When senior citizens were respected...

This afternoon, I am sitting in the living room and the news are on...I have been pondering on this, on what it means to be a senior citizen on our society. Then, there come this news break. An 81-year-old woman in Indiana was beaten by a 19-year-old because she was driving too slow. They show the elderly woman, bruised, with a broken leg. Then they show the teenager as she is taken by the police, with her nasty attitude seeping, sticking her tongue out at the camera. I was shocked. My 8-year-old daughter is sitting there, and I looked at her and said, "If you are ever caught doing such a thing, do not expect me to get you out of jail." She looked at me and said, "I would never do something like that!" We talked about it. About how everyone deserved respect.

It brought me back to my own childhood. How respect and compassion for others has always been a part of who I am. Ever since I remember, I could feel a knot forming in my chest when I encountered frail, elderly people, or disabled people. Granted, sometimes, they were objects of curiosity-have you ever seen a child stare at someone in crutches, or lacking a limb? But that is more the product of an inquiring mind than anything else. In Puerto Rico, and in many Hispanic countries, our "viejos" (our elders) are revered, and live with the rest of the family until almost the end of their lives. The speed of life today forces everyone to seek a nursing home everywhere for an ailing, aging family member. But when I was little, only "bad" sons or daughters sought such a solution for their parents. And I am no saint. I can remember times when, with a group of friends, we would make fun of someone in a seemingly disadvantaged position. This may have been cruel, but, believe me, it was just for fun nevertheless. No real cruelty, no harm intended. Because, I bet you anything, neither me or any of my friends would have ever thought of doing what that 19-year-old did. And, darn it! On top, her last name is Vazquez. A Hispanic name, like we don't have enough for people to blame us for.

But the point is, in what type of environment did this young person grew in that she feels she can do such a thing? How are her parents? Did they instill in her the slightest idea of what compassion and love and consideration are? Maybe. We can't blame parents all the time. Maybe they tried to give her the best of everything. Granted, we all have become cynical in todays society. I remember how, after moving here almost 19 years ago, I encountered seniors who had the same entitlement attitude. Seniors today are not what they used to be. They are more active and in better health at a more advanced age than the prior generation. They are also more independent. And, yes, you run into the ones that think that because they are seniors, they can run me over with their grocery cart, or they can skip in front of me at the deli counter, or...you get the idea! And then, there are the ones that we feel should not be driving. But for a lot of them, is the last trace of independence left, and is hard to give it up. So they drive, and they are slow, and erratic at times. And, yes, they do get on my nerves! We live in such a hurried, stressed society, we need to get everywhere fast. So we waive, and curse, and maybe even hunk, while the person is trying to focus on the road. When I see that the slow poke in front of me is a little old lady trying to get somewhere, I feel like a heel for being so stupid and impatient. So, how is it that this girl thinks she has the right to do what she did? Did she have older people in her life, ever? A grandma? A neighbor? And the biggest question...does she think that she will be forever young? She better watch out for the time when she is old, and driving slow...