' Let the elderly go first'....

…..said the young lad to his mates, as we got on board the bus. And they did. ‘Thank you’, I said as I moved forward and then muttered ‘you’ll be where we are one day’, which as my wife pointed out to me was much less gracious than he had been. It’s becoming a new experience, people’s concern for me! I was in Birmingham to see a friend last week and we had lunch at a self-service restaurant. ‘Can you manage that sir, or shall I help you’ said the kind woman as she loaded the tray with my food. And then later as I was standing in the crowded train coming home, a young man half stood up and said to me. ‘would you like my seat?’ I think it must be the walking stick that does it. I have taken to using it quite often. It’s not essential and I am in no way dependent on it, but it makes getting about that much easier. Is this then the defining sign of old age, walking with the aid of a stick!

There was a discussion on the radio the other day about descriptive usage. Various ways of describing older people were considered – ‘old’, ‘elderly’, ‘seniors’ , ‘ageing’ (my preferred term) were some of them. It’s all part of the current interest in older people, and, as less children are born and people live for longer, the numbers of older people will become both a social problem and a challenge. We have often touched on this in these blogs.

I see the Open University and the B.B.C. have produced a six part documentary on the issues raised by old age to be shown next month, with the awful title of ‘Silverville’. Apparently it focuses on Lovat Fields, a specially designed ‘extra care village’ situated in Milton Keynes. It is intended to be an intimate portrait of what it's like for an elderly person in the 21st. century, at a time when the over 85’s are the fastest growing age group in Great Britain.

Since July 2008, and with the input of two gerontologists (- horrible word -) Professor Sheila Pearce and Dr Caroline Holland, the online survey www.open2.net/caresurvey is gauging public interest in these issues, and responses have helped to form the programmes, which I shall make an effort to see. There is apparently a free booklet introducing the series obtainable on http://www.open2.net/, but I drew a blank when I tried to order it. Perhaps it will be available next month.

Meanwhile I shall go on walking with a stick sometimes and perhaps discovering more kind people in public places!

B.R.