'the age of spring-autumn relations'

the great divide between the old and young.
it's strange how we actually feel judged in some ways if we actually become friends with much older people- uncles, aunties, granduncles, grandmothers...
in some cases, we feel guilty for becoming chummy with them because we are taught to respect them, and respect, in our culture, often connotates a certain distancing, a certain out-of-reachness that seems a prerequisite for the respect to form. therefore, if we harbour thoughts of actually going out with them, say 'hanging' or 'chilling' at typically more leisurely spots, we actually feel uncomfortable and displaced. therein lies the irony and inner turmoil, which shouldn't at all be the case. i feel like society generally expects people of their same age group to 'hang' together, and if something atypical disrupts this social pattern, you can immediately feel the extra eyeballs that peer at you from the corner or slightly surprised and confused looks on people's faces. this i have defintely personally experienced. it gets worse when people mistake your father as an older, and unlikely partner? that may be my presumption entirely, but i am sure it happens elsewhere. true respect should be based on actual fact, events, experiences that having a bonding effect. true respect should be no-holds-barred, a kind of depth and truth that surges forth and disregards judgement or critique- a mutual, deep-seeded consensus. age should be in no way a yardstick for the degree of someone's respectability- that's utter bullshit. even though, at the irrational end of my head, i have to say that therein lies some kind of romanticism, a kind of discipline and stringency that appeals to the loftier, biased, and dreamy side of me.. i digress, i mean to say- respect should be in no way related to age. don't feel bad if you don't respect your father. you love him, despite it. isn't that what matters?