- We're dripping with wealth
- We're frail and doddery
- We're overwhelming the NHS
- We don't like young people
- We're living in the past
- We're intolerant right-wingers
- We're terrified we'll be mugged - or burgled
- We drone on about our medical problems
- Dripping with wealth? I'm well-off but not wealthy
- Frail and doddery? Not yet. Still pretty healthy
- Overwhelming the NHS? I hardly ever need a doctor
- Don't like young people? Only if they're stupid or nasty
- Living in the past? I've been on the internet for decades
- Intolerant right-winger? I'm a dyed-in-the-wool leftie
- Terrified I'll be mugged? Not in this low-crime neighbourhood
- Medical droning? I never mention my health issues to others
The stereotype that really annoys me is the idea that we oldies are overwhelming the NHS. If the NHS was properly funded, properly staffed, and properly equipped with up-to-date machines and technology, then it would cope very well, oldies and all.
Well, we can dream....
The only stereotype that I notice to be true is the constant talk of medical problems. My friends began doing it in their 50's and while I'm empathetic, it gets old quickly.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Yes, we're old, yes, we have a few health issues. And now for something more interesting....
DeleteSome folks just drone on -- and on and on and on. Any subject, their version. I tend to wander off.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: A sensible response. Some people just like the sound of their own voices.
DeleteMy dad called those medical dronings "organ concerts".
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: Nice one!
DeleteI have some friends who are very poorly right now. I think they do their best not to drone on.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, getting older is sometimes like watching some awful horror film!
Sx
Ms Scarlet: If you have some really serious illness, it seems fair enough to talk about it.
DeleteAge hit me four years ago. I will complain at times, how can I not? Drone on, I hope not. Otherwise, none of that fits me.
ReplyDeleteSandra: It's hard not to talk about things that are very much on your mind. But of course other people have different concerns.
DeleteNick, even if we oldies feel from time to time frail and dottery it's not a problem . I never care what people may think, some days I feel like 30 and some like 90. I think no one goes to a hospital if not needed . Many old persons are living alone and it helps to speak about problems. All the points you wrote down are not for me at the moment , but we never know what the future wiil bring.
ReplyDeleteHannah
Hannah: Like you from time to time I feel frail and doddery but so what, it doesn't stop me enjoying life. And like you I sometimes feel I'm 30 inside even if I'm 77 outside.
DeleteEchoing Linda, medical moanings were known as organ recitals in our family.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is the elderly who fill A and E with drunken aggressive patients on a Saturday night....
Fly: Indeed, drunken aggressive patients are more likely to be young or middle-aged.
DeleteDon't get me started on the state of the NHS! The staff are wonderful and do an amazing job and Husband has good cause to be grateful to them. On the other hand he's currently in hospital waiting for a big heart op that's been needed for six months, and his ward is in lockdown because of norovirus.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear Husband is still waiting for an urgent operation. I hope the Labour government can start to get the NHS fully functional again.
DeleteIt's pointless to label people according to what their cohorts typically do. I don't see any harm in acknowledging that different age groups have different preoccupations.
ReplyDeleteJenny: They have indeed. Young people have very different concerns and interests from us oldies.
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