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Old folks come in many categories. There are those who think that being old is something to be ashamed of and refuse to let anyone call them old, or senior, or elderly.
There are those who resent old age and try in every way to make themselves look or seem younger. Then there are those who are comfortable with thmselves and couldn't care less what anyone calls them.
The people to whom I refer in this thesis are simply those who have been around for a long time, experienced much, and know a lot. Attrition counts for loss in this demographic group, of course, but its increase is greater, as average lifespan is extended. My own comfort zone with elderly people is among those who were adults during World War 2, based solely on the fact that it's my own category.
One might imagine that the Internet would be a unifying force between these older generations and the youngsters who have never known a world without computers, but it actually doesn't work that way. Even though they may all be exchanging email, there is a greater sociological difference between grandparents and grandchildren today than there was between today's grandparents and THEIR grandparents, just a few decades ago.
Contemplate a childhood when ocean crossing was by liner, when lamps were coal oil, pencils had no erasers, everything was turned by hand, pencil sharpeners, sewing machines, clothes wringers, car engines, meat grinders, telephones, axe grinders, and the separator, and everyone sat down to breakfast with their own families. Compare this scenario with the average childhood of today. The causes of increasing generational differences today are twofold: longevity and the acceleration of change. Computers and the Internet do not alter this phenomenon. Though my own inclination is to think of people born in the early twenties, or earlier, as elderly, there is also a popular feeling that anyone over 65, sometimes even 55, or 50, could be classed as elderly. Those born before 1945 often consider themselves to be "survivors" considering the changes they have witnessed. They were born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, xerox, contact lenses, frisbees and birth control pills. The list of innovations in their lifetimes is alarming. Youngsters who today take all these things for granted, can never fully understand old people who grew up in a world without such things as radar, credit cards, split atoms, lazer beams, ball-point pens, pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes. We had lived a long time before man walked on the moon. We typically got married before we lived together. In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of". We hadn't heard of house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers, computer marriages, day-care centers, group therapy, nursing homes, FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, and guys wearing earrings. The list goes on, and the only value in putting it down to read once in a while is that it helps to define "old people," using only one criterion, and that is the fact that the old were here before all those items, when there were no computers, when hardware meant hardware, and software wasn't even a word! There's a little test floating around the Internet that says you are old if you can remember when "Made in Japan" meant JUNK and the term "making out" referred to how you did on your exam, when pizzas, "MacDonald's" and instant coffee were unheard of but there were 5 and 10 cent stores where you bought things for five and ten cents. For a nickel you could buy an ice cream cone, ride a street car, make a phone call, buy a soft drink, or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600 and gas was 11 cents a gallon. In our early days, cigarette smoking was fashionable. we never heard of AIDS, and we were the last generation to think you needed a husband to have a baby. Now, what was the question? Oh yes, somebody wanted to know what "elderly" means. Well, if all the above strikes a note with you, you are elderly. Otherwise, try to imagine it. |