vent over

I love working with seniors. The majority of my patients are seniors. If you engage them in conversation they have some really interesting stories to tell, just think of all the changes they've seen. If I feel myself getting impatient with one, I just try and think of my mom who is 87 and has dementia. How would I want someone doing this to treat her. Good lord willing, we'll all be old someday, I hope people treat me nicely too.

I hope some day you find yourself in line between two 20 somethings who think you are an annoying waste of time.

On the other hand, think of the good it does to take a breath and have a moment of forbearance for a person whose cognitive abilities may be in decline as a result of aging and who may already be feeling in everyone's way, lonely, and useless (all common emotions in seniors).

I work with three year olds at school and I work with seniors at the library. Seniors are not like threes. Threes lack the life experience to struggle with their dignity. Threes lack the sense of what it's like to no longer be able to do what you used to do for yourself or to have a hard time with basic life tasks like grocery shopping. Threes are generally unaware if people look down on them for their age. Not so with seniors, promise you that.

Sorry if I'm getting all hand slappish but I feel really protective of seniors. I had no idea how careless people can be around seniors until I started caring for my senior parents. So often people just want my mom and her motorized cart out of their way or don't have a minute of patience to let my dad explain what he needs. The expectations are so high and the grace is so little sometimes.

So that is how I personally feel about that.

I get what you mean. I adore and am friends with my almost 80 Mother but the checkout lane with her can make me batty. And she is as independent and fully functional as she ever was! It's just now she's a little particular about double checking she's got all of her pieces and parts.

We all were toddlers once, and if we are lucky we get to be seniors too. Few go through life without annoying someone along the way. I too appreciate the folks that work with both!

If you work with senior citizens, bless you! Seriously you're on track for sainthood. I always see posts about teachers and working with kids, but geesh, if you're working with seniors, I think you're working with large scale preschoolers at times.



I was in line at Aldi today. There is one on my way home, I cringe to go there because it's usually packed with seniors. Today I was sandwiched between 2 women. At least 75 if a day. The one at the check out was totally distracted by something, the checkout lady had to keep telling her the total. Then the one behind me is practically in my shoes she's riding up the line so far. I was trying not to crowd the one paying but had to practically hold this other one back. She's pushing up all my groceries and moving up her stuff the whole time. Seriously? They have an automatic belt it will bring it up you don't have to crunch my chips to crumbs.



Then checkout gal finally get's the first one cleared out, starts my order, the first one she checked out is still trying to arrange her 4, yes 4 items in a bag. She then spots a pen on the floor. Keeps interrupting the checkout gal to give her the pen. At the same time the ol' gal behind me keeps asking her if she should unpack her box of 4 items or leave them. (No leave them, I'm going to have to make a casserole topping already with my chips at this point.)



I just stood there smiling at the clerk. She was SO patient. And those Aldi clerks have to work their butts off and then deal with people like this



So if you're dealing with this daily, kudos to you!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Just an FYI, on THIS board changing the title to a "." doesn't make the thread difficult to access. 

I don't want to get into a pissing match and have also had a crap day so my annoyance level is already admittedly kind of high, but...

...if that was my mom you were making fun of for getting distracted by the pen (she does get really hung up on small things sometimes), I wouldn't feel that it was you "always respecting the seniors". I'm just sayin'.

I can understand having one of "those days" and feeling frustrated...but some thoughts just don't need to be articulated. Someday that could be you fumbling and struggling, you know.

As the daughter of an 88 year old mom in the early stages of dementia I will choose to not respond further on your post other than to say I hope you're trying to be funny ...but just know you're NOT!

I thought you were praising the people who work with seniors.
You might have been a little too thorough describing how tedious it felt to You. But that only highlighted patience shown by the Aldi clerk.
You described a moment in your day while complimenting someone. That's not bad.

I've worked with the elderly for many years and yes, sometimes it's hard and you get a few hard to deal with people but I try to think "treat them how I would want my elderly loved ones to be treated" I think most of the time they are just set in their ways.

Some are a hoot! When I was working home health I had a client who explained how to property give oral sex LOL! I loved her! Then of course I had one client who lived in a nursing home and threw knives at me from her meal tray. Haha!

You know who is having a crap day?  Two of my "older" friends.  One had to put her husband into a living facility today for patients with Alzheimers.   Because he was becoming too aggressive for her to handle.  And the other one who is coughing up blood and was hospitalized.  Those are two couples who have been married 40-50 years and are sleeping apart tonight for the first time and at least one of them will probably never share a home or a bed again.


And then there are two friends who are waiting for results on their scans for cancer.

THOSE people are having crap days.

Standing behind someone in line who is a little slow and graciously is trying to pick up something off of the floor is not a crap day worthy of a vent.

I feel like we are being punked. Did the OP not see the clusterf*** thread similar to this one about a different population a couple weeks or so ago?! How could could someone not see this wouldn't go well?

I actually love a good vent post and am almost always on the side of the vent-er but this one just seems... Mean. And petty. If that's a bad day for you, consider yourself pretty damn lucky.

If you are lucky enough to live long enough you'll be that 70+ year old in line. I hate shopping any more. There are more rude, self-absorbed, impatient people out there than ever. And you sure as hell don't want to be in a wheelchair. My husband was in one for almost a year. Then you are either a real inconvenience or you're invisible.

Sorry to be so snappy but your post just hit me wrong

Too true!! Not sure what the original title was, but if it said something like "My vent for the day, add yours" I wouldn't have even bothered opening it up. But give me a thread title that just says "." and I'm in baby! It's gotta be drama!!