a brief social commentary #2 (observance of the second beginning)

if you watch a child and his or her behavior they usually have a routine, even though its spastic and not always in control the basics and primary needs are pretty much the same. for the youngest they need to be fed and constantly watched to keep them from harming themselves. when a child is in the room many people are watching him/her to make sure that they don't fall down or lash out at others.
if you watch an elderly person at the later state of his/her winter they usually have a routine, even though it is spastic and not always in control the basics and primary needs are pretty much the same. for the elderly they need to be fed and constantly watched to keep from harming themselves.
it seems we once again begin the cycle that we started with right before we die. i wonder if it was designed like that, the womb not yet life, death not ever alive again. i am not sure, but as i have said before it is not death that scares me it is getting so old that i no longer can care for myself.
we as a society treat the elderly like children, almost in a degrading way. we do not value the old but honor the young, even though we the young are the most unintelligent and gullible of any stage of life, especially when compared to those with grey and wisdom. we speak up into the phones as if all elderly are going deaf, and expectantly use small words. we pretend to care but continue to finish our email while we are talking to them. we refuse to explain technology because they are more outdated and we do not believe they can grasp it. why do we sell them so short. they survived. they lived full lives. but we reduce them to mere children. childern whom we watch in rooms to make sure they do not fall down or lash out at others.
-esteban

Comments

Anonymous said…
it is interesting that you have thought so much about this...

i'm sure you take the time to send some extra love to those who are young and old

it has been said before that wisdom comes, not with age, but with experience--and maturity, not with age, but with growth.

i believe this to be true.

i am 26 and find many people in our generation to be full of air--spouting out as though they know the answers to the world, but unable to stand with any backbone for anything that would do any good or helpful

we live in a self seeking culture and our generation is the worst

it is like a spoiled child

we think we should have everything and we think we are right about everything

we blame the problems of the world on the president, but we are the problems...

we like to talk, but would have no knowledge or backbone to stand for anything worth standing for...and have absolutely no strategy for putting anything better into place

so i say to our generation

can we please shut our hot air holes and stand for something that is right in the world?

become a person who can do something about it

whether old or young, everyone is entitled to the same rights that we (you) enjoy...

liberty, equality, freedom of speech and thought, and dignity as a human life

so before you criticize your neighbor and throw stones at their house

take a look at how fragile your own glass walls really are

and do something to put right back in the world

for the old and the young

Sarah W.
Anonymous said…
yes, but thats why they say - old people are like babies, because its a cycle of life, you come back to where you started. its just differs, how FAR back you come back, because if you lived your life proper, if you ate healthy, if you were active - theres a small possibility, that you will go back to the baby's level and not be able to take care of yourself. and of course, not taking care of yourself from the young age, having bad health problems is leading exactly to the fear that you pointed out - not the fear of death, but the fear of being useless, not needed and not be capable to take care of yourself, and yes, that scares me too. even if i'll have children who will never give up on me no matter how bad i would be. thats still scares me - to bother somebody else, because i cant do it myself.
but talking about "we pretend we care and continue writing an email", to my opinion, is the other topic. thats the thing of discipline and respect to elder. and i think, thats a big problem, because nowadays kids are rude, agressive, impudent and have no respect either for each other or for elder people, talking not just about random adults, but even about their parents and family. and something has to be done, because its just getting worse and worse/
Anonymous said…
but when we begin the last winter of our lives...our bodies tire yes, but we begin the birth into everlasting life. I feel that we complete the cycle so that we will look towards everlasting life and not be attached anymore to this earth, as earthly life becomes what it was always meant to be...a moment until we completed our path and could begin the unknown journey home. There is one difference we leave this world being able to have known the way, truth, and real life though we came in without a clue.
Adrienne said…
ah ha you begin your rantings again! I like this one. I've thought about this too.

I think that sometimes it is hard to see the adult in a frail body or even the person within a failing mind. I have seen mentally challenged and mentally ill people treated the same way. Finding the balance between meeting the social and physical needs of a person is a difficult task. I'm not making excuses but the human brain is so complex it is hard to draw the line of how to treat a person. Like an enfant or like an adult?

Although I am disgusted as well with how we treat our elderly!
I think that our society sees each other as disposable. In a way we become animalistic. If someone is part of the weakest link then they are thrown to the roadside. We institutionalize them and throw them into nursing homes. Places where they lose their dignity and any respect they had.
Well thats my ramblings on your rant. Maybe you'll read it and maybe just your fan base will. I'm happy either way.
Anonymous said…
I think that is also my biggest fear. I'm hardly afraid of death because I know what to expect afterwards. But I don't want to have to give up all my independence because I am no longer able to care for myself.

Luckily I should have a while before that hits me.
Anonymous said…
I read this book where the author thought that earth was purgatory. It was kind of a joke but he said that the older you were when you died meant you probably lived a really horrible life prior. The younger you were when you passed away meant you lived a great life and went onto heaven.
Anyway, not my personal take on life but kind of interesting.

-j
Anonymous said…
When I was a little girl, I loved spending the night at my Grandma's house. There was nothing horribly exciting about it....My Grandma watched a lot of C-Span (which prompted a lot of questions from me, and she would try to explain politics to me), there were never any sweets in her house-she would fix me plain cheerios and toast for breakfast and I thought it was the best thing ever, she would take me to the clubhouse where everyone played games and drank coffee. There were never any other kids there. And my Grandma was a very quiet person. So why was it so wonderful to me?
Maybe because she had so much more patience with me than anyone else....maybe because she gave me her attention....maybe because it was just the two of us....maybe all of that.
But then she taught me something.
My Grandma was looking through a box of old photographs and allowed me to thumb through them also. I found a picture of a beautiful young woman in a nurse's uniform. I had never seen anyone so pretty, and quickly exclaimed, "Grandma, who is this pretty lady?" To which she said, "That's me." And I said, "No, this pretty lady in the nurses's uniform." She repeated that it was her. And I said, "Wow, you were really beautiful!" She got kind of a sad look on her face, then changed it to a smile, and thanked me. I didn't understand that look, and asked if I had said something wrong, to which she told me no. Then, I went on to ask questions about when she was a nurse, and I was amazed.
Looking back, I realize that in that moment I learned that Grandma's weren't JUST Grandma's. It had never occurred to me at that young age that she had ever done anything besides be my Grandma.
As the years went by, I learned when I needed to speak up so she could hear me, when I needed to help her with something, when I needed to just sit with her and enjoy the silence because she didn't feel well enough to chat. I learned to adapt to her needs, so that I could continue to learn from her.
We need to find the paths to our elders, not the other way around.
Sarah Joy said…
wow. just the other day my dad and I were talking about how the young do not respect the old. i agree that many in our generation are like 'Sarah W' said - full of air, living in a self seeking culture.
in the end we just ended up disagreeing. it's so weird. i hate how it just won't make much sense until i'm probably old and in that room with people watching me to make sure i won't fall over and hurt myself :(
argh. what is up with our generation?!
Christopher said…
Leviticus 19:32
" 'Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.

Proverbs 16:31
Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.
Anonymous said…
i live in a society wherein most senior citizens are just looked down on. we have no nursing homes or anything like that, and most families dont even take care of their elders, they are seen as an added burden in the household. they just dont mind them anymore.
Anonymous said…
For work experience, I worked for 5 days in a hospital with 80%-ish of the patients being there for because of hip and knee replacements. The nurses referred to the one or two patients as 'the young man of 40'.

The occupational therapists, physiotherapists and nurses were all lovely people, but I noticed they forgot patient's names often, and often said, 'Good girl. Good boy. Good work!'. Being a Year 10 work experience kid, I was encouraged to sit beside them and keep them company, about everything from what school I went to, what I wanted to be, to why I was even here. And they were so much more intelligent, fun, interesting and uplifting to talk to!

It was rather sad to be with the occupational therapist talking to a blind lady. She has nothing to do all day, she's blind, lives by herself and for entertainment, is invited for a stupendous game of bingo in the community centre for entertainment. "They're all fruitcakes there!" she exclaimed. This was coming from someone who had been all around the world as a jeweler, only had to quit because of her eyesight failing. She told me about how she went to Hong Kong with these whopping great diamond rings and jewellery and how she was shaking because she was so afraid some policeman would come over and arrest her for smuggling in something. And right now, in 2006, her daughter doesn't 'care if she's dead or alive'.

I'm fifteen. For goodness sakes. I never said goodbye to my Grandma because I was too busy reading a book. Two weeks later she died. I can't talk to my Grandpa because my Chinese is not good enough. Sometimes I want to visit the hospital again; older people seem more real, maybe just to show my respect individually. And after the hospital, I promised my Mum I would not let her live in a retirement village.

But the elderly are not children.
Josh said…
Write a book...i will read it!
Anonymous said…
so, i don't know if you read these. your thoughts are all over the place, that is cool. no joke, I have had this exact thought/observation about life. it's kind of crazy how life is like a peak. there's an upside, a downside, and a high happy middle point. i guess it is what we do during that peak point that affects our "new beginnig". God bless, you really put it into words well!
Anonymous said…
Thank you for posting your thoughts, a lot of these things I'd never even think of unless someone like you points it out. I'm going to my Grandma's house tomorrow, it's a good thing she got rid of her computer, so I won't spend all my time on it.

P.S. it just occured to me,it's is funny in a way that you complained about about all the old people in Florida, so I supose you respect them but don't want all of them around you place at once? that's quite understandable

Popular posts from this blog

mankind gives life to machine!

the six word memoir

BREAKING HEARTS AND TAKING NAMES. a failure of character revealed. (repair) (dismantle)