Respect Elders Should Obey The Rules

林锋

When my family moved to America in 2010 from a small village in Guangdong， China， we brought not only our luggage， but also our village rules， customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily， this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.

I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time， when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple， the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her  that  I made sure they got their food quickly because I  always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that， her face showed great displeasure. My manager， who happened  to hear what I said， took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason， they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences， so they laughed and were no longer angry.

In my village in China， people are proud of being old. Not so many people live  to be seventy or eighty， and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.

However， in the United States， people think “growing old” is a problem， since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging and women put on makeup， hoping to look young. When I  told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly  they got angry because this caused them  to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didnt want to hear.