I saw this poster in a
local shop window. It said:
“Autumn Leaves 50+
Our object is to
provide entertainment and social activities for older members of the
local community and is now open to all over-50's. We hold monthly
Bingo sessions and have coach trips most months of the year as well
as Summer Tea and Christmas lunch. New members are always welcome.”
Just kill me now.
Love your blog that I have just discovered. Internet eh?
ReplyDeleteI think it is too bad that in western culture (and, I am told, increasingly in Asian cultures) it is thought a terrible thing to become old. You realize that in earlier times there was such a thing as elders (NOT "senior citizens" or the like), and elders were the guides who kept us sane, kept us from eating ourselves out of the proverbial house and home.
ReplyDeleteThe youth-worshipping culture came along, I suspect, because the get-rich-at-any-cost people prevailed. Profit over wisdom. Elders would counsel patience, preservation of resources; and the "type A" greedy grabbers (such as those Europeans who settled the Americas in the 17th-19th centuries) could not abide that. So over time they succeeded in making elders, and traditional ways, appear foolish, silly. And we all believe that, even as we go into old age ourselves.
Phooey on that.
Greg, you are absolutely right. I wouldn't mind growing old if I was treated like an elder but sadly it doesn't happen in our culture. Growing old faced with patronising stuff like that poster is pretty scary - whoever thought 'autumn leaves' was a good idea for a title?
ReplyDelete