Your opinions on generational attitudes?

londonsurrey

Just to see what the prevailing view is on these matters in this day and age

Scenario:

Gathering in house of couple in their 70s, have two sons who are in their 40s, both with partners.

One son has 3 children, aged 16, 19 and 4.


House has 5 seats in living room. Obviously, not everyone will have a seat, and the floor will do for some.


Teenage children seat themselves on the sofa, and don't help the grandparents with drinks. Grandparents have bad legs and are cheerful, but will accept help from visitors with doing drinks.


What is expected these days? For the children to give up seats or not?

ani_26

londonsurrey wrote: »

Just to see what the prevailing view is on these matters in this day and age

Scenario:

Gathering in house of couple in their 70s, have two sons who are in their 40s, both with partners.

One son has 3 children, aged 16, 19 and 4.


House has 5 seats in living room. Obviously, not everyone will have a seat, and the floor will do for some.


Teenage children seat themselves on the sofa, and don't help the grandparents with drinks. Grandparents have bad legs and are cheerful, but will accept help from visitors with doing drinks.


What is expected these days? For the children to give up seats or not?

Sadly, in some cases it's expected the children will remain on the sofa, be served with drinks, and not help with serving drinks / looking after people other than themselves.


Just depends how you have been brought up / brought your children up?


Values and behaviour only come from one place. Parenting.



And yes, it probably is a generational thing.

TheConways

I'm 29. I get quite shocked and annoyed when I see parents give their children seats whilst they stand on the bus - or not motion their kids to get up when someone older and in more need of the seat gets on to the bus.

At home, I would not dream of taking a seat when others who are older are having to sit - that said, my 93-yr-old grandfather still insists that he stands up against the kitchen counter if several of us are having a cup of tea in his kitchen, and there is no stopping him!

zaxdog

This happened at a funeral in my great uncles house where the two burly teenagers took the sofa and watched happily whilst the elderly folk stood/sat on hard chairs until my OH and I dispatched them to the kitchen to help make tea etc.

Mind you they are foul creatures, one decided to boast about hitting a Big Issue seller. Glad they aren't blood relations and was quite happy to put them in their place.;)

building_with_lego

TheConways wrote: »

I'm 29. I get quite shocked and annoyed when I see parents give their children seats whilst they stand on the bus - or not motion their kids to get up when someone older and in more need of the seat gets on to the bus.

...

I make mine sit down while I stand simply because they're littleish, and the buses here demand that children sit at all times.

OP I'm not sure what to vote for on the poll, simply because I know what *I* expect, but I'm not sure whether that is "what is expected nowadays".

Errata

That's a no-brainer. If there's a shortage of seats the youngest sit on the dog shelf, whether they're 4, 14 or 40.

londonsurrey

Sorry, I worded it badly. What do you expect personally?
I was hoping the poll would gather individual opinions, to show what the majority view was these days.

This is why I stipulated teenage children in the poll, as I would not expect a five year old to handle a tray of hot drinks.

euronorris

I would expect the kids to sit on the floor and help out with drinks (unless they were too young or injured etc). I thought that was how everyone did it?

At our family gatherings, it tends to be a case of muscial chairs as people move around, sometimes into the garden, or kitchen etc, but generally the younger and more able bodied peeps sit on the floor if there aren't enough chairs.

geri1965_2

I would expect the teenagers to sit on the floor and give up the seats to those who need them.

I would expect the drinks to be served by the people who are hosting the party.

building_with_lego

Maybe they've been brought up since childhood to sit quietly in their hosts' houses and it hasn't been brought to their attention that different things are expected now they're older? They could just be self-centred teenagers though. I know that at their ages it wouldn't have occurred to me to volunteer to help with drinks in an older relative's home, as it would have seemed intrusive. I wouldn't have hogged the sofa while the old folk stood though.

I_wanna_live_for_free

On the bus I think it's safer for young children to sit than stand, teenager will do their own thing anyway.
I prefer to stand on a bus or tube, I hate sitting down if its crowded so you get people looming over you - think it's partly claustrophobia on my part.

At a family gathering, I would expect my daughter to help with drinks etc (and she does volunteer) and due to the layout of my relatives homes, we can sit at the table and talk with people in the lounge area so the issue of not enough chairs doesn't arise.

At home we all sit on the floor to watch tv etc for some reason anyway, despite having comfy sofas!