“Old people do that. Old people. Why do they act like this? Why do they have to be so rude,” a young child asked. “They feel like the only ones in the world. They always need help. They always need someone by their side.”

“Have respect for them! They’ve been here longer than you, and have been through more. They lived and gone through rough times. What they do is probably more worthy than your games. Stop thinking about games all day,” his father scolded. “You know very well, she has a health condition that is not too happy to have right now! Be kind to her when she comes! The point she’s living life right now is one of her toughest. She worries more than you.”

“But I have to worry to! I don’t even think about games all day! I don’t want to help them! They didn’t even have such harsh lives. I am busy too! Way too busy to think about the individuals who will eventually die sooner than me. Probably within the next year, month, day, hour, or minute. They are useless. I still need to worry about homework, school, and getting a good future! They need to stop thinking for themselves. Why can’t they just stop?”

“They have to worry of life or death, not school, and you do not even have respect for that? Each day they can help you. You can learn from them. They have experience. You will also be old one day, and the people then will start talking about you.”

“But I do not care when I get old. If I die, I die. If my life does not end like I want, it does not have to. If the world ends, it does not matter. I do not think elders need to be cared for. Young people are what will start the future, so they are most important.”

“Excuse me? Your grandmother will not be happy if she sees you like this. Old people were also young at a time. They continued to make the human race last. If they were not there to give birth to us, then there is no future.”

“I do not care about what you say. What you think. It’s what I choose that’s important now!”

“Well, what you choose has to be right sometimes.” His father thought: Why can’t I have a son who is actually more caring? Why are the younger generations getting more selfish?

Moments later, the young child’s grandma came into the room. “Hey! Move over here! Come here young man! I heard about you. What you said. I’m sure you wouldn’t like this if it happened to you.”

“I still do not care. I want to be what I am. Don’t change me lady! Just let me and everybody else be a child while I live.”

“Lady? Excuse me? Young man, I want you to stop repeating yourself and what you think. It will not change or help anyone to keep complaining! Respect your elders please!”

The boy has been fed up about this. After years and years of worrying, he always wanted to stop thinking about helping others, especially the elderly. He wanted a punch a wall. He wanted all these stupid discussions to end. He wanted to be alone.

About a week later, he decided to leave the house one day. The last thing he said to his grandmother was, “I do not care about anyone else. Just myself. You are pressuring me too much!” As he was walking away, his grandma followed him to tell him what has been in her mind.

“Excuse me? You are pressuring me! Here’s one thing you need to remember. You may never get the chance to live life to the fullest. To accomplish all your dreams. You just need to have respect. Respect is what’s most important.”

The boy ran from home. He was too stressed from his life, that wasn’t even too stressful. He hated his family, but he stopped hating them after the moment of the end. His grandma’s heart was falling. She had tears of pain running down her face. She couldn’t take it anymore. She felt like a failure. Her life was too miserable. Her health conditions were not helping. Everything was going wrong now. Her grandson wouldn’t even care. She kept weeping, until the tears of her heart reached the floor. The flat floor, the place that keeps her up each day. The thing that supports everyone. And now, it’s the place when she fell. When everything fell apart. Where everything failed. The place where the last moment of her disastrous life took place. The place where she got no respect. It’s the place where her last thoughts would happen. It’s the place when she passed to go to a better place.