Random 5 for May 15 – Age, courtesy, tracking, people, opportunity

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This is elderly! Courtesy of clker

This is elderly!
Courtesy of clker

Perspective for sure! The beloved husband and I were watching the news. The newscaster broke the news about an elderly person driving into a storefront. The woman was 73. Is that elderly? The beloved husband is 73 and he is not elderly. My brother is in his mid-80s and he’s not elderly. So how old is elderly? Maybe 90? Or maybe it’s not an age at all but a physical state. When I see someone frail looking I think of them as elderly no matter what their age is. Old is always 20 years older than me.

It really does happen in Starbucks – I was inside the store in back of a happy young man maybe in his 20s. He was friendly but when it came time to pay he couldn’t put his credit card in the slot. His hand was shaking furiously. I was stunned. I didn’t want to grab his credit card and do it for him. That would be rude. He said, “I have a tremor.” (A very bad one!) The harder he tried, the more he shook. I said, “Let me help” and took the card to process it for him. I won points with the barista and my drink was put down in front of me before I ordered it. (This wasn’t a great good deed. Anyone in back of him would have done that.) My heart went out to this young man. I’ve seen a lot of older people with tremors but never someone this young.

Bumper stickers – I was in back of a company panel truck. There was the “How is my driving” sticker with a number to call. There was also a second sticker that said “This vehicle is tracked by GPS and is required to drive at the posted speed limit.” I was curious. Is this so that other drivers don’t call to complain about the driver putzing along? There are roads that have a posted limit that no one (except this driver) adheres to. Good to know!

People watching – I had two routine doctor appointments this week so I spent some time in waiting rooms. The first one was an upscale office in a beautiful setting. It was peaceful and quiet and you couldn’t guess what people were there for. The second was a very large busy dermatology practice with at least 30 doctors. Many patients wore the reason for the visit on their faces. There were young children with acne and old people with barnacles growing on their foreheads. There was a very young girl maybe 6 or 7 with her mother. She wore a pretty dress and looked as if she was coming from church. I wondered what she was doing there and hoped it wasn’t anything serious.

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia

No opportunity is missed – I worked on my pond this week. I am putting a 2’ x 3’ walkway from the patio to the pond so I can get in it and out without walking through a flower border. I dug out the area to lay down gravel and sand prior to the pavers. Whenever I left the area to get a tool or clear something away, a critter was in the hole eating worms. First a frog found its way there and ate until full, then a robin came to dine. It felt like I worked at Mel’s Diner!

So how was your week?

 

 

56 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 15 – Age, courtesy, tracking, people, opportunity”

  1. i’m glad to be back blogging and not to miss your random 5! They never disappoint–they are truly random! LOL! I have many conflicting thoughts about age, I think. I agree with you that the media often refers to elderly and they could be speaking about me. I barely acknowledge being a senior citizen. But then I have friends my age with health issues that have aged them terribly. So I do think it’s less about the number and more about activity levels that leave perceptions in other people’s minds. And then your example of the young man with tremors. I can better accept the idea of an older person with disability than to see a young man or woman struggling. It all comes around to health and wellness, I think. In three weeks of being sick and for the first time in my life really not having stamina for quite awhile I realized I’m not always that tuned in to what some of my fiends experience regularly. Good health’s a blessing–no one argues that point.

    Your pond and pathway sound really lovely. I hope you’ll share photos.

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  2. Can’t wait to see your new path and the pond update. Always so beautiful..and obviously competition for the critter whole foods market.
    I grew up around really really old relatives. “Frail” was used with “Elderly” when one of them was in mid 90’s – and had stopped driving or lost vision..anybody else was still middle aged. I’ll stick with that.
    The young man’s shaking hand is so sad. We know a beautiful young woman, 30’s, who has the same thing with a medical condition. Awkward. It gets worse when there’s pressure to hurry up of if someone is watching or in line behind her. Makes it difficult for her to work as other workers stare or feel uncomfortable around her.(which makes the shaking even worse) I think you handled it well. Can’t intrude, but sometimes a kindness is appreciated.

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    • I like your thinking. I will be middle aged until I’m 90! From comments it seems the tremor is more common than I thought. You are right about the stress. The harder he tried the more wild his hand was flailing. He was able to remove the card (it was a chip card and those slots are small).

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  4. Some days I feel elderly. I will be 65 years old in the fall and I can’t believe it. Most days I still feel in my 40s until I see my upper arm flap. CH has an essential tremor in his left arm that showed up in his 30s. It has become worse over the years. Always there when holding a glass, eating, doing physical things, gone when his arm is at rest. I just had 9 stitches taken out of my forehead last Tuesday at the dermatologist’s… basal cell. Hoping this week is better… 😀 I need to start wearing a hat but I look terrible in hats except visors. I like the way Jill thinks too but my comment this morning must have something to do with the dreary rain we are having… 😀

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    • I feel old when I don’t feel well or something is going on with my body. I feel old when I have this many doctor appointments in a short time span. I remember going to my GYN once a year and that’s it. Those were the good old days. What I had removed from my face was actinic which occasionally morphs into squamous cell. It was on the cheek so it would be a bad space for an excision. I hate hats too because they make my head sweat which makes my hair really yucky. Sounds like we are very similar.

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  5. Elderly! Well, my younger grandkids think I’m elderly! I am 71 and ride my bicycle all over Ottawa. But a couple of times I was out with my cousin who is three months younger than I and people asked me if she was my mother!!! She is tiny and slightly stooped. People should really think twice about what they say!

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  6. The age at which someone can be called elderly keeps receding as I grow older. The word does have a bad connotation. The cane and the bent back in the image you included is what I think of.

    Our hearts go out to the boy with the tremor and the girl in the dermatologist’s office, and we wish we could help. I hope they don’t feel ill at ease to be noticed and wished well. We all need help sometime or other.

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    • Yes we do. I had to go into see the doctor the day after an extensive surgery. I had been barfing all night from the anesthesia so I was not in great shape. There is valet parking at the doc offices. They took one look at me and got me a wheelchair. People opened doors and were very helpful. It was only for the one day that I felt that bad but I never forgot how gracious people were. I try to pay it forward.

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  8. I don’t like the word elderly at all! I think when used, it gives the reader a negative jibe. Unfortunately all words regarding aging, old, elderly, advanced years…you get the drift never indicate a positive. Of course the elderly driver would have an accident…because nothing good can be associated with the elderly! Somehow that perspective needs to be changed.

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  9. I sure wouldn’t consider someone 73 to be elderly, but then that newscaster was probably all of 27. And what’s with all the storefront crashes lately? In the last few years that seems to be an epidemic. Kudos to you, Kate, for helping that young man with his card. Not everyone would have been so gracious.

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  11. I tend to think frail old people are elderly. I really don’t like any of the terms for older people of which I am one. Maybe I will work on finding one.
    We have GPS on the delivery truck at work. It has made the guys realize they are on the clock and they are paid to work not visit friends, shop, sit at a fast food place for an hour. Certain!y has made them more productive and deliveries more efficient.

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  12. My friend Joan, who came for breakfast, is 75 and perkier than anyone else I know. Mimi turned 89 on St. Patty’s day whose posture makes mine resemble Quasi Modo’s. So you’re right, what exactly defines the term elderly?

    What you did in Starbucks was a GREAT DEED. Half that line, with the exception of being detained, wouldn’t even have noticed with their blinders on, especially without caffeine.

    And I love your pond stories. Look forward to them, and funny line, about Mel’s diner. 🙂

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  13. It’s been too many years to remember the details, but I did once call a company about how one of their drivers was driving on a highway. I’ve been tempted to do it since, but have never done so. It does make me wonder how many people actually make those calls.

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    • The driver would have to really annoy me with a pattern of irresponsible driving for me to call. I wonder if it accomplishes anything except maybe a mark for the next performance review.

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  14. We are only as “old” as we feel . . .

    From Wikipedia:

    Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Euphemisms and terms for old people include, old people (worldwide usage), seniors (American usage), senior citizens (British and American usage), older adults (in the social sciences[1]), the elderly, and elders (in many cultures —including the cultures of aboriginal people).

    The chronological age denoted as “old age” varies culturally and historically. Thus, old age is “a social construct” rather than a definite “biological stage”.[6]

    That said, I define “senior citizens” as those over “normal” retirement age ~ 65 or so.
    When I refer to folks as “elderly” . . . it isn’t a statement on their abilities, just their age. A number.

    Once they start deteriorating . . . they are “old.”

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  15. A bad week overall. Family troubles. Thank you for asking. As for the tremor, my son had one I noticed when he was 9 months old. We couldn’t get a firm diagnosis until he was 26. He has a very rare genetic disease (he’s adopted). The more stress, the worse the tic.

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  17. Was that the 73-year-old wearing flip-flops from her pedicure in Torrance? 😦 We’ve had so many elderly (can I use that word?!) people in accidents around my neighborhood recently, it’s scary. A few storefronts, but multiple families hit in crosswalks (two church crosswalks, one school).

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    • No it was local. It seems that older folks have been driving into storefronts (or houses) around here, maybe two a year. About ten years ago one drove into the storefront in a large strip mall and killed a customers. It was the confusion between the gas and break but holy cow, it had to be at great speed to get to the customer. Usually they are much older than 73. My mother stopped driving at 70. Part was that she hated driving and car upkeep was expensive for her short drives. She also preferred to have her daughter (that would be me) chauffeur her around. There is a 90-year-old at my gym. She is in great shape but no one wants to park near her because she sometimes doesn’t give you enough room to open your car door. She hasn’t had any driving issues though.

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  20. When I was 30, I thought people 40 were old, poor things. Now when I hear of someone who dies in their 70’s, I think, “He died so young.” Probably mentioning that the driver was elderly was an implication that we old farts can’t drive. Tracker: Insurance put one on my honey’s car to track speed. I think rate is better if you drive safely. (I wonder if they put them on young people’s cars.) Starbucks: Probably alcohol or drug withdrawal, but some medical conditions cause tremors. Thyroid disease and Parkinson’s disease come to mind.

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  21. Agree! Elderly is always 20 years older than I am! Last night though I had to reach for the ibuprofen after scrambling up and down a 12 ft. stepladder to paint stage walls. I can still out work some of the 40 somethings in the cast of the show. I am very fortunate.

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  23. I’ve always said old age is 15 years older than I am but I like the number 20 better..:)
    The company will say the GPS tracker is for speed but it’s mostly there to make sure drivers are where they’re supposed to be and not stopping at home, taking extended lunches or at locations they shouldn’t be. Theft is another reason.

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    • That’s why I thought the tracker was there. I found that out when a repairman was here. A snowstorm was expected the next day. He said he had to find a spot to sit with the truck because he couldn’t sit in his driveway because of the tracker. My next comment was why not sit in a customer’s home and fix something.

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