Caution Please When Grouping Old People

The old rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Caution Please When Grouping Old People

Russell R. Burton; an Old Person

 

Placing people with similar characteristics in a group is common, in fact so common that it is probably in our DNA.  Forming groups can be accomplished by the people in the group or by other people wanting to group people for some reason that has some purpose. Now, sometimes there are good reasons for doing this and sometimes there are bad ones.

Grouping people is particular useful for political reasons.  It’s useful because it is very effective in getting a common message usually they are very expensive by the way, to a group of people who tend to vote as a bloc.  An example of such a group would be Black people.  Interestingly, this is a huge number of people which includes male and female, educated and less educated, old and young, rich and poor, etc.

This group for political reasons tends to vote in a similar manner for probably two reasons.  The first is the color of their skin and the second they tend to be socially liberal.  Now I want to be clear that like members of all groups there are many exceptions.  Certainly there are very conservative Black people and some are white in skin color.

Of course grouping people can be very dangerous, especially for those being grouped.  Clearly Black people were first grouped in order to suppress them in the American society.  The lesson here is clear people who are being grouped had better look out for why they are being grouped.

For some reason, a name applied to any group can change.  For instance, Blacks were once called Negros, then Colored, then Black, then African-American, and now back to Blacks. I guess these name changes are because the members didn’t like the previous name.  So, I guess members do have some control over their destiny.  

Now, I use Black people only as an example.  Certainly there are many groups of people formed for many reasons.  Religions come to mind such as Christians who are further grouped into Catholics and Protestants with many subgroups within each of these particular groups, especially regarding Protestants.

But, the nature of this religious group is quite different from Black people because these members joined voluntarily.  This also means that they can leave when they want although the concept of going to Hell might deter some. 

Now, this voluntary thing is not true for Jews.  For some reason, once a Jew always a Jew and in fact a Jew is born a Jew. Of course, this means that it is difficult to become a Jew if you are not born one.  Quite different is the Christian religion for their members are out beating the bushes for recruits.

Of course, a common grouping is called a club and these are strictly voluntary.  People join these things for many reasons one is prestige that goes along with the desire to join but must be invited to do so.  Wealthy people like to form clubs and be asked to join them. Just being wealthy puts you into an exclusive club.  I don’t know of any benefits but just belonging to an exclusive club is fun.

A group sometimes increases the power of each individual in that group so people may want to join for selfish reasons.  Another reason to join a group is for entertainment that requires several people, such as a tour group.

People forming groups like I noted before is a natural thing to do and is probably in our DNA.  For example, when we were barely surviving as a species, we formed groups (tribes?) for two simple reasons, to improve our ability to get food and for protection.  So, we have a deep desire to join clubs.

Of course in modern societies this grouping thing has become common and at times I think has gotten out of hand.  That is sometimes a person has no control over his/her destiny even if there are benefits in doing so.  This situation is especially true if a person is automatically included without any form of consent.  I began this essay using Black people as an example of being part of a group without the consent of the membership.

Another group that has recently formed includes only OLD PEOPLE.  In a way, it is an exclusive club because the only way you can join is to get old and there is some luck to that for half of our birth mates die before they can join. But unlike most clubs you automatically become a member when you reach some arbitrary age.  And, this arbitrary age thing is scary because people age differently!  Not only that, they think of themselves differently.  That is each person in this bloc of Old People is an individual.

Yes, here we have the dichotomy of grouping that can not be solved for the group benefits frequently trump the individual benefits. So, individuals had better be aware of this problem.  I speak of course the perils of becoming an involuntary member of Old People. I was not asked to join, suddenly I am a member.  Well, thank you.  I didn’t give a certificate, take a test, belong to any religious group nor did anyone welcome me.  But, here I am a member of this exclusive club and it bothers me.  I know it gives me some awesome power that I didn’t have before, but I do not have much control over all of this power, good and bad and of course the latter scares me. 

Of course, the first causality is commercial airlines pilots for they must retire from flying at the age of sixty.  Yes, sixty!  My god, if I had a girlfriend that young I would feel like I was robbing the cradle.

But the point here is once you are part of these damn involuntary groups you lose some of your freedoms.  In the state of Texas, when you become 80 which seems to be the start of old age, you no longer can renew your driver’s license on the web.  You have to appear in person I guess to be examined by someone to see if you are fit to drive.  I assume other states have similar laws and perhaps ones that are even more intrusive.

I just renewed my Texas driver’s license when I reached my 80^th birthday.  I didn’t know what to expect except that it would take several hours of waiting.  When they finally called my number, I approached the young lady with some caution as she frowned but she was very nice.    I passed the eye examine even with my glasses off.  So, I got my photograph on my license without wearing glasses.  Of course, I have lost some of my visual acuity and that bothers me, but still not having to wear my glasses when I drive is some accomplishment, I’m so proud I guess.  Still, I wear my glasses when I drive. I want to be able to read the signs.

The other day Chris Mathews on his MSNBC Hard Ball suggested that people who are 85 years of age should not be allowed to drive an automobile!  This really bothers me because Chris, I use his first name because I think I know him because I frequently watch his show appears to be a nice guy and I thought we were friends.  And, we have the same liberal social political views.  Now if some Fox guy said this, I wouldn’t be concerned for this is a form of prejudice and conservatives dislike anyone who is different than they are.  You know, Gays, Blacks, poor people, Women’s Rights, and the list goes on.

Oh my, did I just do what I shouldn’t do.  You see how easy it is to lump people into an all inclusive stereotype.  For instance, my best friend was politically very conservative but was adamant in support of Women’s Rights, especially regarding abortion.

Well, my point here is that I am very concerned, no frightened, that some of my rights will be taken away from me because I have reached some arbitrary age that defines me as an old person and THAT IS NOT RIGHT!

AND, I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!

Well maybe some of it.  Especially the good stuff like when becoming an Old Person I got an extra deduction on my income tax just because of that arbitrary age of 65. Oh well, I guess you have to take the good with the bad.  Let’s hope there is always more good than bad.