Today as I was running errands, I came across a toothless old man standing outside of a drugstore. He wasn't asking anyone for anything. He was just kind of forlornly standing there. I greeted him as I went in, but when I came out I stopped and asked him if he needed something to eat. It turns out that he did. He was standing by an electrical outlet charging his cell phone. He told me that his family had dropped him off three days ago and they had forgotten to come back to get him, so as soon as he got his phone charged he would call and remind them. In the meantime, I walked over to the grocery store and got him a sandwich and a Coke. He was very gracious in his thanks. I gave him a little bit of pocket money and then left.
As I was driving away I tried to imagine the circumstances under which you would abandon your old father or grandfather. It is a tough economy and, as I can tell you from personal experience, it is difficult taking care of someone who is elderly. I can definitely imagine cases where someone has an old person that they can no longer care for. What do you do with them? Is there a drop off place for old people like the ones for newborn babies? Or do you just have to decide very early to abandon them?
When I got home and was telling my son this sad story, he pointed out that the VA Hospital is very near that drugstore. I asked him if he thought the old man had escaped. He just shrugged his shoulders. If he was abandoned or escaped, it's still a sad story.
In the news we read about the aging population of America. Pretty soon we'll have more seniors than we can shake a stick at. What are we going to do with them? Who is going to take care of them all? What kind of quality of life will they have in their final years? It's a little frightening to think about.
No comments:
Post a Comment