# I'm not going to let old people get away with their horse shit anymore. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 31, 2013, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904 "2013-01-31T11:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/61 "2013-01-31T16:01:33Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > What about people who chose to save money by inheriting their grandpa’s old buick when he bought a new car? No exceptions. Exceptions are for the weak. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/62 "2013-01-31T16:09:00Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Damn, digs, your post just makes me want to go hug my grandma. It doesn’t get me in the mood to ruthlessly pit old people at all. Wow, I was being tough on my fellow Olde Fartes, and I accidentally made us sound sympathetic. Well, hug your grandma, then call her on the next guilt trip she gives you: “Yeah, Grams, I don’t call enough, maybe because of comments like that…” ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/63 "2013-01-31T16:12:55Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Wow, I was being tough on my fellow Olde Fartes, and I accidentally made us sound sympathetic. > > Well, hug your grandma, then call her on the next guilt trip she gives you: “Yeah, Grams, I don’t call enough, maybe because of comments like that…” My mean ass grandma woulda beat my ass. Which brings me back to pitting old black women in particular. Why are they so MEEEAAANNNN??? ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/64 "2013-01-31T16:16:27Z")
Because they’ve been taking shit their whole life and now they’re old so nobody will do anything? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/65 "2013-01-31T16:16:34Z")
Point #1: It is not mandatory for anybody, of whatever age, to walk up an escalator. However, if you’re not walking up the escalator then it IS mandatory to stand well over to the right (and keep whatever luggage or parcels you have over to the right too) so that people walking up the escalator can get by you. Point #2: The root of the problem of old people driving dangerously is that in our society there are so few non-driving alternatives to get them where they need to go. Get out there and stump for mandatory driving-skills tests for senior drivers after some designated age limit, and don’t forget to stump for better transit options for seniors while you’re about it. (And let’s hear three cheers for my own wise mama, who at 86 years old not only keeps to the right and doesn’t hold up lines while digging through her change purse and doesn’t make personal remarks about young people’s figures, but voluntarily decided ten years ago that her driving skills were failing so she sold her car and house and moved to an apartment in a city with decent public transit. But we should not expect every old person to have the smarts and the courage to make such drastic adjustments just in order to protect others from their age-impaired driving.) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/66 "2013-01-31T16:21:12Z")
Since I work in a medical center - if you are old and slow (or hell, just slow) - why the fuck do so many of you seem to insist to walk down the exact middle of the hallway?! You do realize that if you fall during the course of your slow plodding/shuffling/whatever, there’s no way you’re going to be able to try to break your fall by at least slumping into the wall or grabbing a rail or door handle. Meanwhile, you’re building up a line of traffic behind you as people try to figure out if they can squeeze past you (and often, your cane or walker too) without looking like they’re the rude asshole for having somewhere else to be. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/67 "2013-01-31T16:21:42Z")
I am NOT onboard with the OP. In not too many years I’m going to be over 60 and I’ve been waiting a long time for my turn. I’ve been watching the old farts get away with everything from pinching girls to driving in the wrong lane for far too long. Everybody just shakes their head, says “oh grandpa” and let’s it go. I WANT MINE and I’m almost old enough. I’m going to fart in public and not try to cover it. I’m going to call women “little missy” and stare openly at their breasts (at last!) I’ll shake my cane at the youngins and lecture you all about what’s wrong with the world (Kids at what’s wrong, I tell ya). Don’t let Meanoldlady take that away from me. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/68 "2013-01-31T16:22:31Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Because they’ve been taking shit their whole life and now they’re old so nobody will do anything? Yeah, I guess so. The very meanest ones were the ones at my grandma’s church, down south. I’m sure they have had to put up with shit in their day that would make my head spin. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/69 "2013-01-31T16:24:38Z")
There are lots of annoying non-age specific behaviors. One that is more commonly associated with older folks is slow pace, combined with blocking the sidewalk/corridor, _plus_ responding to your polite “excuse me” as you attempt to pass them with “My, some people are in _such_ a hurry” or similar passive/aggressive bullshit. So far, I have resisted the temptation to come back with “Sorry, some of us have things to do before tottering off to the nursing home/crematorium”. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/70 "2013-01-31T16:25:31Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Yeah, I guess so. The very meanest ones were the ones at my grandma’s church, down south. > > I’m sure they have had to put up with shit in their day that would make my head spin. Also my experience that mean old white ladies tend to be very churchy. It’s probably the whole forgiveness thing, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/71 "2013-01-31T16:39:52Z")
**MeanOldLady** , have you tried telling any old people that you voted for Obama, support gay marriage, and think the tea partiers are strangling the fucking government? That often makes old people (at least, the most annoying ones) wither and and get absorbed by the void. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/72 "2013-01-31T16:45:38Z")
Once this thread is played out, can we go to not taking shit from young children and the the inconsiderate parents that allow them to run around screaming their bloodly little heads off and climbing under my table at a restaurant? Actually, I just hate 98% of all people, including everyone who thinks that either Fox News or MSNBC provides anything useful in terms of news. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/73 "2013-01-31T17:06:01Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Time. They have it, you don’t. > > That is the big inequality. Time left. You have it, they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/74 "2013-01-31T17:13:46Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I can’t do this anymore. Old people: You’re on notice. I’m tired of your bullshit, and next time you pull a load of crap on me, I’m going to treat you like you’re 35 and call you an asshole. > You wanna know the worst part about this OP? Is that I’m kind of a little bit serious. > > I was gonna put this in MPSIMS, but placed it here so y’all can call me names. You don’t have to be old to be an asshole. Your thread is my cite. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/75 "2013-01-31T17:19:25Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > Time left. You have it, they don’t. Too many people are denied the privileged of growing old. You never know. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/76 "2013-01-31T17:23:18Z")
The problem is that old farts of today grew up in a time when half or more of the old farts of _their_ younger days didn’t _live_ to be old. In 1940, anyone 65 or older had managed to survive/avoid accidents and diseases that had killed half of their cohort. As a result, old farts were presumed to have some wisdom on how to avoid the deadly hazards of life, and so were given deference. _Our_ crop of old farts, however, grew up in a time when science and technology began _saving_ most of the idiots from themselves. Those idiots were taught as children to give deference to the wise old farts, and they expect it for themselves now that _they_ are old. They fail to realize that they are idiots, and it’s not due to any virtue on their part that they survived. I’ll make you a deal, Gramps. I’ll stay off your fucking lawn, if you’ll stay _on_ it and off the public streets. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/77 "2013-01-31T17:35:45Z")
To thine own self be true. See, MeanOldLady, you were nice, not mean to these people from the start. You should have told bus stop creep: “sod off” when he approached. As to older lady at the supermarket, this is an old lady scam she runs all the time to get a dollar and someone to talk to. Next time something like this happens say loudly: “nobody behind you in line is going to cough up a dollar to make you shut up, either dig out the dollar or put something back, ya old grifter.” Gotta work the “mean” angle in Meanoldlady. ---
**Author:** ![KermitTheFrig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/47e85d/32.png) [@KermitTheFrig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KermitTheFrig)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/78 "2013-01-31T17:39:15Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > There are two groups of people who will always find you pretty: Old people and dudes trying to bone you. And old folks whose vision is shot to hell. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/79 "2013-01-31T17:41:13Z")
The OP forgot to mention the whole old person standing cluelessly in the center of a grocery store aisle staring with childlike wonder with jaundiced eyes at oatmeal choices. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904/80 "2013-01-31T17:43:42Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > I think it should be mandatory to be euthanised at age 60. Then once everybody comes to terms with this and it becomes an accepted part of our culture, we could have some cracking reality TV series about the inventive ways 59 year olds decide to go out in flames instead of waiting for the government to come kill them. > > Would totally be worth it. I support this idea, but would bump the euthanasia age up to 70. People in their 60s can still be productive members of society, who don’t necessarily stop in the middle of a crowded airport–right smack dab in the middle of heavy pedestrian traffic–to look at their boarding pass AGAIN. And why the fuck can’t old people figure out how to order stuff off the internet?? They wouldn’t even need to drive the old Buick 20 miles below the speed limit if they’d just fucking figure out how to order their Depends and prune juice online. And MOL, you should be pitted yourself for allowing the old creep to get away with that shit without harsh consequences. Your tacit approval gave him license to grope \*me \*if I bump into him at a bus stop. You should be euthanized at 50 just for that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-going-to-let-old-people-get-away-with-their-horse-shit-anymore/648904.md?page=5)