God's Own Electric Circus

Written in History Class for my next period Anthropology course...

Observations of Elderly Walkers

Charles Beaton

02/02/25



Location: Charlottetown Mall

Time: 9:00am weekdays

At first it seemed as though I’d walked into a sombre parade. Unsmiling wrinkled faces firmly concentrated on their march, as the loose groups and solitary figures wound through the empty mall corridors. What had brought these people out so early in the morning? Was it the need for exercise or the longing for human companionship and social gathering? With these questions in mind, I joined with a group of walkers and was a once surprised at their slow, mundane strides. The pace and direction of flow were both regulated by the group dynamic, each walker seemed to feed off the others’ energy and intensity (or lack thereof). The slow shuffling of feet, and the hushed tones of conversation were all so desperately purposeful for a group tenaciously hanging onto their humanity. These walkers and indeed all senior citizens are a testament to the, unintentional yet unavoidable, alienation of the elderly in today’s society. Once venerated for their wisdom, and the verbal history they contained, the role that seniors play has been greatly diminished in the age of the information superhighway. Gone is the classic family gathering, relinquished to the point of statutory holidays and then only when convenient.

We pass the Food Court the chair backs littered with large winter jackets; obviously our eventual point of rendezvous. As my group continues along our walk, I get the feeling that they have accepted my presence. I take this opportunity to glance about and observe those closest to me. On the weathered faces I see signs of malnutrition and illness - a condition aggravated by the poverty that most seniors have to deal with. With their high drug and living costs many seniors are living just above the poverty line, accounting for the highest group of social and economical depravity in this country. One more lap and we had finished for the morning, back at the Food Court the groups intermingle with talk centring mainly around current issues, local politics, sports and the weather. I managed myself into one group of five, and gently steered the conversation towards seniors’ views of youth - acting as a reporter to calm any of their fears of offending me. Most in the group agreed that youth had, or made, little time to spend with their elders, they were as well often shocked by the lack of respect shown towards them. These feelings were omnipresent throughout many of the other’s that I talked to on that day and other such mornings. The sentiments of alienation, and disrespect echoed resoundingly clear through all dialogues, despite my objective line of questioning.

Though this could perhaps be explained through the idea that a few dominant minds spurred and guided more moderate and passive individuals towards their own opinions, it would still be irresponsible to neglect and ignore much of the evidence that is so boldly presented to us in every day life. Seniors removed from homes when they become cumbersome or inconvenient charges, violent house invasions and other crimes targeted towards an ever growing majority of the elderly. Our elders, our living history, veritably abandoned by their family and the government, forced towards starvation and insanity by astronomical living costs and isolation; all this is a severe condemnation towards us as a society. If we can ignore the plight of our elderly now, what then when we are indeed faced with the same situation ourselves? Will society adapt to encompass many of the skills and knowledge that such a group could bring? Will we realize the importance of having children raised with reverence for our elders? How can we expect them to show respect when we show none our selves. Seniors have become but a thread torn from the tattered family blanket of society’s fabric; a thread that can and must be rejoined.
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