All Growed Up

I realized today that I don't understand the world of adults. I don't know what it is, but I just don't get them. Perhaps I'm just an exuberant youth brimming with ideas and excited to implement them, but everytime I view an adult I often see stress, little inspiration, and a constant need to play devil's advocate with you. Adults just like to argue it seems, no matter how right they actually think you are. I guess their defense would be that they are "realists", and know the cynical ways of the world, and don't want you to travel down the yellow brick road of fantasy (yes my road is yellow, and brick). Maybe being old only means that you're old enough to know that no matter what you hope for, it's going to be snatched away by the ruthless world in which we live. Life's a bitch, I understand. Mr. Ian Montgomery once told me that anyone who has been kicked around and taken shit for over forty years deserves to act however they please, and everyone else should just deal. I often agree with Ian, but in this case I have to disagree.
Should it not be that having taken a bunch of garbage that the world has thrown at you only strenghtens your resolve to find a better life and improve your situation? Like really, old guys come into Circuit City everyday, and I approach them with a smile on my face, "How are you doing today sir?" In return I usually get the " I don't need you to sell me anyhing," and angry, "I'm just looking thanks," or the worst: The stare and the look of disbelief that someone as young as me is actually working here, and even worse wants to take their money.
Believe it or not, these occurances can be quite disheartening. But for every three crusty old mean guys I get, there usually seems to be someone who comes along and saves the day before I decide to just completely screw anyone over forty and hide in a corner of the store avoiding people. It usually happens to be some jovial male of about 50 or 60, who approaches me, maybe makes a few jokes, and if I'm lucky actually embraces my youth and asks where I go to school and what I plan to do with my life, because he clearly knows that I'm going to do bigger things than sell PSP's for the rest of my life.
I know the world does terrible things to people, and I know that stress is a constant thing in the adult working world, but I just don't understand how so many adults can be so unhappy. When I hit that age, I hope I can take all the shit the world has thrown at me and just shake it all off. I will walk into that electronics store and shake the young man's hand behind the counter and reaffirm his wavering belief that people actually can be happy in such a seemingly unhappy world.