Respecting Our Elders

If you have read my earlier post Food Etiquette, you see that the elderly is viewed very high up in society. The older you are, the more respect you are usually given in society. The white/gray hair represents wisdom. Also, since they are older, they have gone through more hardships and experiences than we, the younger generations, have, such us:

• the Japanese invasion of China,

The war between Japan and China when the Japanese invaded China.
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/H9yKqcs699k/hqdefault.jpg

• the cultural revolution of China in 1966-1976,

Mao Zhe Dong's cultural revolution of 1966-1976
http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~theed/Cold_War/d_Brezhnev_Era/c_1968/media/f_Wuhan/RedGuardsLow.jpg

• Hong Kong's freedom from Great Britain,

• and even raising children.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/30/article-2181017-144AAC63000005DC-571_634x421.jpg

So, how do we show our respect to our elders?

Since our elders will be leaving our lives soon, we show them respect and love in some ways:

Transportation: On buses and on the subway, seating is given to the elderly. When there are no more spots left, a younger person usually offers his/her seat to a standing elderly so that they don't fall when the bus or the subway is in motion.

Greating: When meeting friends and family, we first call out our elders (grandparents, uncles and aunts, older cousins). We first start with the oldest person in the oldest generation and make our way downwards. (There's a lot of different names you call them. We never call them by their first name unless it is used to differentiate between people in your generation, like cousins. This will be talked about in another post).

Eating meals: The elderly is typically served tea first and usually, depending on how close the people are, the eldest pays for the meals.