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This Is Why You Respect Your Elders

Posted 12/18/2009 7:00 am by Ron Hogan

old-swedish-men.jpg

When I was growing up, my parents always told me to respect my elders.  They said the usual things about how they fought in WWII for us and how one day I’ll be an old guy who might want a little respect for going through a lot in my life, but they left off the most important reason to be nice to the elderly:  they have absolutely nothing to lose.  A 12-year-old boy in Varnamo, Sweden, learned that lesson the hard way.  When he called a 70-year-old volunteer at Folkets Park an “old fart,” that old fart hauled off and smacked him right in the face.

This is why you have to be wary of old people.  They’ve lived long enough to look harmless, but inside they’re still dangerously crazy.  They’re not as tough as they used to be, or as strong, but I’d say a spry 70-year-old is an even match-up for a 12-year old boy.  Plus, they tend to have canes and aren’t afraid to use them.

Image: Danko

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