Now, this does not mean old people get a pass to be assholes. I don’t believe that you should sit idly by and smile uncomfortably while your great-grandmother spews some homophobic or racist garbage. Challenge her old ass on her old-ass beliefs. Do her the courtesy of treating her as an equal, a person who is capable of defending her viewpoint or even, miracle of miracles, actually changing her mind. We’re all adults here. Sure, some of us lived through World War II and some of us can barely remember 9/11, but we still ought to be able to have an honest conversation about important things. http://www.aarp.org/content/aarpe/en/home/disrupt-aging/stories/ideas/info-2016/always-say-hello.html?cmp=EMC-DSO-NLC-RSS-DISAGING--CTRL-042916-P4-1219121&ET_CID=1219121&ET_RID=3759807&encparam=G3d7jxm5VdGHl1IFAK9dfzYaJVwfcI0zil+zJCCqju4=