I was taught to respect my elders, but at the same time to respect myself enough not to keep silent when one of my elders erroneously blames me for something that was not my fault. I would not want to tar all senior citizens with the same brush, but at the same time I do not want to be blamed for things that I and many of my age group had no say in. See all these things you are complaining about were happening, or changing while this 46 year old was in school when the older generation chose to take prayer out of school, stop us from saying the pledge of allegiance, singing God Bless America, the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful at the start of school in the morning after the principal made the morning announcements. That older generation also gave us the gift of the new math and introduced calculators into our classes telling us this was progress. The older generation instituted the process of passing kids instead of keeping them in the same grade until they understood the concepts they were being taught. I can remember my Grandfather and a Great Aunt complaining that it made their jobs as teachers all the more difficult when they ended up with students in their classes who hadn't received the basics the year before to enable them to grasp the concepts of what they were to learn the following year in the next grade. As for taking the melody out of music, if we had continued to have access to the education in music and the arts that were removed from our curriculums due to budget constraints maybe more of my generation would understand what you are talking about. The pride in appearance, may have continued if the dress codes were continued instead of abolished due to the older generations concerns over our right to freedom of expression in what we wore. As for taking the romance out of love, we had no control in the content of the shows that were available on tv and in the movies, or the books we had to read. It was members of the older generation that made the decisions of what was available to us. As for the commitment of marriage, we weren't given a say as to whether our parents cheated on each other or got divorces. As for taking the responsibility out of parenthood, The togetherness out of the family, The learning out of education, The service out of patriotism, The religion out of school, The Golden Rule from rulers, The nativity scene out of cities, The civility out of behavior, The refinement out of language, The dedication out of employment, The prudence out of spending, or The ambition out of achievement. The elimination of patience and tolerance from personal relationships and interactions with others. Well it was the older generation that had the say and decided what changes were to be made on our behalf. I do have to ask why, if these senior citizens were concerned about all of these things, did they not teach these qualities at home to their own children? Is there no where that these ideals are still believed? Guess what, there is. I for one learned all these things from my parents as did my older brothers. My parents by the way were married almost 57 years when my father passed away and they learned all these things from their parents. My grandparents were married over 70 years, and they learned from their parents. I in turn made sure that my children received the same ideals, as my brothers are also instilling in my nieces and nephews. Not only do I know the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner, but so do my children. They get the same goose bumps I do when I hear it. The irony of all this is that the parents of the current senior citizens, also had the same complaints about their childrens generation. Minus the part about computers of course. I can remember my grandmother talking about her father thinking it was scandalous that she wanted to have her hair cut in a "Bob" and go out dancing to "Rag Time", saying that her whole generation was going to go to hell in a handbasket. Excuse her french..... I take credit for what little good I may be able to do in this life, and accept responsibility for my own actions. But it is ludicrus to expect me and my generation to shoulder the blame for decisions we had no say in..... Besides the day is coming when our children will be telling us how we screwed up the world before they had a say in it. And so on it goes............

I think you're mistaken in believing "senior" citizens originated the changes you listed. First, to define "senior" citizens, we have to take into account the age of the definer. Remember when we were ten years old and those who were seventeen were considered "grown ups" - it's our perspective which affects our point of view. From my perspective those born before, for example, 1950 are senior citizens and I can assure you they did not originate or support all the changes you list. We also now have Political Correctness, the ACLU, and the originater of school prayer ban, Mary Margaret Mc (can't recall her name - mental block?) who originated/supported many of these changes. Not all changes are bad. Some have led to a better life for many people, such as equal wages for those who do the same work. Time brings changes in life style and beliefs, just consider the changes in the past one-hundred years. It has been so since history has been recorded. Some changes are good, some bad, some prevail while others are abandoned as 'not such a good idea'. No one blames you, change is simply marking Time. Happy New Year, Carol S. ----- Original Message ----- From: <NAAHKITTY@aol.com> To: <PA-PITTSBURGH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 11:53 PM Subject: Re: [PITTSBURGH] Senior Citizens > I was taught to respect my elders, but at the same time to respect myself > enough not to keep silent when one of my elders erroneously blames me for > something that was not my fault. >