
As I pass into my golden years, or in my case silver, I cannot help but notice the way folks treat us older citizens. Sure, I know we are not as quick or sharp as we once were, but I feel confident I still retain my complete faculties. When someone asks a question and the answer is not on the tip of my tongue, you might hear something like, don’t worry, I know that you are older and unable to remember some things. Well, you might be right, but I probably have forgotten more than you know. Have you ever considered the fact that the human brain remembers everything it sees, smells, hears, feels or thinks from the time it is born. Everyone likes to talk in terms of terabits and gigabits but can you imagine the amount of information stored in a senior brain? So, you can also imagine it may be a tad more difficult to locate information in such a large amount of data.
Ok, here is the deal. I want to be treated just like everyone else, yes I am older and yes, sometimes I get a little foggy on the details of an issue. I was born during the inception of black and white TV. Technology for me was turning on the TV, without a remote, or manually setting the thermostat on the furnace. Cars were very simple; a motor, steering wheel and mirrors to help you avoid running into other people. Commercials were dumb and not designed to creep into the inner working of your brain. Wars were fought with human soldiers, guns, tanks, big slow moving boats and very basic airplanes. The word computer was barely a known word! The fact that I can even turn a computer on should be commended, yet many of us seniors have become quite proficient with the new technology.
I think one of the advantages of being older is the wealth of mistakes one has made during one,s life. Yes, mistakes are what we learn from. I once heard a European laughing about all the guardrails on our roads. He said in his country there are very few guardrails because people know, many from experience, not to drive so fast in certain areas. Here in America we have learned to drive as fast as we want because the guardrails will save us from plummeting over a thousand foot cliff. Our schools do anything they can to force a student to pass a class, including dumbing down the curriculum and tests. Falling down, touching a hot stove or playing with sharp objects all generally have consequences which teach us not to do those things. If we take away the ability to make mistakes, we take away the essence of learning important techniques for staying alive.
I would like all my readers to send this to all their children and grandchildren to read. I would like to avoid hearing comments about my ability to remember. Chances are they heard something from their parents. Just remember, you will be old sooner than you think, and you will be the one who listens to little remarks about your abilities. The old GOLDEN RULE comes into play here, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Good rule to live by.