Old people saying whatever they want

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I don't mean to change the subject, but are autistic people, on the whole, taller than average? I mean, I'm a 5'11" woman from a not-so-tall family. And I'm thinking of Temple Grandin too. And this seems like quite a few tall people for such a small sample. Tall enough, that is, to have it remarked on.

Also, I would not be offended by the basketball remark, since tall is generally considered a desirable trait.

oh gawd I know all about old people in public saying things that...well, that make them seem ignorant.

Now I am in the older generation and we were brought up differently, there just was not so much of this very restrictive and tricky political correctness when we were young.

Remarks like, "My, you have grown, look how tall you are" are not meant in a bad way and I find it very hard to understand why anyone would be upset by such a remark.. These kinds of things were part of greeting after a long absence or a way of being nice about younger people and making them feel more grown up or whatever.

I actually feel really sorry for a lot of the younger generation because you have to be so careful what you say because people (in my opinion) are far too upset too easily by quite innocent remarks.

I think the safest thing today is what I was taught (not what I was taught to accept from others!) and that was that one never made personal remarks unless an opinion was asked for and then you would reply with something encouraging, especially if the plain truth was something hurtful.

On thinking about it, I think our cultural constraints were different, you might have to be careful about being politically correct, but we didn't really talk about sex and we were expected to get married.

It is all 'swings and roundabouts' as the saying goes.

I got the basketball question asked a lot about me. I never minded the "look how tall you are" remarks from relatives, but I always resented the basketball question (which I never got from family members, only peers). Just because I am tall does not (or should not) mean or imply in any way that I am good at sports, yet in our sport-oriented society, it does. I resent that to a certain extent.

I suck at basketball. There's a LOT more to playing basketball than being tall. Gross motor coordination, for instance. Perhaps a better question for me would have been, "Wow, you're tall. I bet you have a big handspan and can split at 10th with no problems on the piano." Which is true. But again... being able to split a 10th on the piano does not predispose you to being a good piano player.

And what about those children, teenagers, young adults and middle aged 37 yearolds its amazing the absolute drivel these people say.

Agreed.

Old people in general seem to be either cynical or just plain friendly. I don't have a lot of experience with them though. I find nothing inappropriate about the question, but that is just the problem with having an ASD: what you may find inappropriate may very well be appropriate and vice versa.

My grandparents visited a few weeks ago and refused to sit at a certain table in a restaurant because (as they loudly pointed out) there was a black family nearby, and then told a single mother that she needed to "find God and end her shameful ways". My parents said I should let it slide because they're old. But I don't think age is any excuse for being outright disrespectful. And anyway, by all accounts they said stuff like that when they were younger.

in that sense, really old people are about kids. their consciousness is not as strong as normal, so they say weird stuff. it can be annoying, but you have to be patient because it's not their fault.

Okay so perhaps I am old and I most certainly have autism, but WHY is this question so bad? I would ask it. You can play basketball in places other than the NBA. I honestly do not get why anyone would find this an awkward question.

I don't get what was so wrong with the question.

I don't think they do it on purpose. Their minds are getting old so I think they start to lose their social skills. I am sure you have heard of second childhood. That's also why young people can take advantage of them again and screw them over. Their intelligence starts to
get dull too and their common sense. Their social filters also turn off too because their mind is going away.
There is children say the darnest things, there should be elderlies say the darnest things.

Asking a tall person if he plays basketball, or how the weather is up there is way too obvious and unoriginal for me. However, it is probably better than asking an obese person if he is into sumo wrestling.

Theres a part of the brain function that pulls the reigns on what we utter, thoughts come along and then that part moderates them for appropriateness. I've read that in old people this commonly diminishes so they say thoughts without thinking about how they will be received.
A friends dad used to do stuff like ask us if we were going to have orgies in the lounge when we'd stay at their place with their daughter and her husband (two couples travelling on holiday with kids in tow) and random stuff like that!

I would guess there are very few people who are ever intentionally rude and expecting to get away with it just because they are old. However, I do believe some of us do tend to be a bit more direct and less concerned about what other people might think now that we know so few of them ever really listen to us anyway.

I bet things get easier for us when we get old. People will no longer get mad at the things we say because they will just blame it on our old age.

Twenty-seven year old people play basketball. Even ones who "look old."