Recently I had a moment of realisation that shook me to the core. I was sitting on a crowded bus on a busy route, peering over the top of the novel I was pretending to read whilst actually perusing my fellow passengers wondering what they did, where they were going, or if they realised how loud their ipod was.
As the (already full) bus stopped to let on new passengers including a woman who was – at a conservative guess – nudging 60, my gaze landed on the pair of school girls sitting directly in front of where the woman stood. They looked up at her, then looked straight back down and continued with their conversation without moving an inch.
I was outraged, this woman clearly would have appreciated the seat more than them. She was older, had presumably paid full fare (as opposed to student fare) and, well, she’s a grown up. I was so infuriated that I actually tsk tsked at the girls before standing up to offer my seat instead. However my stern glare and tsking did not achieve the desired response. The girls looked at me, then rolled their eyes at each other and giggled. I blushed.
Back in my day, any uniformed student who refused to follow simple bus protocol would have been named and shamed at the next school assembly.
Hold on. “tsk tsk”…. “back in my day”… teenagers mocking me….
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I don't feel like a "grown up" yet but I often find myself doing the "back in my day...". Usually when looking at the "youth of today..." and shaking my head in wonder.
My favourite incident was when I was working in a shop. I at the age of 27 asked a 15 year old girl to man the front counter. Her response "Why?" I was shocked! In my day if someone in authority in the workplace asked you to do something (maning the counter is not an unreasonable request in retail by the way) you didn't ask why, you just did it. I couldn't believe it. That was the day I realised that they were a completely different generation to me
My other "grown up" moment was when some of my friends started becoming teachers and the realisation hit me that teachers were people and had lives outside the classroom!
I am 55 and I hate the term ' in my day' THESE are my days and all of the days to come, mine all mine and getting better every day.