Well it's results season again!

Firstly, and rather belatedly, I would like to say a massive well done to all those students who whooped for joy upon receiving their A-Level or GCSE results over the past few weeks. I appreciate that, being a few weeks ago that it has already sunk in, and the roaring hangover following the celebratory night out is a hazy memory (rather like the night itself), but I prefer my congratulations to be late than never.

This is an interesting viewpoint, I feel. I am in no way what I would call "old" (I'll avoid quantifying what I call "old" as I'd prefer not to be heckled) but as we climb the winding ladder of age, we tend to become very annoyingly sceptical. As we all know, those young 'uns who got good grades clearly only got them because exams have been getting easier. I mean, they can't have been studying hard as we've all seen them with our very own bespeckled eyes robbing grannies and stealing houses while high on cats, or whatever new drug will end the world this week. Well, I say "seen", I mean "read in the Daily Mail". But it's the same thing, right?

Look, I'm going to be honest with you: I feel that they achieved such good grades because they studied hard and therefore deserve every grade, award or accolade they receive. Imagine that you had come home to announce that you had landed that very difficult contract that you had been working on, or achieved that seemingly impossible target, only to be told that the reason you had done so well was not because you had put so much hard work in, but because it was all a piece o' cake. You'd be either disheartened or very annoyed. See what I'm driving at...?

It does seem like the done thing to be sceptical and critical of the younger generation. Yes, you all may say that today is (in a Yorkshire accent) "not like it used t'be" and how your youth was a paradise of grazed knees, running about in summer meadows where the biggest risk was a thick ear by the local bobby after a spot of scrumping, and we all respected our elders. However, think back to that time. Do you remember your parents saying exactly the same thing to you, about how young 'uns "have no respect", "don't know they were born" and "in my day, we had respect for our elders". How can that be though, I mean, the rose-tinted glasses tell us that we all respected our elders then? I'll tell you why; it's because their parents did the same to them, ad infinitum. I am quite aware that I will do exactly the same when I am "old".

So how about this then, readers: we remove the rose-tinted glasses, stop the scepticism, ban the belittling and just for once, give the younger generation a big "WELL DONE"! There, now doesn't that feel better?

Now I'd recommend you get back to work. With all those grades, they'll be after your jobs. Or, apparently, your wallet.

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