When I was growing up, my siblings and I were taught a lot of things. One of the most important lessons, however, was respect for older people, especially the elderly. My parents taught us that just by virtue of living for a long time, these people deserved respect, even if they weren’t the best people throughout their lives. When I was a kid, I admit that confused me a bit. I can remember asking my mom, “Well grandma says grandpa was always a grouch, why does he get away with it now that he’s old?” My mom patiently explained that when a grouch lives to be a very old age, they deserve to be treated with respect. Staying alive and getting old is hard, she said.
I’m not quite elderly, but I understand that by this stage of my life. When my kids act like they think they’re smarter than me, I remind them that everything I learned was without the internet and without a computer or smartphone and that I’ve forgotten more than they currently know. I don’t know if that’ exactly true, but it sounds good anyhow and most importantly, it shuts them up when they’re sassing me (in a good-natured way, of course). Since the beginning of time, young people have had to be taught to respect their elders. It’s the nature of youth to think that we know everything, and it’s also the nature of youth to be impatient and in a hurry.
In this video, you’ll see a young man driving a fancy sports car and when he stops at a stop sign, an elderly lady is crossing the road. She seems to slow and stop on her way across the road, probably to catch her breath before she can continue. Instead of just politely waiting, however, the man in the sports car actually starts rudely honking, which is unbelievable considering the lady’s age. But she doesn’t get ruffled. Instead, she does something completely unexpected. The boys who are filming the video (or who appear to be filming the video) can be heard laughing in the background. This video is probably staged, especially since it shows the URL to Ikea at the end, but it’s still a great message.
YouTube
The video below has been seen more than five million times on YouTube, and that alone should speak to the universality of the video. This is a message that resonates with people, regardless of one’s age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2zgr_Gg11U&feature=emb_title
