To start a thread for grumpy old ladies who think things aren't what they used to be

[susanstryingterm]

I'm probably a bit older than the average age on here, and totally emphasised with someone who said, in slightly despairing tones on a thread yesterday 'I sometimes think nobody knows how to behave anymore'.

So:

I think children should stand up for older (60+) people on public transport.
I think weddings should be a 'cut your cloth to suit your measure' exercise.
I think children should be called in by 9pm at latest during the Summer, so that neighbours can get some consideration.

[londonrach]

Lol.. Can i flip this. Just had an elderly lady in who said things are so much better now. No longer do you eat the stogie food on the 50s, 60s and 70s and you dont pay for a doctor like you did pre nhs.

[MissBattleaxe]

I totally agree about the weddings thing. I think we're missing the point of weddings. They used to be big inclusive family celebrations and now they seem to be exclusive cocktail parties.

I always make my kids stand up for older people and I think all kids should be non-hooliganny outside reasonable hours. i.e not before 9am and not after 9pm.

[WorraLiberty]

I think parents should stop ferrying their able bodied children around in cars, unless it's actually necessary.

If something is important, I think people should actually speak instead of sending texts/emails and then getting arsey when they get a late reply.

Parents should stop giving their children snacks just to keep them 'quiet and occupied', when they're being taken somewhere boring. There are enough adults addicted to boredom/emotional eating as it is, without setting another generation up to be the same.

[MissBattleaxe]

I also think that teenagers ( in general, not all) are very entitled and cannot write a letter.

[Theknacktoflying]

I am very much cut your cloth to circumstances person.
Things aren't what they use to be (and thank heavens it isn't) but at the same time we have been robbed of common courtesy and manners.

I have often told my husband that when I need a stick I am going to ask for one with a cattle prod on the end for all those im eciles who stand in the way staring at their screens in the middle of the pavement or obliviously carry on listening to their too loud music through their earphones.

My list is also starting with the simple things - rude cyclists taking up the narrow roads and people not clearing up after their pet ...


I have a long list .....

[ollieplimsoles]

I've only been around for 26 years and already the world has gone to the dogs...

I second the kids out til 9pm thing, I would also like to add that children are taken to Mcdonald's/ burger king/ kfc too often now! Its like the 'done' thing when out shopping with your DCs were I live. Back in my day, we only went to these places on very special occasions (birthday parties/school parties) and they were very 'kiddy' places- now they look more grown up! D:

[susanstryingterm]

I also think music in restaurants, shops and other public places should be low and unobtrusive.

[Itsraininginbaltimore]

I'm checking in. I am going to like this thread, I can just tell.

I think people should stop with the very ostentatious, public mawkish mourning and be a bit more dignified about it, like wot we used to be. Stiff upper lip and all that.

I think people should stop naming their baby and announcing the name on facebook and referring to the baby by name and showing everyone close up 4D scan photos of it 2.5 months before it's even born, so by the time it arrives everyone is already bored rigid by the whole thing.

I think people should stop throwing 'graduations' and 'proms' with expensive dresses and stretch limos and all that nonsense for 11 YEAR OLDS LEAVING PRIMARY SCHOOL


I think anyone who writes in text speak for anything other than a text should have their writing hand cut off and stuffed up their arse. In fact I'd prefer it if they didn't use text speak in texts either. It's not necessary with these sophisticated phones and really good predictive text.

[OrangeVase]

So many good things:
Better food, better understanding of so many things, more opportunities for children, maternity pay/leave, wearing trousers, mobile phones and the internet. Inclusive, tolerant culture, shops open all the time, (Sundays used to be dire!)

So many bad things: loss of community - everyone just out for what they can get. Loss of council housing for working people, kids no longer as free, too many cars now, houses as money not homes, greed, real greed. Litigation/blame culture - always someone else's fault, accusatory - (he's racist, sexist, disablist, not allowed to say/do this), etc.

Personally I think the teens now are fab. They care about the environment, they are good to thier friends. They have to work so, so hard for anything and their world is public. If they screw up it is all over the internet. If they want a Saturday job in the local shop they have to fill in ten pages of application forms including a personal statement and then compete with thousands of others, (including highly educated EU nationals who will work for low pay and just want to learn English).

[ollieplimsoles]

I'm with you on the facebook and babies thing Itsrainging drives me mad!

[OrangeVase]

Baltimore - agree with all yours! Especially public mourning - and flowers everywhere, rotting.

[WhetherOrNot]

accusatory - (he's racist, sexist, disablist, not allowed to say/do this), etc.

This I find particularly trying - especially on MN it's all the time.

[flora717]

Balloon releases / lantern releases. Littering used to be frowned on. Please stop that.

[susanstryingterm]

I think people should stop banging on about their 'rights' and 'entitlements' all the time and sometimes just think about what is considerate to others.

I think always looking around for someone to blame and sue instead of accepting that sometimes accidents happen is greedy and grabby.

[OrangeVase]

Petitioning, internet campaigns, jumping on the bandwagon, whipping up a storm of indignation or "support" for things that really are nothing to do with you at all!

(Serious issues, yes, the internet is a useful tool - but you know what I mean I hope)

[OrangeVase]

Language police. ( My elderly mother's carers are fantastic, wonderful, caring - but, when not using her name directly they don't know how to refer to her they talk to me about "the service user!!)

[gnushoes]

I'd really like it if people allowed others to pass on the pavement rather than thinking it's their God given right to walk 3 or 4 abreast - or have a kid on a scooter or whatever - and force the oncoming walker onto the road. Drives me nuts. I have now grown elbows and refused to be pushed off the pavement if those coming the other way could pull in/walk behind each other for a moment.

[OrangeVase]

Actually - just realised the time - must get my plastic rainhood and wheely shopping trolley and totter off to my allotment! See you later.

[ResponsibleAdult]

This is a thread I entirely agree with:

• people not looking before they cross the road (tired of life?)
  
• head phones in constantly (no spatial awareness)
  
• stopping on the left hand side of the escalator (some people are in a rush)
  
• not sending Thank You notes after youve been entertained, even just a
  

text to recognise someones efforts is better than nothing

• forgetting to say please and thank you
  
• not doing alternate lane merge (not brain surgery)
  
• undercutting on a motorway (bloody dangerous)
  
• leaving detritus all over a restaurant table (just because youve a toddler
  

is no excuse to trash a restaurant)

• dropping litter (who do you think is going to pick it up)
  
• spitting (totally unhygienic)
  
• not picking up after your dog in a public place (called fouling for a reason)
  
• music in shops (Sainsbury's, just why??)
  
• Facebook, in effect papping yourself (stop oversharing, I'm not interested)
  
• selfies (triple whammy- vain, conceited, and an opportunty to brag)
  
• crying at the drop of a hat in public (heres a grip, use it)
  
• text speak in written form ie in a paper (The Sunday Times fgs)
  
• nappy changing in public (use the facilities, or plan ahead)
  
• stag/hen weeks (haven't your guests spent enough already?)
  
• Twitter, for twits, no one what your doing or thinking, or they'd have called
  
• competive materialism ( pg 70 Grazia, tunic £1,202, its not aspirational
  

or inspirational, it makes people feel excluded)

Over entitiled, self centred, stupidity. The world is not you centric.

Think of others, behave reasonably, and remember your manners, its not hard.

[MistressMia]

That people should get to know each other first properly and spend more than a few weeks or months together before 'starting a family' / falling pregnant.

So many car crash relationships both on the threads here and real life. Women rushing headlong from one failed relationship to another. Often they already have kids and I wonder what's the big rush to have another so quickly with someone else.

[ResponsibleAdult]

Apologies for typos, annoyed just typing it.

[thejoysofboys]

Over-reliance on cars. 40 years ago you'd think twice of taking a job more than 5 miles away as you'd have to get there on the bus, more than likely.

Nowadays people travel hundreds of miles per week just to commute to work (and what's more, their employers expect it). It's a complete waste of natural resources all in the name of so-called efficiency (e.g. closing small local offices and businesses to co-locate them in a large central office.

What it does result in is a shite work/life balance and a high carbon footprint.

[LarrytheCucumber]

I think music in shops should be banned. Many's the time I have left a shop without buying because I couldn't make a choice because of the music. Sends me straight into the arms of Amazon.
Libraries should have a quiet afternoon so people who like to browse quietly can do so.
Children should give up their seats to adults on buses. We had to and it didn't do us any harm. And yes, buses were very crowded when I was a child because it was the primary means of transport for most people.
I think people should stop banging on about their 'rights' and 'entitlements' all the time and sometimes just think about what is considerate to others. Well said.
I really don't understand why people say 'We can't afford to get married.' How much does it cost to nip along to the register office? My DILs had a church wedding and then had their reception at home for their closest family (admittedly there was a war on) but they were perfectly happy with that. It certainly didn't stop them from having a long and happy marriage.

[nattarji]

marking my place. Love this thread.

[sweetgrape]

Orangevase that's awful but so typical of today's pc society. Why can't they just say "your mum"