It’s not an easy thing to get old regardless of where you live. Your eyes don’t see as well, you are always having to ask people to repeat what they said. You move slower and may not sleep well. Your life seems to be a constant round of what doctor to see today.
From the outside, it might look like a great time to get old. We have medical advances that let us live longer and do it while feeling better, but is that reality?
As I look around I see a community of seniors that are increasingly isolated. They are isolated from family who have moved away for jobs or lifestyles or other reasons. They are isolated as many churches are focusing on younger and younger people and have abandoned formats that are senior friendly (hearing loss can cause physical pain when the music or conversation is very loud) or even segregated their seniors away from the younger members.
They are isolated because they live in cities where there is no bus service or other service to help them get around to church, activities, doctor appointments or visiting friends if they are no longer able to drive. Or the areas they live in are not safe for them to walk where they want to go, even if distance would allow it.
They are isolated because they are not proficient with the technology that could allow them more interaction when they can’t get out and don’t have someone willing to teach them without making them feel stupid.
Our seniors are increasingly made out to be the reason that everything in the country is ‘wrong’, they are disrespected on a daily basis and in more ways than one and sometimes, even, told that they just need to die and get out of the way for people who are more knowledgeable or even care about [insert cause here] more. They are told that their opinions are wrong and that they just don’t have a clue.
They are beholden to younger family members who are always trying to give them unwanted/unneeded advice (tell them what to do) on what they should or shouldn’t be doing but who are not around to help because they are far too busy, it’s physically impossible or they just don’t want to be there.
Seniors, the people I consider seniors have known a way of life you and I can’t even imagine. They have eyes to see how many of today’s advances may not necessarily bring a better, more content way of life. Here is a list of just some of the common things that they would have experienced, many of them being normal ways of life. I have marked in blue those things that I personally experienced.
- Single income families
- At fault only divorce
- WWII
- Korean War
- Vietnam War
- The draft
- The gas shortage of the 70’s
- No phones (party lines)
- No TV’s
- A Man on the moon
- Everything being closed on Sundays
- No 24 hour anything
- Measles
- Polio
- Tuberculosis (testing in school every year – TB Tine test)
- No central heating or air
- 9 pm being considered late for a store to be open
- No public transportation at all
- A single family car if you had a car
- Pumping water at a well
- Outhouses
- Fruits and vegetables being seasonal because importing them from other countries was not common or available
- Growing your own fruits and vegetables
Life changes at an ever increasing pace as we invent and discover new and easier ways of doing things. Many times I long for the simplicity of older ways of life and seniors who are older than I am do as well.
People don’t stop having needs and desires just because they are old. They deserve better.
Down the Rabbit Hole 