I went to another association meeting for federal retirees. I joined this organization when I retired the first time. I realise that many member have died as I see them replaced by a lot of new faces. I was so young when I joined that I was asked for ID. They were very old school. Now there are fresher faces and some look a lot younger than they used to. There is another generation of Seniors. One remarked that he does not think seniors should be called grey power because so many have no hair. I found that cute. Most of the jokes were not. This has been a week of everyone telling me jokes that I wish I had not heard.
What stood out for me in this meeting was that several people complained about how some people talk down to them in the helping fields or otherwise. I paused to think. In this room there are so many people who were leaders in their field, who are educated, who have worked for many years. This is a room of professionals and I am humbled in their presence. I take what they say very seriously. Here is the voice of experience. Their benefits are decreasing while the government is mismanaging funds. Look a what the previous premier has done. I was stunned when he was re-elected. I was stunned when he said on the news that people approach him about some sport that is going on now, rather than the closures that cost tax papers so much. I would really like to see jail time for misappropriation of tax payer dollars. The government took the military pension surplus to pay down the national debt. After much time spent to have the money returned in court, the retirees lost. How does this happen in a seemingly democratic society? Can the government do what it wants without consequences? Is the Premier correct that people are more interested in some sport than the cost of so much money wasted? When does condescending behaviour begin and when does it stop?
As I focus on two women who complain about wanting respect to those perhaps too young to understand (as one mentioned) and not in any position of importance where they can make a difference, I wonder if the intensity of the problem would be addressed. I remember a senior casually tell me how horrified she was at a Senior Community Centre when staff had the elderly hold hands and play ring around the rosy. I remembered that from my kindergarten days or was it grade one? This woman told me that at the centre there are seniors who had been and are quite prosperous and important and now they are treated like children and not respected. She quit. I told her she should complain and she said she was getting the message towards those who can make a change. However, I saw this particular centre being recommended on a handout.
People have their own perspective of the elderly. I have heard so many opinions, some I find most amusing and others rather disturbing. However, for those who do not die young, will age and then they will realise that, perhaps they will not like how some people consider them.
I have the gift of having a mentor, director and favourite profs who are all in their seventies and eighties. I have learned so much from them and am still learning. I have always been in awe of people who have lived much longer than I and who can relay just a bit of that wisdom my way. However, I appreciate all ages and have learned from them all. I am a student for life.
Some elderly are very vulnerable. They are physically fragile, they are cash poor, they are dependent on family. There is much abuse towards the elderly. Children may take advantage of them for their money, their inheritance, etc.... Children may be abusive towards them phyisically, mentally and financially. Elderly men have the highest suicide rate in Canada.
So the next time you see an elderly man or woman, why not look at them as people who have lived a long life and perhaps treat them with a little bit more respect as you would your own peer? At least, do not speak to them as a child, but as an adult. What do you think?
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