Has Society Lost Respect for Our Elderly?

Has society lost respect for our elderly?
So many people walk right by the elderly without even giving a second glance, others seem to feel that they are just in the way.The elderly are still people and they are still trying to hold on to what is left of their years and their dignity most living on their social security checks just to get by.They find it hard in a society where it seems their age plays such a factor.I recently read a article in my local paper that I found to be upsetting,to say the least and in my opinion heart wrenching.

The article stated "2 missing hot dogs,1 felony charge" ,a local elderly man(74) had been to a car show with his dog and living on social security he doesn't have much money but that day he had $11 left and stopped by a convenience store to buy a treat for himself, a candy bar and two hot dogs for his dog,which was sitting out in a cart.As,he was getting ready to pay for the items he noticed his dog was trying to jump from the cart and ran out of the store the hot dogs in his hand,a police officer which had been moonlighting as security for the store called in this mans arrest.The man had the money to pay for the items and said it was just a mistake.Where most people would only get probation "slap on the wrist" he sat in jail for 71 days,his bail was set at $100,000 which of course he could not afford and the case went to trial,complete with jurors where he was finally found innocent and released.

Often the poorer people seem to set in jail longer waiting on their case to proceed,most not being able to afford attorneys have to rely on public defenders and sadly these defenders are slammed with dozens of cases and most of the time they are not even given a chance to speak with their clients until the day of the trial.Here this elderly man that has nothing left to accompany him in his life but his dog now he was alone.

In this case I felt sadly strucken and I thought about those that are elder and need the attention and the caring and how most people in our society have given up on them instead of learning from them.They have already lived a major part of their lives and have seen and felt the accomplishments,heartaches,loss,gains and achievements and if you listen carefully they will share with you.No one should ever be alone or feel as though they are alone.

In 2002 Pope John Paul the second urged worldwide that " Society must uphold the dignity of older people, and must resist the temptation to be guided by economic criteria in determining aged care policies" and

" A society shows itself just to the extent that it meets the needs of all its members," he said. "How can we guarantee the endurance of a society which is aging, and safeguard the social security of older persons and their quality of life?"

Although I am not Catholic I do wholeheartedly agree with what he has said,to many times doctors have even told families of the elderly that if "they do not have at least 10 years of quality of life then there is not much that can be done".Who are they to judge?There is still a place in our world for the elderly to thrive and to be a part of society.Just because they may not have much money or may not be in perfect health are they to be shunned?I say definitely not.

I grew up to always respect my elders even at times to go out of the way to help out if need be and I have.But,I have seen teenagers (especially) not hold a door open,or walk right in front of an elderly person and not even say ' excuse me' ,give dirty looks or comment just because an elder person is being to slow in store,is that how they want to be treated when they age like that?I would say no.

To me it feels good to see someone elder still out shopping for themselves,cooking for themselves,still able to take care of themselves and their home,it shows that they haven't given up and that they still feel useful to society.Although not everyone feels that way and it is society that has put that upon them,the way they are treated,the way they must feel as if ' what's the use' .If things even change a little,if respect came back some, I think we could see a big difference.After all we will all get older and we will have to make decisions in our lives that we never had to make before but ,if we have the respect from others it may make it a little easier and it needs to start now.