Times are Changing

Our society tends to adapt to changes going on in the world, even the bad changes. When examining these changes within crime, the ladies at the senior home feel that patterns have changed.

Back in their day, mass shootings were extremely rare, so when they heard about it they would be shocked. However, nowadays they are more common and the more that occur, the more society views it as not so big and more of just a normal thing now. We need to start remembering that any crime is bad and we must stop normalizing things that are not basic.

While the older generations did not have shootings, they would more often have serial killers. Whereas if there was a serial killer now everyone would be taking serious precautions.

This shows how our world is ever changing in good and bad ways.

One thing that has remained the same in Dorothy’s eyes is how when you are younger, everything is about how the guy looks, not if he is going to college. Nichole, the activity manager at the Atria, remembers her grandmother telling her that the best guys are “ short, stubby, and shy”. 

Joan says how, “Rather then having a guy who is more attractive, I would rather the guy that has more to offer, and who is the kindest.” She is absolutely right in a sense that one can not judge others based on their appearance, instead, one must fall in love with the person for who they are.

That’s A Wrap

Overall, one can learn a lot from older generations, and one must always remember to adapt to others ways than criticizing them. Life is too short to live without being kind to someone else. That being said, try to find how you can make each and every person’s day for the better. While  complimenting or smiling at someone may not seem like a big deal, it can make someone’s day.