Crime by the Elderly

An example of what I wonder about:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/21/pensioner-crimewave-saga-lout

The Baby Boom generation had its problems, they went away as the boomers aged and became more prosperous, but now, they've returned as pensions, wealth and all kinds of worries have returned. These criminals, old though they are, are not new to crime and are indicative of a concern I have with ageing: character does not change just because one is old, if anything, old habits or habits developed when one was young are more likely to be entrenched. I think about this in terms of how the young have been treated and wonder why people are so surprised when the young, in turn, treat the old with the same kind of callousness with which they were treated. In clearer terms, if children are put in substandard daycare, fed improperly, and not given any kind of respect, why is society so suprised when this is exactly how they treat their elderly parents?

I have written enough about the grief my mother-in-law gives me but she must have done something right for my husband to choose to have her here, to argue it is better for her here, than to have put in her some kind of institution. The matriarch was there for my husband throughout his childhood and his teens. I know not everyone can afford the option, but some people are able to make it work, let their children know they work for them (and I don't mean a miniature ATV, television set, computer or cell-phone) and not for some dream of a bigger house or better car. Of course, it is difficult. But, I think, and I am being really opinionated now, our society values the things people have and doesn't respect the things people do until its members are forced to confront the realities of a particular group. Like these old people in the article above--no one minded them until they started stealing.

My mother-in-law is the way she has always been. This is not to say she is incapable of change. Actually, I constantly hope for some degree of change. But, the nature of her character does not want change and so she is difficult; I wonder about my own character and selfishness. I hope I die before I end up like this. Anyhow, the old who steal were once the young who steal; it is not often we fall into bad habits we did not have when we were young.