Time Pays

While watching a program using a panel of age twenties and thirties folk, I was not amused by the "old gaffer" jokes. The audience laughed, being an audience and expected to do so, but they were not a thinking audience. First of all, using abusive terms against growing old is stupid since we all, without exception, will do so, and second of all, you speak of your own people, the elderly ones you say you love. Most children adore their grandparents because they are the ones who give them ice cream and candy when their parents won't allow it in the house. They are the ones you feel safe hugging and cuddling up to, because they are fatter and happier and more indulgent. Even better, they're in no rush to get kids out the door because they have to get to work so Mommy and Daddy can take them to Disneyland next year. Not pretty, but a truth. They also are always there to talk to, and they are never in a hurry to do anything but listen. So what is the point of old people being made into jokes constantly? Even old people, make fun of being old, so no wonder the rest of the world does also. The realities of funning of elderdom  are perhaps one of the downfalls in our Western society. Other cultures, historically, respect their old persons. They live with them, and when they have to rush out the door to work, Gramma or Grampa are there to pick up the slack. They are treated with respect for what they do and are needed for. They are not in assisted living homes, but with their families, and wisely, too, they know how to behave in that place. They are valued in the home. They tell stories about the past that children are eager to hear. I remember asking my pioneer grandparents, can you tell us what it was like in the olden days? And when we listened, their eyes would glow and their mouths smile as they described what it was like back then. It was our back then, too. Other societies honour their elders by asking their advice and sorting through it to select what might work for them, and thus, they may use it to make decisions in their own lives. For some reason, our ways lean foolishly to re-inventing what we all think is something new and better. It is not always better. Youth is youth and yes, it's adorable, but it isn't always something to pattern a whole life by. What's missing is the wisdom of reflection and solid planning. The technical gizmos of our lives are popping out new and flashy all over, but depth and perspective is not. It appears that the whole of our vibrant new world makes us all test animals. If it's new, we grab it. There is little thoughtful long term background  witnessed in the electronic field. Over-night billionaires are made of those who invent games and toys that really don't make the world a better place; they simply make it faster. And who needs faster? The hearts and bodies we have die abusively early because of the "faster is better" thought. That's because there is little long-wisdom behind our lives. Speed is not better. It kills.  If you want an example, pass by a building with a glass front in the city and you will see great long rows of "spinners" pedaling stationery bikes going absolutely nowhere fast. They are told it's good for the heart. So is not snorting and shots all weekend. You will see rows of desks with hot looking men and women, duded up to look like Hollywood right under our noses. Speaking of which, you won't see a single nose that hasn't been "adjusted" to the latest shape. Other body parts, too. Maybe we should eschew making fun of elders and begin to plumb their knowledge as in the "old days" when kids knew where milk came from and how to climb trees, not concrete walls.