Being Old Today from Ms. Independent

In my opinion, the attitude toward elderly people has dramatically changed over the past few years. While my generation treated seniors respectfully, many children nowadays are disrespectful, impolite, and rude. They don’t care about politeness and good behavior anymore, which is most likely due to a difference in upbringing. When I was a child, it was normal to offer one's seat to an elderly person on the train, whereas nowadays, many kids just ignore them.

Another approach which has changed over the last years is the attitude toward cosmetic surgery. Even if I don’t think that the number of plastic surgeries has dramatically increased, I’m sure that people find the matter frivolous and unworthy of consideration.

Sit Back, Relax, and Enjoy the Ride from Anonymous

We can't stop time. Every person is aging by the second, and while some can't wait to get older, others fight it. Nowadays, it's getting more and more popular to do something against aging. It seems to be normal to have Botox injections and some skin pulled back. People don't want to become old, and try everything to stop their aging. This might be one of the reasons that the attitude towards elderly is changing as well. There are more elderly people now than there were 30 years ago, which makes being accompanied by elderly persons more common. People also don't want to be considered "old" anymore, and are therefore treated like they’re not.

My generation views aging differently, since we are exposed to it so much.  Take for instance, the superfluity of anti-aging creme commercials.

Aging is normal. So, my advice is to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!

Cite, Sight, and Site

No wonder I didn't win that Spelling Bee! (blushing)

(a) The National Palace stands on the _____ of Montezuma’s castle.

(b) Every student in the class _____ the same article.

(c) "Of all the senses, _____ must be the most delightful." (Helen Keller)

Also, which is British: toward or towards?

Attitude Towards Aging

Swiss people have a very relaxed attitude towards aging. Compared with other countries, numbers of cosmetic surgery are very low in Switzerland, which shows that Swiss respect the fact that they are aging. In public transportation, on the other hand, it can be seen that young people do not respect the elderly as much as some years ago. When I was growing up, it was custom to give up your seat in favor for an elderly. Nowadays, young people are not anymore aware of the appropriate courtesy.

Attitude towards aging

Cosmetic surgery is not a new phenomenon, but it seems to worsen more and more. Gone are the days when people, and especially women, could age with dignity without feeling embarassed for their wrinkles. Not so long ago, wrinkles were signs of a life full of experiences and wisdom, whereas today people do everthing to prevent getting them. Unfortunately, this trend made it over to Switzerland as well, and people started to spend their free time with Botox treatments instead of playing with their grandchildren and teaching them useful lessons about life.

In the last few years, a lot has been done to ease travel for elderly people, such as lowering the steps or raising the seats in order to make it easier for them to stand up again. In contrast to the transportation companies, people seem to make the life of the elderly even harder. Children and young adults seem to have lost any sense of courtesy towards older citizens. When I was younger, I was taught to stand up and clear my seat when somebody older than me entered the train or bus. Hopefully, people will realize that they will age as well and at some point of their life they will be appreciative for every kind gesture they can get.

Attitude Towards Aging

In Switzerland, the attitude towards aging is probably not that extreme as in the United States, but the number of women going through a cosmetic surgery is increasing as well. This fact implies that people dislike getting older, not only as an individual but as a society. People cannot accept that their body is changing and they do everything possible to look like a twenty-year-old again.

A more appreciative attitude shows the system of public transport. Unlike society in general, they accept people getting older. Moreover, the people working in the field of public transport try to make the means of transport more comfortable and convenient for elderly people. An example for that are the lower buses and trains. Nowadays, there are no longer stairs to get on the train, which makes the use of public transport much easier for elderly people.

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From, Anonymous

“I have a lot of regret about going to college”.

Right at this moment, many people who go to college can't find a job after graduation. This causes problems for some people. Many people lend money to pay for university, because without a loan, they would never be able to go. Graduated students want to pay their debt as soon as possible, but without a job, these people will not be able to pay off their debts. 

However, saying you regret going to college is a little bit exaggerated. People go to university to learn more about an certain topic and to become specialized in something. In other words, you gain knowledge in college. For me -although depending on how bad the situation is- having some trouble paying your loans back is not up to the gained knowledge from college. Knowing something will never be harmful. In fact one of my friends, who seems to know everything, will probably find a job more quickly than anyone else. Not because he goes to the University of Oxford, but because he really is a genius.

Maybe you don't end up at your dream job after college, but knowing something can always come in hand. The most important thing for our generation, is that we change our expectations of the future. Unfortunately, having a college degree doesn't mean that you're reassured of a good job. As long as we keep that in mind, we aren't that easy to disappoint. If we do find a job, we should feel extremely lucky. The most important thing is that we never give up searching. Being able to find a job which makes you happy, might even take care of the fact that you want to go to work everyday, for the rest of your life.