What Good Are Old People?

Between these last two days I have had two older customers ask me what use they are. They can't do physical labor, they're retired so they consider themselves somewhat useless. I found myself in the difficult position of having to correct them. Our culture and society does not respect nor honor the aged. You already know our culture does not have everything right all the time as it is. That is one thing I respect about the Asian, African, and South American cultures; they respect and revere those who are elderly. I told both of these "young" men that they have a lot that the rest of us need. They have the wisdom that comes with age and having been "there" before, they have advice to offer on a variety of subjects they have encountered, they are walking history books that can tell you what really happened, and if they are Christians they have an absolutely incredible opportunity to pray for those in their lives. Most certainly they are not useless. I told them I love to call my grandparents or stop by and just talk to them for hours, they have so much to offer me in the way of wisdom that I learn from. I am thankful that I don't get paid by the hour, because I found myself taking a half hour with each of these two guys. I always learn something new with them. So don't look down upon and consider the elderly as useless but see what you can learn from them, it'll brighten their day too.