The lack of a filter

On the first day of class we were discussing what we thought of when we thought of "old people." Someone mentioned the lack of filter. They say whatever the feel like. Of course this is an generalization but I have experienced this from multiple elderly people.

We will start with my grandmother. She loves to comment on my aunt's weight, it started out not so bad by saying stuff like, "she has such a pretty face." Over the years it has turned into, "I don't understand why she doesn't just lose weight, she just keeps getting fatter and fatter." Keep in mind that this is not her child, this is the woman who married her son even though he has no money and suffered a stroke that his left him what I would call "boring." Every time I go to visit I have to be filled in on any changes in Kay's weight. I have been on the receiving end of these comments as well, when I was younger she used to tell me that my shorts were too short and people would think I was "trashy" and then it turned into, "Ashley you sure are taking long to lose that baby weight." When she would call to check in with my mom she would ask her how my weight loss has gone. My child is about to be 3-years-old and I have still not lost all my baby weight, at this point it just is what it is.

Another time I have witnessed a lack of filter is when I was in the grocery store the other day.I was over in the frozen food section, I was buying my child some of her favorite waffles when I saw this elderly woman walk up to this middle-aged woman that she didn't seem to know. The elderly woman said, "if I was your size I wouldn't be wearing those kinds of pants (capri pants), they make you look very wide." The other woman looked so embarrassed, who wouldn't be? She handled it very well, she said, "oh, I hadn't noticed that. Thank you." and walked away as fast as she could.

All of this makes me think of my child. For those of you who know my child know that she has a little bit of sass going on. She will be 3 next month and is very matter-of-fact about just about everything. Here is a list of comments/critiques that I receive from her on a weekly basis: mommy I don't think that shirt matches your pants, your leg jiggles when you run, you have really big "boobies" (all of you who know me know that this is a false statement), I don't like the way you make *insert food here*, you're driving too fast. I just think that it is interesting how both children and the elderly feel the freedom/right to say whatever they want. The difference is that children don't know any better, I think that the elderly just don't care.

I've attached a link to the circle of mom's website which is kind of like a blog. There is a post about an elderly woman saying "rude" things to a mom about her child and there are responses from other people on the topic. Please excuse the language and the comments that are just rude in general. I was hoping to find some statistics but this is the best I could find. It is interesting to read all the different opinions.