One can sympathise with the little boy and the old man as they are neglected by others in life. The fact that both of them dropped their spoons, shows that they are clumsy, wet their pants and cry show that they cannot control their body and emotions. They thus have the same bad habits and find themselves quite similar with only a difference which is age. 

Once the boy said that the grown-ups don’t pay attention to him, the old mkn held his hand tightly as he had also gone through the exact same thing as the boy, being neglected. The old man understands how the little boy feels and used actions to convey the message that he is also in the same boat as the boy. The old man can be seen to be the future when he is of no use and others, for example his children, leave him alone as they are busy contributing to the society that they forgot about him.

The little boy could be seen as the past when he has not learnt many things in life yet and others, for example his parents, also neglect him as he too, is of no contribution to the society and the parents have to work. In this poem you can see the similarities in their habits but also the fact that they are left alone, neglected by the adult population because of work. The old man represents what the future would be like and the little boy, the past. That is what makes them different.