When you make small talk with people you will be amazed what you can learn.
One time I was talking with a building employee and I shared that one of the residents was calling out her name from her first floor apartment. She was told by another employee at the desk that the person was at lunch.
I came to the desk after lunch to pick up a package and while I was making small talk I shared that the woman had been calling out for her during her lunch. She explained why.
She shared that several people due to different issues, health, age or general mobility couldn’t really move much. So the staff was helping them with small things as they could, because they had no one else to help them.
First I thanked her for doing this and for sharing this with me. Second, it reaffirmed to me that when we don’t have a safety net or community, just surviving can be difficult. I shared with her that when I get groceries delivered it costs me an extra $15 for the service charge and a $5 for the driver. I can understand that people with a limited SS budget may not be able to afford that.
I saw how much my grandmother who took care of me as a child benefited from all of the social services that seniors had. She was part of the meals on wheels program, and she also depended on SS for her only income. Her kids helped her where they could, but she didn’t want to be a burden on anyone and often sacrificed and I saw that first hand. Her daughter and my adopted mother helped her of course since she was babysitting me, but it wasn’t enough. It isn’t enough for a society to barely let seniors get by and suffer.
What kind of society are we when we turn our backs on people in need? Not only the seniors, but everyone we turn our back on. Why are we helping wealthy people, and defunding health care for millions? I just don’t understand the cruelty. Only when people suffer, will they begin to understand how short-sighted their ideas are.
We don’t have to suffer, and we have to stop thinking that we need to suffer.