Why do (some) elderly complain so much?

What a load of absolute bollocks. I see older people making a lot more effort to be environmentally friendly than young people for a start. Who 'they'anyway? What age group are you talking about?

The moment they're the biggest cohort ever and consistently vote for things that benefit them but make life harder for their children. They own 55% of all property in the UK but want to say our morning coffee is the reason why we can't get onto the property ladder. Their state pension is higher than maternity pay but call us selfish for waiting longer or not having children at all. We work harder and longer and receive less reward. Meanwhile whilst we're making sustainable green choices to try and stop climate change irradiating the planet we live on they stubbornly refuse to do anything because it's inconvenient to them.

This is all true.

Well said. I see young people doing a lot of fucking up at the moment. It's older people who pick up litter, volunteer, run committees and look after grandkids so parents can work. The ones who remember what the world was like pre internet and mobiles when people actually talked to each other and ate together.

How, though? A baby born in, say 1953. At what age does that baby become responsible for the troubles that we have today? 15 years old? 25? 40? What could that baby do to change things?

Because that responsibility will descend on the equivalent ages today. With the same lack of logic.

I don’t think it’s Mavis from Stoke’s fault that the world is fucked. What a nasty, ageist comment. What are you doing to improve the world for the next generation?

They literally have nothing else to talk about. The world they knew is dead and gone and they've been left behind. I would feel sorry for them if they hadn't had f**cked up the world for the rest of us.

A lot of that is very true, certainly there were big pluses , free higher ed plus grants, much cheaper housing relative to earnings, far more social housing, a lot of working class towns were more vibrant even if a bit scruffy, non contrib pensions more common, overtime usually paid etc - however if I balance it up ( and I’m 64) a holiday abroad once a year wasa big deal, we never had these short breaks to centre parks, butlins etc or paid for holiday fun clubs, several of our houses didn’t have central heating all over , eating out was a birthday and wedding anniversary treat only apart from the odd drinks at littlewoods cafe , very few retired early that I knew of ( although age was lower) it was known as dropping dead, didn’t know anyone with a second home. And I came from a lower middle class home with a very high earning manual labour trade dad and mum working 12 hours week for many years.

Whereas the Gen X and Boomers I come across (generally) fixate on the things that were hard for them and ignore the things which may have been easier. Maybe millennials will change and be like this too in 20 years.

You see, I find that younger people only see that boomers had cheaper housing and more stable jobs, and totally ignore the other hardships they faced, and proclaim their lives to have been “easy”.

Millennials/Gen Z see modern-day living standards, with holidays, labour-saving devices, abundant comparatively cheap food (today 11% of household income vs 26% in 1970), protections from sexual abuse in work (and indeed from your husband!), explosion in car ownership, etc and think that’s how it has always been. They (understandably) complain about lack of jobs (Boomers also did face the same challenges at times) and high house prices but fail to acknowledge that they have had the most indulged, privileged childhoods in history and lived like Kings in comparison to many boomers/silent generation.

There are pros and cons to each generation and they all should be acknowledged.

Could this be because your life is not hard!?

Depends what you mean as old! I don’t consider myself as old although I will be 70 this year. I have an active social life and certainly don’t talk/moan about my medical conditions or how hard my life is.

I think millennials as a whole are (currently) very sympathetic to the generations coming after them (Gen Z and Alpha). I am a millennial and most people my age seem to agree that some things are difficult for us but it will be harder for the younger generations. They may have had some things slightly better but I don’t envy them.

Whereas the Gen X and Boomers I come across (generally) fixate on the things that were hard for them and ignore the things which may have been easier. Maybe millennials will change and be like this too in 20 years.

There’s also a big emphasis on mental health awareness and the ‘be kind’ mantra among these younger generations which I think also plays a part.

I’m not old, but I am disabled. I have some weeks where I don’t leave the house or see anyone other than medical appointments. If a friend rings and asks what I’ve been up to, I have nothing to report. I could say “I had a neurology appointment on Monday, I had to go for bloods on Wednesday, and a breast check on Thursday” but I just say nothing because I don’t want to be that person that regales you with their appointments and says “I haven’t been out all week because I’ve been in too much pain and I haven’t had more than two hours sleep a night”. It can be very scary, boring and lonely.

It will come to most of you one day, and you might wish you’d had a bit more empathy!

I agree because it seems that we’re all, whatever our ages, preoccupied with ourselves and our own difficulties. Probably correctly. In describing the faults of others, people compare their own lives and troubles, and are then doing exactly the same thing themselves that they complain of in others.

I also notice that there’s a lot of othering, that goes on. It’s never “some of us” when we’re younger, or “as we get older”.

In respect of older people complaining, I recall the observation of poor Boethus, that the greatest misfortune is to have known happiness.

Theyre finished with that, and have lots of time. ...... and lots of pain ....

It’s just something to talk about, worry about.

No time to think about these things when you’re working, raising kids, running a home.

Their finished with that, and have lots of time.

Sounds like you’re pretty healthy. Why would you be wallowing in your health issues if you’re energetic and paddle boarding?

So she answers you but it’s not what you want to hear?

Ask my mother about her friend/neighbours etc and it’s all about the illnesses/operation

That's because you have asked and she has answered honestly because that is what is happening to her friends and neighbours because that is what life is like for many older people.
Don't ask if you can't face the truth.

And the mum who is walking 4 miles a day is doing so because she is lucky to be well enough, not because of some intrinsic worth that others should emulate .... many older people do not have that luxury They fight on and do their best in the face of the odds.

I have mixed views on this. DF can get stuck in a very negative mindset but he’s dealing with a debilitating condition which I would struggle to deal with so I’m not surprised that he wants to rant a fair bit.

And I agree with the pp who noted how difficult life is now in many respects compared to thirty years ago. When you can barely get a GP appointment, your bank has closed (Barclays has one actual bank in Liverpool now - one, and Natwest and HSBC don’t have many more), and every company you deal with complicates things, it is understandable how negative you can become. PIL are in their early 80s and IT literate but have struggled recently to deal with the repeated cancellation of medical appointments.

My mother (late 70s) had a DVT and is now on life long warfarin. She still walks 4 miles a day with the dog, but considers herself 'disabled'.

Me and my DB both had DVTs in our 40s (shit genes), continue to work, i didn't take a day off sick, also my DB had it by far the worst with multiple PEs as well.

It's some weird kind of loss of perspective, my mother is widowed, so i imagine too much time alone and time on her hands too.

She's always been a difficult and strange woman, I'm estranged. I get the highlights from my Aunt, who is a couple of years older than her and equally baffled by the situation and self pity.

We all know they probably had the best of life compared to us younger folk

I don't know what's worse OP, your ageism or your ignorance.

‘Even at 64’??
Am 65.
Just driving back now from the south of Italy
where I’ ve been paddleboarding for a few weeks. Chatted with lots of strangers in French and Italian and really enjoyed the trip. Going home to see my new boyfriend and meet up with friends for lots of activities.

Will not be wallowing in misery with them about ‘health issues’.

Have no patience with this.
Ask my mother about her friend/neighbours etc and it’s all about the illnesses/operations etc.
There is a whole world out there that c we can now access from our own homes if housebound.

Its draining though when its constant moaning. I know with my own mam its too much time on her hands to be thinking..