o Sit in the Corner, Old Man

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

The Baron, during his regular meetings with his chief advisor, Professor Hamblin, spoke about many issues that affected the citizens of Lilliland. The Professor related one story that he had heard time and time again from many of the senior citizens of Lilliland. They had a wealth of knowledge and experience that they wanted to share with people who could use the insight but they were never asked to participate.

As a result, they had to sit on the sidelines and watch people stumble and fall over their own mistakes due to limited knowledge and experience.

One example was that a new shop owner, just starting out, put the cash register at the back of the store and wondered why customers were often tempted to just walk out of the store and not bother to pay.

Or, the new shop owner would take the greeter away from the front door and have him restock shelves while customers wandered around aimlessly in need of assistance, but there was no help to be found.

Or, the young man courting a girl and not getting to know her relatives until they get married, and then he learns for the first time about the unique personalities of his new relatives.

Or, the young couple has not learned the fine art of handling money. They think that money is for what you can buy and not to invest for a rainy day.

Or, they have never learned to comparison shop, but buy whatever the store asks, not bothering to check the same merchandise in several stores for a better price.

The worst mistake of all is the belief that old people have old ideas and young people have young ideas, as if there is some relationship between the age of the person and the age of the idea. The person with the old idea has a better focus into the future of how the ideas can be properly utilized for the benefit of all concerned.

Just because a young person can run a mile faster than an older person does not mean that the younger man’s brain is faster than the older person’s.

Sometimes older people actually believe that they have self-doubts in the skills and abilities and become their own worst enemy.

“Some people,” the Professor concluded, “are over 90 and have fast brains.”