It's not easy to be sure who is an old person. The AARP tends to offer membership to those around 50 years of age. However, even being 80 or 90 is not so unusual these days. People can be limited in physical or mental ability at any age but it seems that most people who are 70 or 80 can testify to some limitations that they didn't have at 25 or 35. Mary Pipher in "Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders" wrote about being "young old" and "old old". Those in their late 60's or beyond usually grasp the distinction easily. Being old can be defined by age, by occupation or being retired, or by attitude. Most of the people I know who can qualify as old assert that they don't feel old. I often hear people of 70 or 80 state that they feel 20 or 25 years old.
As safer occupations and activities combine with better medicine, we can expect the longevity of everyone to increase. But that is not always a good thing. What about the need for younger people with younger bodies and younger ideas? What about getting the old out of the way to make way for refreshing newness?
Here we have these older people, with experience, wisdom (in some cases, at least). What good can they do? To what uses can we put these people?
One of the most common functions is audience: listening, paying attention. There is a great deal to listening well. Some older people have natural ability to listen, to react mildly without undue negativity or preaching, with sympathy and tenderness fixed on a base of honesty and authenticity.
Another basic function that many older people can fulfill is language output: speaking and writing. Expressing ideas, picturing situations or drawing on real experiences of travels, work challenges, relationship advances and failures, harrowing events related to crime or disasters such as fires, tornadoes, warfare, medical emergencies, births and deaths may all be part of old people's experiences. Their life-long language use may equip them with good expressive abilities, with the patience to tell a story effectively and memorably.
Many excellent politicians are older than the average citizen. Their experiences through the years and their dealing with a wide variety of people may give their intuition an edge at sensing the basic drift of a group's opinions and feelings.
Some jokes have it that all old people are good for is putting them on ice floes to drift out into the ocean and die. I am confident that the astute imaginations in our people today are finding and will find much better and more effective ways to mine the treasure stored up in old people.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
