Keep it Moving

The elderly are often stereotyped as being reliant and needy. The one that really gets to me is that when someone tell me, “Help them they’re old.” Forget that, they can help themselves. They are not needy. If a person has 70 plus years of life experience I don’t think they need to be treated like a child. Sometimes people say you should spend time with someone when they are old because they could drop dead any second. As if all old people are lonely are dependent on you. They are lucky they can be by themselves and not have to take care of their children any longer so the last thing I think they want is to be bothered by more people having pity on them. You should spend time with someone if you genuinely want to spend time with them not because you feel they need it or are lonely.

Another one that is just plain funny because of its falseness is that the elderly are forgetful even of their own children. My grandparents have twenty something grandchildren and they always remembered their birthdays and events that they went through whether it were soccer games or confirmation. When my grandfather was alive he ran his business until he was 91 years old. He never quit working because he was never forgetful and never got lazy. He wasn’t that type of guy that sat on his couch and read the paper to pass the time.

The elderly are just as active as the young are. When seniors are shown to be lazy or sedentary it really hurts their image considering not only is it false but many have active lifestyles. Many still exercise and I see quite a few in the gym still exercising. Let’s not forget the United States isn’t the healthiest country in the world especially with younger kids. Not all teenagers are exercising everyday just like not all seniors are not sedentary and reading the paper or watching the golf channel when they are bored. When I was living in Florida many of the elderly could drive just as fine as younger people and they sped just as fast or faster than younger people on I-95. Put it this way many seniors now have more freedom to enjoy their life more freely because they are not held down by their family or job responsibilities so they are able to more fully able to enjoy life. Many travel like my grandfather did all over the world.

Most elderly people I have met have not been irritable or crabby, in fact most were happy because they lived a full and honest life. I think fields in entertainment like to show them this way because it is a lazy way in classifying a group. It doesn’t challenge them to see each senior as an individual rather than a whole group. When I volunteered at a nursing home I never had problems with any of the seniors. They always appreciated me and talked to me about how life was when they were teenagers. One would talk about the war and the type of plane he flew and where he was stationed at the time while another would just talk about the activities that were going on that day in the nursing home. Most just wanted someone to talk to and if you are a good listener you were their best friend. That is really all people want, is to have you listen to them and their stories. Not all of them are terribly unique or interesting but they are all personal and mean something to that individual.