I'm surprised we don't take them out back and shoot them - A satiric view of old age.

Having been recently slammed over my advanced age of 53, I turn softly, and softly I reply - Get the hell out of my face, kid! The venom in the tone of the Berkeley kid was unmistakable. Apparently he didn't like something I wrote; but he didn't attack my words, he attacked me and my age. And my picture! I was brought up to not be so rude. I suppose there was a time when I was judgmental about everything and anything, but my God I couldn't have been as bad as holier than thou Berkeley, where the ivory towers protect the sensitive delicates from the dirty ugly real world, and where righteousness sparkles in the sun.

Truly I've always been amazed that the elderly aren't taken out and shot, especially in the United States, where youth is worshiped and there is no time for anything that's not moving at top speed. Let's look at the cost effectiveness aspect. We can have all their food, possessions, and money once they are effectively out of the way. I can hear the wheels clicking all over the world as the pennies are counted and I'm forced to realize for the first time that it might be a good thing that the ruling party isn't overly young.

Times are hard, so getting rid of all this deadweight just leaves more for everyone else. That is a benefit. Also that's the way the world is today. I was taught by my parents to share; but today the grabbiest get all the gravy. Honesty is still taught to the tiny tots, but let's be truthful, honesty is laughable in our modern culture. To get ahead you have to be merciless. You walk on people, claw and scratch, and kick your own mother if that's what it takes.

Also the knowledge thing is another consideration. Only the young computer kids have true knowledge and they know it. I have to wonder, though, about the tabula rasa aspect. To put anything on a blank slate calls for a deeper understanding. It is true that the young can find out anything they need to know by means of research, of course they can.. Too bad they don't have the sense to use it in conjunction with experience and thoughtfulness, maybe even respect.

I was taught to be respectful to other people, not only my elders, but everyone. My greatest comfort is in knowing that the little bastard who slammed me will be old and decrepit some day. I don't even have to wish it on him. I hope he thinks of me every once in a while when he's crotcheting around and bumping into every little thing. And I hope he thinks of me when he realizes that he is the oldest person in the room and that they're probably going to turn on him.

Lord! We can't eat them, too tough and stringy.