Anyone who has watched Star Trek, which is about everyone, knows that the Romulans have developed a cloaking device which renders their spaceship invisible.
It's been around for a long time. Young drivers hit older people more than young people.
Older drivers hit kids more than older people.
Both will say something along the line..."They just jumped out...never had time to stop".
Though in reality they didn't jump out and there was plenty of time to see them, avoid hitting them or able to stop. We tend not to see who we are not around.
As a fellow senior, albeit having ten years extra to practice being invisible, I invoke a bit more attention because I walk with a cane. People do glance my way and sometimes offer to help. Generally, when I am thumping my way across the Walmart parking lot trying to look springy and active. I also frequently am offered assistance when I return to my vehicle, electric cart overflowing with food and household supplies.
Curiously, they often raise their voices, as if being handicapped makes you death when I got around in a wheelchair a few years back people always talked to me as if I was perhaps a bit mute or maybe retarded .
I think the lack of extended families and the tendency to ship grandma off to a nursing home may be the underlying cause. We are a forgotten segment of society--far easier to ignore than to try and engage with, and some even resent our receiving entitlements. Besides, texting has replaced conversing so these younger, somewhat self centered individuals don't really talk to anyone that much now. 🙄
Great insight, Eunice. And there is so much lost to the younger generation by ignoring the elderly and their wisdom and experience. I also agree that this culture isolates the elderly, with an out-of-sight, out-of mind effect. Then they tell old people to do mental exercises to keep their minds working, instead of including old people into daily living, which would keep their minds working. Unfortunately, there is a huge, profitable industry that treats/manages/fleeces the elderly, so there is no changing this cultural model. Sometimes I envy more simple cultures, where multigenerational families live together.
Yes, I lived in Israel during the 1970s and there were a lot more extended families than the US. Also people in rural areas tend to find place for grandma, great aunt Ruthie, or perhaps a bachelor uncle who never married They are great baby sitters, child tenders, soup watchers and pet walkers
My current roommates include two energy charged pups, brothers from a surprise litter from a rescue dog.Boy, is it nice to come home to their greetings! Hugging that is genuine, kisses out the wahzoo and relief that mom is home finally! My cats are sonewhat less ethusiastic to see me. They don't care what I look like. Best of all, they cling to every word I say and sometimes respond with a quick bark. I am never lonely-- but it sure helps to have people like you out there communicatng and experiencing the same issues and sharing!! ,👍😺
Hi. this is not a new phenomenon. I remember growing up (a long time ago in a galaxy far far away) and we would almost always not interact with "older" people because 1 - they were not part of our social circle, 2 - we did not sit with them at ceremonial dinners ( deliberately from their perspective, forcefully from their insistence), 3 - we had very little in common ( we did not speak the same "languages". It is not that we did not respect them from a distance, they just were not us.
Now that I am part of the baby boomer generation I find this sort of amusing in a way.
Hi David. Thanks for commenting. It’s funny, but society is changing so fast these days due to technology and its impact on the culture and how we do everything, that social incompatibility can happen between people only a decade apart. Back in the day, it took a generation of about 20 years to see significant social change. I remember the book, Culture Shock, by Alvin Toffler, that predicted social disruption and psychological overload from the frantic pace of change — back in the 1970s! The pace of change has only increased since then.
I think the issue with old people, though, is more about ageism. We live is a culture that discards the old, unless it becomes a valued antique. In human terms, the young ignores the old until you become a centagenarian. Then they want to know your secret to long life. Until then, you’re invisible.
It's been around for a long time. Young drivers hit older people more than young people.
Older drivers hit kids more than older people.
Both will say something along the line..."They just jumped out...never had time to stop".
Though in reality they didn't jump out and there was plenty of time to see them, avoid hitting them or able to stop. We tend not to see who we are not around.
As a fellow senior, albeit having ten years extra to practice being invisible, I invoke a bit more attention because I walk with a cane. People do glance my way and sometimes offer to help. Generally, when I am thumping my way across the Walmart parking lot trying to look springy and active. I also frequently am offered assistance when I return to my vehicle, electric cart overflowing with food and household supplies.
Curiously, they often raise their voices, as if being handicapped makes you death when I got around in a wheelchair a few years back people always talked to me as if I was perhaps a bit mute or maybe retarded .
I think the lack of extended families and the tendency to ship grandma off to a nursing home may be the underlying cause. We are a forgotten segment of society--far easier to ignore than to try and engage with, and some even resent our receiving entitlements. Besides, texting has replaced conversing so these younger, somewhat self centered individuals don't really talk to anyone that much now. 🙄
Great insight, Eunice. And there is so much lost to the younger generation by ignoring the elderly and their wisdom and experience. I also agree that this culture isolates the elderly, with an out-of-sight, out-of mind effect. Then they tell old people to do mental exercises to keep their minds working, instead of including old people into daily living, which would keep their minds working. Unfortunately, there is a huge, profitable industry that treats/manages/fleeces the elderly, so there is no changing this cultural model. Sometimes I envy more simple cultures, where multigenerational families live together.
Yes, I lived in Israel during the 1970s and there were a lot more extended families than the US. Also people in rural areas tend to find place for grandma, great aunt Ruthie, or perhaps a bachelor uncle who never married They are great baby sitters, child tenders, soup watchers and pet walkers
My current roommates include two energy charged pups, brothers from a surprise litter from a rescue dog.Boy, is it nice to come home to their greetings! Hugging that is genuine, kisses out the wahzoo and relief that mom is home finally! My cats are sonewhat less ethusiastic to see me. They don't care what I look like. Best of all, they cling to every word I say and sometimes respond with a quick bark. I am never lonely-- but it sure helps to have people like you out there communicatng and experiencing the same issues and sharing!! ,👍😺
Thanks, Eunice. It’s nice to know you are there, too! — Syd
Hi. this is not a new phenomenon. I remember growing up (a long time ago in a galaxy far far away) and we would almost always not interact with "older" people because 1 - they were not part of our social circle, 2 - we did not sit with them at ceremonial dinners ( deliberately from their perspective, forcefully from their insistence), 3 - we had very little in common ( we did not speak the same "languages". It is not that we did not respect them from a distance, they just were not us.
Now that I am part of the baby boomer generation I find this sort of amusing in a way.
Respectfully.
Hi David. Thanks for commenting. It’s funny, but society is changing so fast these days due to technology and its impact on the culture and how we do everything, that social incompatibility can happen between people only a decade apart. Back in the day, it took a generation of about 20 years to see significant social change. I remember the book, Culture Shock, by Alvin Toffler, that predicted social disruption and psychological overload from the frantic pace of change — back in the 1970s! The pace of change has only increased since then.
I think the issue with old people, though, is more about ageism. We live is a culture that discards the old, unless it becomes a valued antique. In human terms, the young ignores the old until you become a centagenarian. Then they want to know your secret to long life. Until then, you’re invisible.