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in_omnia
in_omnia
09 September 2011 @ 07:27 pm
hit enough traffic lights....
Whilst driving home from work today, I found myself pondering my own and others' responses to pets and children and the elderly. Each one of those groups thinks and communicates in ways different from people my own age, and each one requires some tolerance or patience on our part when we interact with them. I'm sure there are some people my age who find each one of those groups effortless to encounter, but for myself, I have a definite preference, and I suspect that's the case for most people.

So what does that mean, if anything? Is it just our experiences that shape that preference---e.g., I've had lots of practice working with children, so I find them easy to deal with and therefore appealing? Or is it more innate, like a knack for learning certain languages over others? And if it's innate, do like-minded---children-loving, elderly-loving, pet-loving---people share other similarities? Is it possible to meet someone, watch how they behave, and without ever seeing them interact with one of those groups, know which they'd prefer?

This is just the sort of thing I wish I could discuss with my dad. Bother.
 
 
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[identity profile] ludzu-alus.livejournal.com on September 10th, 2011 05:04 pm (UTC)
I like pets. I can deal with children if their parents aren't about - kids are almost always more reasonable when their parents aren't there to make them uncomfortable. Of course, their parents shouldn't leave them alone alone, like in a store, because then they tend to go hog wild and destroy things. Then again, so do the parents. *sigh* The elderly mostly confuse and annoy me.
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[identity profile] in-omnia.livejournal.com on September 10th, 2011 05:32 pm (UTC)
I feel exactly the same way about the elderly! Not just-over-60 elderly, who are still pretty easy to understand, but that I-can't-remember-why-I-came-to-the-grocery-store 80+ elderly. Pets I'm a lot more comfortable with and almost always enjoy---it depends on their owners---but it's kids for whom I feel the most affection and understanding. I like them so well, in fact, that they can even humanize their terrible parents. :) If someone's kind of an idiot but has a cute kid in tow, I'm much more likely to treat them like a sensible person....
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[identity profile] ludzu-alus.livejournal.com on September 11th, 2011 05:44 am (UTC)
Oh, in general, parents with kids in tow pretty much have me going in any direction but their's. :) I don't mind interacting with kids in a professional capacity - figuring out what they like to read is much easier without the parent there telling me what THEY think their kid wants to/should read. And there are certain friends who have awesome children that I don't mind hanging with.
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[identity profile] piper38.livejournal.com on September 17th, 2011 05:20 pm (UTC)
interesting question... it'd be cool if there's a coorellation. Although I grew up around toddlers/pre-schoolers my whole life and I'm probably least patient with them! But that's generally when/because their parents haven't set boundaries/limitations. I've always liked the elderly for some reason, I like wondering what experiences they've had and what history they've seen, how differently they grew up, etc. Peaks my nostalgic side.
And pets, pets are the coolest. So pets or elderly, then kids.
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[identity profile] in-omnia.livejournal.com on September 17th, 2011 06:53 pm (UTC)
So your inclinations seem to indicate that experience doesn't equal preference, which is the conclusion I was already leaning toward. I suppose experience might make someone more comfortable in an encounter with children/pets/the elderly, but a person's immediate preference seems more innate than learned. Hmm. Now if only I had enough data to come to any conclusions about that correlation thing. :)
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[identity profile] piper38.livejournal.com on September 19th, 2011 04:57 pm (UTC)
I know! Maybe campaign surveyors could slip in a few extra questions when they call house to house...
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