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AIBU?

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Original poster

Is the whole world of middle aged people just really vacuous now?

239 replies

Sunbury1986 · 18/01/2015 18:02

Hi all, I'm no academic so I'm not talking about education in the formal sense. I just feel that everyone I meet and talk to, many are educated and hold positions of title and status, are really dull to talk to. the main conversations seem to be about property prices, their "job title", which is hardly the brightest way to introduce yourself unless you are really status anxious, or which bloody Russell Group uni their child is applying to, and obviously if their/your child doesn't make a Russell Group they are going to be lucky to get a job in a Pound Shop. AIBU? Or do I need to (re) step away from people I know? Wink I believe many succeed with out a RG uni education.

OP posts:
Instituteofstudies · 18/01/2015 22:51

I'm 53. I have a lot of fun and a lot of laughs with my friends (who are nearly all older than me.)

I don't own a house, so maybe my house-owning friends just don't discuss house prices when I'm around, and the minute I'm out the room, they get the property guides out?! I will ask them.

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:07

i don't care if people went to a russel group university (though i have noticed they have to mention it on mn if they have) and i am not a spring chicken myself but can think of lots of campaigns mn could get behind

the older generation in the UK do not need a lot of middle class harpies women pleading their cause. refugee children from syria would be a cause worth getting behind. and free speech on the internet should be welcomed even if it offends you, we should be proud of mn being open to all views without some bloody campaign stopping it.

i despair of this site sometimes, it's so great yet will become like all the others. :(

Bowchickawowow · 18/01/2015 23:14

I didn't know I went to a russell group uni until MN. I can't say it has added anything to my life.

Haven't RTFT but older people in the UK certainly do need people championing them, I work for an older people's charity and there are real issues, especially in terms of access to health and social care services. But I am guessing that this campaign isn't perhaps so focussed?!

ghostyslovesheep · 18/01/2015 23:14

it's sad if some people can only focus on one campaign at a time I agree - thankfully lots of people can get behind all those causes - so that's good

nice use of the word harpies there though - I'm sure you in no way meant that to be offensive or get more attention a rise out of people

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:22

maybe you could start a mn campaign against the use of greek mythology and how it relates to women now ghosty, sure that would make you feel better

QuickSilverFairy · 18/01/2015 23:23

I'm almost fifty and cannot imagine a conversation in which i would trot out my job "title", uni degree or price of home. I am the mother of three children ranging from 18 to 7. My own friends are somewhere from mid thirties to early seventies. We discuss politics, sex, children, relationships...whatever is happening in our lives. I'm guessing you either don't have very good conversational skills or just know some very boring people.

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:25

i just have always seen mn as a site people could use to say what they want, if they offend it was always 'gently' pointed out, yet in my rl world people don't have that boundary.

i would hate mn to become a site where people had to watch what they posted, but it is becoming more and more pc but not in a constructive helpful way.

it's grim

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:26

mn is becoming a very unwelcoming site

Hakluyt · 18/01/2015 23:29

mn is becoming a very unwelcoming site"

Well it certainly feels that way if you are over 45! Or even over 40.........

ghostyslovesheep · 18/01/2015 23:30

although by 45 I am thick skinned enough not to give a shit or to rise to PA bullshit x

ilovesooty · 18/01/2015 23:33

I often think people use the term PC to give them licence to say what they like however much it might offend other people.

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:34

i am 46 this year

usualsuspect333 · 18/01/2015 23:34

Some people couldn't wait to post about their degrees on this thread .Maybe the OP has a point Wink

ghostyslovesheep · 18/01/2015 23:35

always got time for a critique of 'PC gorn mad'

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:35

oh fgs what is wrong with free speech?

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:37

what does stuart lee say then? don't have time to watch the link

ilovesooty · 18/01/2015 23:37

Free speech?It comes with responsibilities. That's as lazy a comment as those related to "PC",imo.

ghostyslovesheep · 18/01/2015 23:37

nothing

ghostyslovesheep · 18/01/2015 23:39

as long as you accept that free speech also encompasses other peoples right to challenge what you say

or is free speech saying something and then getting upperty if people object - surely it's a 2 way street?

ilovesooty · 18/01/2015 23:39

Perhaps you'd like to throw in "offenderati" for good measure southeastastra.

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:40

oh god what is so bad about saying what you feel/want

lordy, christ, allah i have no responsibiltes to anyone on here...

southeastastra · 18/01/2015 23:41

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ilovesooty · 18/01/2015 23:41

as long as you accept that free speech also encompasses other peoples right to challenge what you say

Absolutely ghosty

An acceptance that hasn't been granted to me by some other posters today.

ghostyslovesheep · 18/01/2015 23:43

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GallicIsCharlie · 18/01/2015 23:44

I do not accept that widespread discrimination, oppression or harrasment against middle aged people exists or is as much of a problem as discrimination against BME groups or the disabled.

It doesn't matter whether you "accept" it or not, it is a fact. And, actually, I can't be arsed fighting against it for the benefit of the same ungrateful sods who don't appreciate what my generation's battles against sexism, racism, and so on did for them. Just sit there being smug until it hits you.

OP, you don't seem terribly good at small talk Grin Just keep chucking other topics out until one grabs the others' attention. They're all probably wishing somebody would!