Old Age

“The ignorant man is an ox.
He grows in size, not in wisdom.”
                - Dhammapada

CAUTION: The next paragraph is not very nice.  I don't mean to slag Israelis - I've met quite a few nice people from Israel. 

For the past few days, I’ve had the great pleasure of sharing my guesthouse with a band of Israeli backpackers.  Israeli backpackers have a pretty bad reputation of being loud, inconsiderate and generally obnoxious.  Based on what I’ve witnessed over the past few days, the bad reputation is justified.  Their display of self-centeredness and deliberately inconsiderate behaviour is astounding.  They put toilet paper in the toilet despite clearly posted signs to use the waste receptacle.  They wore muddy flip flops in the bathroom and throughout the house, despite clearly posted signs to remove their shoes.  They cooked food in their room and left the washed pots and pans blocking the entrance to guest's doors, despite clearly posted signs to no bring food into their room – (they told me, in a very agro tone, rice was not food).  They even deliberately drained the rain barrel as some form of expression of discontent.  They stomped about and spoke in unnecessarily loud voices.  When it was time for them to go to bed, they banged on the wall for others to hush beyond a whisper.  My point is not to slag Israeli backpackers – they make their own beds.  I guess they will grow up someday.

One of the things I like about getting older is that I no longer have to monitor my etiquette so closely.  It’s not that I don’t need manners.  Rather, it’s that they are now so deeply ingrained they come out by habit.  This isn’t true of all “grown ups”.  In fact, it is typically the opposite.  It’s the old people touching museum exhibits and snickering at Caravaggio’s perversions.  It’s the older couples bickering too frequently.  These, too, are deeply ingrained habits.

Although I am generally uninterested in becoming a “grown up”, I am glad that on my path of getting older, I’ve taken a little time to develop good manners – good habits.  It wasn’t very difficult a thing to do.  I wonder if the recent gang of undesirable guests will grow up to be snickering septic saboteurs or will they someday catch a glimpse of the reaction they are causing and change their ways – in their old age.