Just understand the gap between the elderly and young people

Recently, seven elderly people were enjoying a brass hot pot in a Beijing restaurant, chatting and enjoying Mongolian-style instant-boiled mutton. They used to be colleagues in a newspaper 30 years ago before going their separate ways to pursue different careers. Aged between 60 and 80, they are now retired professors, editors or senior managers.

Their conversation started with inquiries about each other's health, and shifted to the whereabouts of mutual acquaintances. Were all of them busy taking care of their grandchildren? Three of them said they had no grandchildren, because their children were not yet married and didn't want to get married even though they were all over 30. The others nodded understandably, with one of them saying: "Young people nowadays live life their own way."

This is the story of my colleagues and me. Call it the generation gap if you will.