What did old people ever do to us?

Posted by admin on Nov 18, 2008 in Issues & Ideas | 0 comments

Visiting your grandma’s old folks’ home is like a road trip across Canada – you do them out of honour and duty even though they both induce nausea. Sure, they seem rewarding in theory (“It’ll be such a great learning experience!”), until you’re in the middle of it, wishing you could be somewhere, anywhere, but here.

The reality is we think old people are smelly, boring and inconvenient. We’re quite happy to shut them away in care homes where we don’t have to deal with them. We quickly wrinkle our noses when in the company of those well “over the hill,” slouching in their wheel chairs. We enjoy our aged wine and cheese, believing they improve with time, but we tend to rank our youthful wisdom a lot higher than the “aged” type. I once heard a dorm-mate say, “I hate old people!” as if they were a breed of human against whom she’d been storing up animosity against her whole life. Our discomfort with the aged is killing the potential for multi-generational community.

My question, however, is this: what did old people ever do to us? True, some have a smell that may offend our nostrils, and perhaps the sight of them slobbering chewed soggy bread is unappealing, but the fact is that not only are they human beings deserving of dignity, but they represent a generation that did more for us than we could ever realize.

There was a time when respect for elders was expected; one could almost look forward to reaching a certain age where one would be doted on and cared for. Children would crowd around grandpa’s feet listening to stories of the past, all the while absorbing that certain wisdom that only many years of life can bring. Teenagers would be taught to open doors for their grandparents, serve them tea and converse with them courteously. The young and the old would interact regularly and often live in community together.

The seniors of society have a wealth of stories and insights that often go unexpressed and unappreciated. There is a reason God created us as humans to live until the ages we do and yes, the elderly have just as much a divine purpose and calling as we do. Our generation does not have all the answers to life’s questions.

We need to stop isolating, demeaning and ignoring the elderly, and acknowledge them as valuable members of God’s kingdom who bring unique gifts and help us see the world in a different light. We need to come to terms with our “senior-phobia” in order to participate in mutually loving and enriching relationships with our generation’s grandparents.

Even if out of duty and honour, and even if nausea is the price to pay, going to visit an old folk’s home is an intentional way to give a little love and gain a whole lot of perspective.