What ever happened to nice old ladies?

About a week or so ago I had a very interesting conversation with a friend about the lack of nice old ladies. Think about it- when was the last time you encountered a nice polite old lady? I regularly encounter mean old ladies, rude old ladies, funny old ladies, insane old ladies but rarely encounter a genuinely nice, polite old lady. For example, I was shopping at the Christmas Tree Shop 2 weeks ago and was browsing in the card section. All of the sudden my cart smashed into my shins. I looked up startled and a cranky old lady who had just rammed her cart into mine looked at me and said "Well, it was in MY way." Another old lady passing in the opposite direction looked at the situation and loudly commented "What a bitch!" I hope that comment was directed at the old lady who bruised my shins, but in all likelihood, it was probably directed at my inability to move my cart out of the other old lady's way!

The sad thing is, this type of behavior is all too common over the past few years. About 3 years ago, after being "abused" by the mean old ladies at the grocery store, I made a rule for myself- I only help people that ask me to NICELY. Why reward bad behavior? I wouldn't put up with behavior like that from a child, why should I put up with it from an adult?