yesterday was one of those days that you wish you had never gone to work. i was expecting a slow day now that school is back in but was disappointed when i found out that it was seniors day....nevertheless, i gritted my teeth and plastered a smile on my face (however forced it may have been) but these, these....
people really make my blood boil and here's why.
they are slow. i know that the body slows down with age and i can respect that, but what i can't respect is the fact that they are impatient when others are slow. and this is especially true if the person being waited on before them is younger then they are. even if you apologize for the wait, they still have to remark on the line-up. i guess they're afraid they might expire in the queue.
but what really gets me tho is how much time they'll take up after they finally shuffle along to the counter. when asked the obligatory "How are you today?" they proceed to give a laundry list of ailments, or my personal favourite, the "not so good", daring you to take the bait to investigate further. as the transaction comes to a close, they'll tell you to repeat yourself and to speak up, then complain about you shouting or speaking too quickly. after that out comes the change purse, which first has to be found amongst a bag or trolley, then set on the counter while they try to 'lighten the load.' and as soon as a senior thinks they don't have the change and you've already rung everything through, that's when they decided to give you some more change, or smaller bills in order to confuse you further. once the money has been settled, they eye up the receipt for any errors and to ensure that you've discounted everything to their complete satisfaction, more often not quizzing you about how much they saved off this or that item. finally, once they sure no more cash can be squeezed out of you they have to check and double check that they have everything and put the change purse back in the bag or trolley, along with their purchases, glasses, wallet, bus pass, etc before they leave the line.
this was my yesterday and although not
all of the experiences were quite that bad, most were a bit of this and touch of that. however, the above scenario is really just indicative of larger problems to do with the aged which i will attempt to elaborate on in the next few paragraphs.
one of the best things about living in canada is our health care system which provides equal medical treatment to each and every one of its citizens. the only problem with that system is that it tends to get clogged up with unnecessary visits for things like colds, flus, and minor bumps and scrapes. a 2004 statistic shows that although senior citizens only count for 12% of canada's total population, they account for almost 43% of all health care spending. this statistic doesn't include the cost of pensions and assisted living funding for old age homes, so the figure is likely much higher than that. think of the last time you were in a hospital emergency room. how long did you have to wait? better still, who were you waiting with in the emergency room? my guess is that they mostly people over the age of 65 with a few young mom's and their kids. now, if you have a 18 month year-old baby who is teething and you can't get in to see a doctor because of the backup due to a flu bug going around at the local nursing home, how are you going to explain that to the baby?
it's not just health care that is great but also our social programs for those in need, such as unemployment insurance. the only trouble is, that revenue canada only has so much to go around. here's a great example of what i mean. a teacher who has spent 5 years in school to obtain her bachelor of education finally gets a teaching job after 3 years of substitute teaching. she finishes her first contract and needs to draw on the benefits she has paid into for the last 18 years, because there isn't any work available in her profession. however, she doesn't qualify, mainly because there are too many individuals who draw on the same money. i understand that there are many deadbeats out there who try to cheat the EI system, but believe that this person is a hard-working individual who actually does need a little tide-over until she can find work again. what pisses me off about this whole situation is that she had to jump through every bureaucratic hoop, fill out countless forms and wait almost the whole summer just to find out she didn't qualify. yet, all a senior has to do is be old to get a cheque. yeah, that makes sense.
this situation above also illustrates another issue i have with senior citizens and work. in canada, there is a HUGE amount of highly-skilled graduates who can't find work in their profession, even though most of skilled jobs such as teaching, the law, medicine are apparently screaming for people to work them. well, where are these jobs? for 3 years, she worked in an office that was nice enough to let her go on sub jobs. now, i understand that everyone has to pay their dues, but for all those people out there who are in a similar situation WTF?
it's simple really, the generation which is supposedly retiring actually isn't. what they are doing instead is taking the partial pensions and working part-time in order to keep active and doing something. they are 'doing' something, but not quite what they think...when they work part-time, they not only take away a full-time job from a new individual, but also make it difficult for others to take a part-time job. no one likes working 2 jobs, it's a nightmare to arrange your schedule, there are no benefits and it generally makes life miserable. on top of this, it creates a backlog of people who finish school and have no where to work. why can't retirees just retire?
don't even get me started on close-mindedness, racial attitudes, senior drivers, senior line-jumping and a whole other host of other problems.
what i'm about to suggest for a solution may shock and upset some, especially those who love the old. i think it's pretty obvious by now that i am an ageist and that i'll feel differently when i get older but you want to know something? i don't think i will so here goes...
when i was about 17 i saw a particularly interesting episode of a science fiction series that really struck a chord with me. it was about a society of humans that when reaching a certain age, they were euthanized. while the main characters were all shocked by the finality of the culture, i could definitely see its allure.
think about this if you will for a moment...let's say we decided to adopt a similar societal credo, first off, an age would have to set. the average life span of the human male is 77 and for women it's around 81. i like nice round numbers, so i'm going to go with 70. by the age of 70, many seniors are still able to take care of themselves and are generally quite healthy, making them less of a burden on societal programs or their families. this also has the double-sided advantage of civilization to have benefitted from their years of experience and effort. we could enjoy and celebrate the last years of our loved one's lives, rather than feeling obligated to spend a sunday afternoon watching them steadily decline both physically and mentally.
another benefit would be that the retirement age could be moved ahead, say to the age of 50. his would allow people to enjoy the last 20 years much the same they enjoyed the first 20, with family and friends. early retirement would have some other advantages as well. not only would a healtier population ease the strain on our healthcare system, but the funds could be used to increase old-age pensions because there would be shorter payouts. of course, there is also the creation of more jobs that would go hand in hand with early retirement, lowering unemployment rates which could also shore up the pension plan.
the impact of such changes would be felt on global level as well...less people means less materials, less food needed and much less drain on our natural resources. it has been said that in order for society to be equal to that of the western world, three separate earths would be needed just to produce food...that number would be significantly less if there weren't as many mouths to feed.
of course, these changes wouldn't happen over night, and would have to be gradually introduced. i think a solution would be having everyone who born starting 2010 would be involved in a 70-year plan for change. in that way, people living now would not be part of the plan and would continue life as normal while their descendants would harken in the new age, keep it fair for everyone (especially those who are 69!)
i know that some day i'll be old, and truth be told that i'll probably fit all the stereotypes i've just finished describing. however, that is some day and not today, so for now i can feel all snug and warm with my opinions in my youthfulness...at least for the next 30+ years or so.
