Old men are SO set in their ways! Ugh!
By maezee
@maezee (41997)
United States
December 29, 2009 6:20pm CST
Actually, not old men per say. Just my dad. Here's the story: him and his friend, who lives upstairs of him, get up every morning before work and have coffee and cigarettes together in the porch (sometimes I join them) - no matter the weather or day. The coffee pot that my dad uses..Has to be from the early 1990's. It is ARCHAIC. It works, but it's so old, and doesn't have any "new fangled" features - like a timer, a re-usable filter, a clock, a coffee grinder, etc. So I decided what better of present to get him for Christmas, than a nice, new, coffee maker? So I bought it at Macy's (I got an employee discount, though, so don't be too shocked) and paid $50 for it. Which isn't all that much, but for someone who struggles with their money as much as me..Well, it's a miracle. Anyway, he was surprised (in a good way, I thought) when I gave it to him on Christmas Eve. Here it is, about 5 days after he's received it, and guess what I still see in my kitchen? That old, stinkin', circa 1992 coffee maker! NOT the new one in it's place.
I asked him why he wasn't using his new one, but he didn't answer me.
Anyway. Point being that he is so stubborn. And I just KNOW IT that he doesn't want to get rid of his old coffeepot because trying anything new would be, well.. just god forbid!
Are any of the men (or women) in your life, who happen to be older, totally set in their ways? How do you encourage them to try new things?
4 people like this
6 responses
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
30 Dec 09
This fits my grandparents pretty well. They are stubborn and its kind of hard to talk to them when they have their minds to made up. They have caused me to come to the following conclusion. You just can't just reason with old people. They will simply not concede defeat.
@leeloo (1492)
• Portugal
30 Dec 09
I am a sentimentalist I suppose, so I gave a hard time throwing/replacing something that is not broken. I get where your Dad's coming from though. I tried fixing my previous iron after it fell and couldn't get some of the features to work properly ended up buying a new one, whereas my Mum's old iron that is older than me is still around for emergencies and whenever something goes wrong with it I can normally fix it quite easily. Things were made more simply, slower and therefore probably will last longer, problem is the design that sometimes looks terrible.
Hope you can get your Dad to use it though, do what some of my friends do, plug in both and then every once in a while they unplug the old one, or fill only the new one with water, or set the timer to go off so the coffee is done when they come down and don't need to use the old one, after a while the old one will end up either packed away in the garage or given to charity.
Happy holidays.
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
30 Dec 09
i think i got you beat.my family's still using cast iron pans from 1880,i kid you not.they were my great grandmother's.
my mother is impossible to change her way of doing something.she will either sulk,or call another relative to do what she wants behind our backs.
our great advance was getting her to turn on the cable tv herself.remotes are confusing!
...urgh..
...urgh..
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
30 Dec 09
I am an old man of 76, and Yes I realize I am rather set in my ways, (At least I'm prone to become set in my ways.) There is a lot more to it than meets the eye. After age 70 a person begins to lose consciousness (to a certain accent). I notice my eyesight slipping, my balance is not as steady as before,my memory is failing, and I begin to wonder how long I will be able to drive my car, and the list goes on and on. This slipping of consciousness causes a senior to hold on to things that are known, like an old coffeepot, and coffee with the guys in the morning. New things are different, and perhaps unpredictable, and God Knows there is already to much uncertainty in an older persons life!
@froggieslover (3069)
• United States
30 Dec 09
Oh yes there are a couple of people I know that are like that..my mom is one and my mother in law is another. It isn't that big of a deal with me until they come to my house and try to install their stubborn ways here like the way I should fix my foods or decorate my house Grr..i just let them say it smile big and ignore it. There are some older people that are not only stubborn but also have a hard time expressing their feelings, I think it is just easier to let them stay that way then trying to change them
I am sure your dad will come around and use his new coffee maker soon, maybe you can secretly help his old one make a permanent last perk or switch it out yourself one day and make a pot of coffee with it and see what he says...
@allknowing (130233)
• India
30 Dec 09
This is a common scene in many houses and mine has been no exception. The method I use is to make that item beyond use. You can do it too! But it has to be done gradually so that you are not found out
After all you are doing a good service. I do it with clothes too
After all you are doing a good service. I do it with clothes too