Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"You there! Give me your chair, I'm a hundred and seven!"''|'''Auntie Muriel,''' ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]''}}
|'''Auntie Muriel,''' ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]''}}
 
Many senior citizens in fiction believe that the rules of manners and society no longer apply to them once they reach a certain age. Essentially, "I can get away with anything, because I'm [[108]]!" When racist or sexist statements are involved, this may be a case of a person experiencing temporal [[Values Dissonance]] in his own lifetime.
 
Sadly, this too often is a case of [[Truth in Television]], but it can also be a case of a young person interpreting the reaction to his or her own rudeness as a "rude old person being a jerk to me". Also, [[Reality Is Unrealistic|senility is less common than one has come to expect]], so anyone with wrinkles and gray hair can use this as [[Obfuscating Insanity]]. And often they enjoy it so much they do it all the time. [[When Elders Attack]], you can never tell if it's a crazy one or a [[Retired Badass]] telling you to get the hell off his lawn. [[Mind Screw]].
 
See also [[Grumpy Old Man]] and [[When I Was Your Age]]. May result in [[Racist Grandma]]. May overlap with [[Disability as an Excuse For Jerkassery]].
 
When this goes too far, and moves from impoliteness to villainy, see [[Evil Old Folks]].
 
{{noreallife|we'd be here all day.}}
----
{{examples}}
 
== Advertising ==
* ''Wendy's'' memetic ad campaign from the 1980s ([[Slogans|"Where's the Beef?"]]).
 
 
== Anime and Manga ==
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** Being a [[Yakuza]] matron doesn't hurt much, either.
* Pinako Rockbell from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''
* Happosai of ''[[Ranma One Half½]]''. Then again, he's been screwing politeness his whole life (except around girls he's hitting on), so his seniority is really a secondary factor. And sadly as one of the most powerful martial artists in the world, nobody can really restrain him in any way (unless they bring panties).
* The "Scooter Lady" from ''[[You're Under Arrest]]''.
* Occasionally, Genkai from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''
* The Third Tsuchikage of [[Naruto]] often acts this way, especially in the way he shows contempt for the much younger Gaara. It's implied through his own statements that he became stubborn with age.
 
 
== Film ==
* Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) from ''[[Gran Torino]]''.
* Kevin McCarthy as R. J. Fletcher fromin ''[[UHF (film)|UHF]]''.
* Anne Ramsey as Momma from ''[[Throw Momma from the Train]]''
* Carl Fredricksen from ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]''.
* Howard Beale from ''[[Network]]''
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* The little old lady from ''[[Total Recall]]'', who unashamedly drops a [[Precision F-Strike]] on [[Crowning Moment of Funny|live national television]].
* Deconstructed in ''[[Bubba Ho-Tep]]'', where Elvis is allowed to be as rude as he likes because nobody takes him seriously anymore anyway.
{{quote| '''Elvis:''' Shit! Get old, you can't even cuss someone and have it bother 'em. Everything you do is either worthless or sadly amusing. }}
* The High Priest in ''[[The Golden Child]]''. He's got a dirtier mouth than the protagonist - and given that protagonist is played by [[Eddie Murphy]], that's saying a lot.
 
 
== Literature ==
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** It is worth noting that one line of the poem ("...I shall wear purple with a red hat...") inspired the whole the "Red Hat Society" thing. Lately, many products for older women proudly display a funny red hat as a symbol of sisterly unity. Which leads one to wonder how many of them ever really paid attention to what the poem is saying: I will do the things I want to do without regard for what is expected of me. [[Rule-Abiding Rebel|Solidarity]]!
* The following verse by Lemuel F. Parton sounds a similar note:
{{quote| ''I have led a good life, full of peace and quiet/I shall have an old age full of rum and riot/I have been a good boy, wed to peace and study/I shall have an old age, ribald, coarse and bloody/I have never cut throats, even when I yearned to/Never sang the dirty songs that my fancy turned to/I have been a nice boy, and done what was expected/I shall die an old bum, loved but unrespected.'' }}
* Similarly, [[Dave Barry]] has written about his wish to "age ''dis''-gracefully", hitting things with his cane, yelling at people, and generally being a bastard.
** Dave also writes about seeing a senior citizen holding up traffic in New York city by standing in front of a taxicab and whapping the hood with his umbrella, over and over again. The cheering crowd around him was clearly expressing the sentiment that the old guy was doing what they'd like to do but never could.
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* ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman'' told the tale of an African-American woman who joined the Civil Rights Movement in 1962 at the age of 110. She used her extreme age ruthlessly (after all, what cop, no matter how redneck, wants to be known as the one who rousted or roughed up a 110-year-old woman?).
* "Gramps" (really great-great-grandpa) from [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s short story ''Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow''. He tortured his descendants by constantly changing his mind about who would receive his fortune. The root of the problem in the story is a medicine called anti-gerasone, which stops aging as long as it is used. This creates relative immortality; the user will live forever unless he or she stops taking it. People put off breaking their addiction to life further and further; the grandfather, for example, was 172, and was described as still in his prime.
* Muriel in ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' gets away with insulting just about everybody, all while repeatedly informing them that she is one hundred and seven.
** Although it's implied that she's one of the wealthier members of the family, so that might also have something to do with it.
** Speaking of ''[[Harry Potter]]'', this trope is averted with Albus Dumbledore, who's over one hundred years old himself but always infallibly polite, even to [[Big Bad|Voldemort]].
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** Likewise Cohen the Barbarian, who has the advantage of being good enough at being a barbarian hero that he survived to old age. And he has a huge sword if people don't catch the hint.
** To be fair, the locals might not be fooled by the witches. They certainly don't regard them as being any kind of infirm.
{{quote| ''"You wouldn't let a poor old lady go off to confront monsters on a night like this, would you?"<br />
"Why should we care what happens to monsters?"<br />
"Would YOU go out on a night like this?"<br />
"Depends if I knew were Granny Weatherwax was."'' }}
** Also, Nanny Ogg is the maternal ancestor to a sizable portion of Lancre.
** The wizard Windle Poons from [[Discworld/Moving Pictures|Moving Pictures]]. "I'm an old man, and I'm hungry!"
*** Hells, Wizards full stop. Most of the Faculty is past retirement age.
** Topsy Lavish, "a Mark One Feisty Old Lady" in ''[[Discworld/Making Money|Making Money]]'', has "a forthright way of speaking which flirts with rudeness, and more importantly [[Dirty Old Woman|flirts with flirting]]".
* Grandma Mazur in the ''[[Stephanie Plum]]'' books by Janet Evanovich.
* Elinor from ''[[The Inkworld Trilogy|Inkheart]]'', the old woman who is exceptionally rude and standoffish to most of the other characters. Her actions are generally accepted by the protagonists and either amuse or annoy the antagonists.
* In [[Sandy Mitchell]]'s ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' novel ''[[Dark Heresy|Scourge the Heretic]]'', a teenaged Inquisition operative posing as a noblewoman over a century, intentionally invokes this, explaining her bluntness by saying that at her age, you realize it saves time.
* Philip Marlowe's client, General Sternwood, in ''The Big Sleep'' by [[Raymond Chandler]]. The wheelchair-bound general is very frank about his daughters' outlandish behaviours and reputations, "because my hold on life is too slight to include any Victorian hypocrisy."
* In the book version of ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (novel)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'' by [[Diana Wynne Jones]] (not as much in the anime), shy, dutiful protagonist Sophie is cursed by being transformed into an old lady and immediately uses this as an excuse to be rude, obnoxious, and generally do whatever she wants. After all, the curse has ruined her life so she figures she might as well enjoy one of the few perks of old age.
* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|The Chessmen of Mars]]'', I-Gos speaks openly and bluntly. Then, he is always deriding the rest of the city for having fallen from the [[Good Old Ways]] of courage.
{{quote| ''"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with broad sarcasm.<br />
"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded him.<br />
"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular son of the jeddak of Manator."'' }}
* [[A Christmas Carol|Ebenezer Scrooge]], anyone? Of course, he was like that all his life, but the older he got the more pronounced it became.
** No, he wasn't, thats the point of his journey, to rediscover the young he was instead of the horrible old man he became, amongs other things.
*** It's all but said he was becoming a [[Jerkass]] as a young man - it's one of the main reasons his fiancée left him. It's reasonable to assume, then, that his rudeness was something that started early and was exaggerated with age.
* [[Robert Heinlein|Lazarus Long]] gets away with this sort of thing because he's ''The'' [[The Older Immortal|Senior]]—literally the oldest member of the human race.
* This is the attitude most elders take in ''[[Warrior Cats]]''. Sandstorm even says that once she becomes an elder it will be her life's ambition to be the crankiest elder who ever lived.
* In ''The Island of the Aunts'', Ursala the old mermaid does not make life for her daughter-in-law and grandchildren very pleasant. {{spoiler|She does become [[Cool Old Lady|very awesome]] when she lashes out at the sailors that kidnap herself and Queenie, screaming at them to "stop ogling my granddaughter, you plug-ugly!" and insisting that she doesn't care what they do to her because "[she's] already old!"}}
 
== Live -Action TV ==
 
* In one episode of ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'', an old lady wants Reese to give up a changing room, although he was there first. Another episode has Malcolm working for an elderly neighbor who fits this trope.
== Live Action TV ==
* In one episode of [[Malcolm in the Middle]], an old lady wants Reese to give up a changing room, although he was there first. Another episode has Malcolm working for an elderly neighbor who fits this trope.
** The family's grandmother, Ida is made of this trope, along with [[Racist Grandma]]. She's a borderline case of [[Evil Old Folks]].
* Oscar Leroy in ''[[Corner Gas]]'' is stubborn, inconsiderate, prone to demanding the RCMP detachment arrest whoever annoys him, and browbeats every public official with, "My taxes pay your salary!" Of course, in his point-of-view jackasses don't deserve respect.
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* Fred Sanford of ''[[Sanford and Son]]''. His constant threats of "the big one" (heart attack) and his "arthur-itis".
** And, of course, Albert Steptoe, in ''[[Steptoe and Son]]''.
* Red Forman from ''[[That '70s Show]]''. He may be younger than most of the seniors listed here, but he's there already.
* Nan Taylor from ''[[The Catherine Tate Show]]'' manages to embarrass the hell out of her grandson in just about every skit.
* Miss Blankenship, Don Draper's secretary on the fourth season of ''[[Mad Men]]''.
* WWE female wrestlers The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young - although, to be sure, they were pretty rude when they were young, too.
* Bill Hader's reporter character, Herb Welch, on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.
* Leonard and his elderly clique, the "Hipsters", so called because they all have replaced hips, from the ''[[Community]]'' episode [[Community/Recap/S2 /E05 Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples|Messianic Myths And Ancient Peoples]]. Turns into a reversal of roles with Pierce acting childish and Jeff & Britta having to be the [[Team Parent]]s.
* ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' invokes this trope in his own show repeatedly, despite of not actually being a senior in this incarnation. Whenever he gets the chance to use his elderly magical disguise Emrys, he cheerfully insults everyone who gets in his way, especially Arthur and others who get on his nerves in his daily life. He also goes all out with his magic which he normally has to keep hidden, sometimes attacking enemies even when it's not strictly speaking necessary.
* The cranky, sharp-tongued octogenarian Mother Dexter became the [[Breakout Character]] of the ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' [[Spin-Off]] ''Phyllis''.
{{quote| '''Jonathan''': Now, mother, you can forget that crotchety old lady routine.<br />
'''Mother Dexter''': What routine? I ''am'' a crotchety old lady! }}
* The hidden camera prank show ''Betty White's Off Their Rockers'' plays with this by having senior citizens often acting in rude or unpredictable ways, the question being whether people will react negatively or just let it ride because they're seniors.
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== Music Videos ==
[[Leonard Nimoy]]'s character in the alternative video for [[Bruno Mars|Lazy Song]].
 
 
== New Media ==
* [http://www.twitter.com/shitmydadsays This.shitmydadsays], on [[Twitter]]
 
 
== Newspaper Comics ==
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* A ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' comic has Calvin questioning why old people slow down and become more complacent as they get older. In the end, he resolves that when he is old he'll be "going like a maniac." Hobbes immediately states that the world can't possibly wait for such a day, his voice (most likely) dripping with sarcasm.
* Huey and Riley's Grandad from ''[[The Boondocks]]'' is an embodiment of this trope.
 
 
== Radio ==
* This is part of the reason why ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]'' is able to get away with such filthy humour, thanks to the advanced age of its regulars. The rest of the reason is careful [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] leading to [[Innocent Innuendo]].
 
== Recorded Standupand Stand Up Comedy ==
 
== Standup Comedy ==
* [[George Carlin]]'s last special, ''It's Bad For Ya''. He revels in being 70.
{{quote| '''George Carlin:''' The first one is, you never have to carry anything heavy ever again. Everybody wants to help an old fuck. If you've got a big suitcase, or something like that, you know, you just kind of go like this a little bit... And you say "Yeah, can you help me with this?" They say "Yeah, hey, how far are you going?" "Indianapolis." Another nice thing about getting old is you can leave any social event early just by saying you're tired. Works great with family members. Just turn to the person next to you and you say "Gee, I'm getting tired, you know." "Oh, you're tired? Come on, grandpa's tired, grandpa's going to bed." And someone else says "But it's seven thirty in the morning!" There's always one asshole in the family. But the best thing about getting old is you're not responsible for remembering things anymore. Even important things; "But it was your daughter's funeral!" "I forgot!" You can even make believe you have Alzheimer's Disease. That's a lot of fun. You look around the dining room table and you say "Who are you people and where is my horse?" Then you stare at your eldest son and say "Agnes! I haven't seen you since First Communion!" You can even shit in your pants! They expect it! I haven't tried that yet, but I don't rule it out.}}
* [[Jeff Foxworthy]] set a life goal of being a burden to his children and scaring his grandchildren.
* Nick Swardson has a bit about him wanting to be old enough to shoplift and get away with it.
* Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham has old man Walter. {{spoiler|"Dumbass."}}
 
 
== Video Games ==
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* A much ''less'' polite version comes in the second [[Knights of the Old Republic]]. Kreia is a bitter old [[Zen Survivor]], callously ridicules everyone and everything, [[Deconstruction|openly mocks the GFFA's concepts of morality]], casually commits [[Mind Rape]] on your crew, and is completely open with the fact she's running a game of [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] with your character as the central piece. She justifies it by saying, in effect, that she's seen it all, and hates it all.
** She is also a {{spoiler|Sith Lady}} so hen lack of politeness is pretty understandable.
* Cranky Kong from ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]''. He's exactly as his name says in most of the games (aka always thinking of the good old days of the arcade), and actually sets off the events of Donkey Kong Land one via a bet with King K Rool.
* Wendy Oldbag from [[Ace Attorney]] is just like this. She rambles on and on about insignificant points, and gets pissed when anyone asks her to keep on track. I can't count how many times she calls poor Nick a "whippersnapper".
 
== WebcomicsWeb Comics ==
 
* In ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'', Black Mage's brief career as a cobbler was haunted by an old woman who made inane demands because she was "old and quite possibly senile." Possibly one of the few murders of his the audience will see as justified, if only somewhat.
== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'', Black Mage's brief career as a cobbler was haunted by an old woman who made inane demands because she was "old and quite possibly senile." Possibly one of the few murders of his the audience will see as justified, if only somewhat.
** Except for the fact that he didn't murder her. He creeped her out, sure, but she lived.
*** [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|But we sure were expecting she won't.]]
*** Another one that could fall under this trope is the old man who lived in Radio Castle. He was rude and never stopped complaining about how things used to be better in the old days because you could be openly rascist and there weren't any gays. The guy seriously never stopped complaining. Black Mage ended up pushing him out of an [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|airlock]].
* Dewey's grandma in the webcomicweb comic ''[[Unshelved]]''.
* Fred MacIntire in ''[[Something *Positive]]''.
** The author has admitted he can't wait to be this trope in real life when he becomes a senior.
* This [http://achewood.com/index.php?date=08082008 "hot-cuss granny"] in ''[[Achewood]].''
 
 
== Western Animation ==
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** Mr. Burns might fall into this category [[Evil Old Folks|when he's at his most affable]].
* Cotton Hill in ''[[King of the Hill]]'' takes this trope to sociopathic levels. Although, he was probably always a [[Jerkass]] regardless of age. He does use his age and his status as a veteran to attempt to get away with being a maniac, though. Whenever anybody attempts to call him out on acting like a psychopath, he usually responds with, "I'm old! I gots no shins!"
* Professor Hubert Farnsworth from ''[[Futurama]]'' even has a "crochety grandpa discount card" (which expired, despite being good for a lifetime), and once uttered the line "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy a single piece of fruit with a coupon... and then return it, making everyone wait in line behind me while I complain!" In the card's defense, Farnsworth has been declared dead at least once.
{{quote| '''Professor:''' You take one nap in a ditch in the park and they start declaring you this and that!}}
** In the card's defense, Farnsworth has been declared dead at least once.
* Col. Stinkmeaner from ''[[The Boondocks]]'' is explicitly stated as having been a [[Jerkass]] at every point in his life, but when we first see him he is quite old.
{{quote| '''Professor:''' You take one nap in a ditch in the park and they start declaring you this and that!}}
** ''[[The Critic]]'': Jay's father Franklin acted insane almost constantly. His wife used the "He had a stroke" excuse, once even admitting immediately that he hadn't really and they just said that to explain it. [[Subverted Trope|This wasn't just because Franklin was elderly, though]]; the man '''was''' insane. A brief glimpse into his mind revealed he drove like a maniacal Jerkass because he was ''dodging Donkey Kong's hurled barrels with the car horn as the jump button''.
* Col. Stinkmeaner from ''[[The Boondocks]]'' is explicitly stated as having been a [[Jerkass]] at every point in his life, but when we see him he is quite old.
* [[The Critic]] Jay's father Franklin acted insane almost constantly. His wife used the "He had a stroke" excuse. Once admitting immediately that he hadn't really and they just said that to explain it.
** This wasn't because Franklin was elderly, though; the man '''was''' insane. A brief glimpse into his mind revealed he drove like a maniacal Jerkass because he was ''dodging Donkey Kong's hurled barrels with the car horn as the jump button''.
* The old people in the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Grey Dawn" who want to drive, despite being mentally slow and having no regard for the safety of anyone else on the road... or on the sidewalk... or in buildings... or... Well, you get the idea. This was inspired by a nasty [[Real Life]] [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/16/farmers.market.crash/ accident].
* Pakku and Bumi from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Pakku seems to have grown out of it by the last time we see him, though. Bumi is actually a polite and thoughtful old man making use of [[Obfuscating Insanity]]... except when acting like a loony old man would be more fun. Which is pretty much all the time.
** Pakku is just uptight and stuffy, while Bumi was shown in a flashback to be EXACTLY the same ball of crazy (minus being a King with the authority to enforce it) when he and Aang were kids.
* Ratchet from ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. There was even a subplot of an episode dedicated to [[Team Pet|Sari]] and [[Kid Appeal Character|Bumblebee]] trying to teach him to be less abrasive. Needless to say, it failed miserably!
{{quote| '''Sari''': What's the magic word?<br />
'''Ratchet''': NOW! }}
* ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'': Grandpa Phil & Aunt Gertie.
* Grandpa Wolfe from ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'': He definitely hates Wallabies & Kangaroos and he acts hostilly towards Rocko. Even with Grandpa Wolfe's incredibly poor eyesight, Rocko still wasn't safe.
* On ''[[Adventure Time]]'' Marceline the Vampire Queen tries to invoke this (singing "''I'm not mean, I'm a thousand years old, / And I just lost track of my moral code''"), but since she [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|doesn't look]] or [[Immortal Immaturity|act]] like an old person, no one really buys this excuse.
* The [[Cat Girl|Caitian]] Dr. T'Ana from ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]''. Seeing as [[Cats Are Snarkers]], she can really be a [[Dr. Jerk]] sometimes.
* In the seventh episode of ''[[Hazbin Hotel]]'', most of the residents of Cannibal Town are - ironically - refined, polite, and courteous, ''except'' for Susan. Visibly older than the others, she is a rude and grouchy old woman who continually heckles Charlie as she tries to give her message to the crowd. Alastor and Rosie even tell Charlie that if she manages to win Susan over, she'll ''definitely'' convince the rest of them.
 
== Other Media ==
 
== Other ==
* There's a joke floating around the internet which invokes this. An old man is attempting to park his car, but is cut off by a smart-ass teenager, who then shouts, "Sorry, but that's what happens when you're young and fast. The old man, nonplussed, simply backs up, hits the gas, and smashes his car into the back of the young man's. He then turns and says, "Sorry, that's what happens when you're old and insured."
** This exact scene occurs in the movie ''[[Fried Green Tomatoes]]'', as mentioned in the "Film" section above
* Walter, one of comedian [[Jeff Dunham]]'s characters, is this trope in ventriloquist puppet form, played for laughs. He's actually one of the more popular ones, mostly because ''everyone knows someone like that.''
* Used in one of Patton Oswalt's comedy bits about how old people should have one law a year no longer apply to them, but partially subverted due to caveats:
{{quote| "When you turn one hundred...you can legally commit murder. You can murder anyone. You cannot shoot them, stab them, or poison them - anyone you can strangle, or pummel to death with your bare hands is fair game. ...How many of you would help if someone called, 'Help! A one-hundred-year-old woman is strangling me!'"}}
* Nick Swardson's first "[[Comedy Central]] Presents" act included a routine about this. He mentions how when he's an old man, he will steal things 24/7, and if caught by police, would only say "I'm old", and how he would always break the speed limit, and if the cops stopped him, would say "I'm dying". He also jokes how he would curse at his grandchildren, and listen to gansta rap.
* Betty White. Just watch a recent interview and you'll notice that she makes all sorts of snarky remarks and justify it by saying "I'm 88 years old. What do I care?" It's the main reason her younger fans love her!
* [[Don Rickles]].
* TRU TV's collection of video footage sent in by people in ''Most Daring: Senior Smackdown''.
* ''Invoked'' by a [[(The Customer is) Not Always Right]] customer [http://notalwaysright.com/have-age-will-complain/2189 here.]
** And [http://notalwaysright.com/retired-extremely-dangerous/7770 here.]
* Certain forms of senile dementia, by causing the frontal lobe to go before the rest, result in this as the sufferer slowly loses their social skills.
** Then again, once you've been around for long enough, you sometimes '''''just no longer give a fuck'''''.
* While Wanda Sykes is not a senior, the above mindset is exactly what she finds herself adopting the older she gets. Which apparently led to some problems at the grocery store when she responded as such to a bagger who was "sixty-three years old, and ''she'' didn't give a fuck either!"
* Old people can generally get away with [[Racist Grandma|racism]] and blatant rudeness since few people are going to say or do much.
** In fact, in many cultures, it's considered inappropriate to say anything back since elders are supposed to be respected unconditionally.
*** Japan's hierarchical culture requires junior members of a group to show deference and respect to their seniors, but there is no obligation on the seniors to show any respect to the people under them. Even in relationships where the senior isn't deliberately obnoxious to his/her subordinates, this can still be quite evident in conversation, with the senior's side conducted using casual language whilst the junior is expected to remain polite and formal. If the senior really is a jerk, then the junior has very little recourse as it's considered bad form to complain about being berated or abused by a senior.
*** China's even worse than Japan. It's a Confucian idea that goes back to respecting your superiors above all else (couples with the part about "always save face unless you want to shame your entire family then, now, and forever").
*** Korea is also a Confucian society. Elderly people will often push and even elbow their way through crowds with no complaints from the younger generation (at least not verbaly).
* Ask people working in [http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13453622/why-i-hate-working-at-a-grocery-store-with-old-people grocery stores]{{Dead link}}. Sad thing is, it's [[Truth in Television]].
* We can complain all we want... [[Hypocritical Humor|we will do the exact same things when we get that age.]]
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Elders]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:Screw This Index, I Have Tropes]]
[[Category:Screw Politeness Im A Senior]]
[[Category:Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!]]