Friday, September 7, 2012

The Old and The Disrespected


                Part of the fun of moving to a new area isn’t just getting adjusted to work life, it’s getting used to life in general in your new community.  Finding a parish (which I still need to finalize!), learning the local geography, and finding out about the local grocery stores.  Here in Connecticut there are the usual characters Walmart and Target, but no Kroger, Bigg's, Meijer and of course there will never be another Jungle Jim’s (besides the second location that’s being built in Eastgate.)  As far as regular old grocery stores there are Stop and Shop, Price Chopper, Stew Leonard's and, the latest one that I’ve had the pleasure of entering, Shop Rite.  Finding a good deal up here is at a premium since the cost of living is much higher than back in Cincinnati.  But some of the same things that affect your bottom line are the same everywhere: clipping coupons, buying what’s on sale, or just plain getting lucky that the things you need are on special.

                However, what caught my eye upon exiting the local Shop Rite in Southington, CT was a small, almost unnoticeable sign inconspicuously taped to the wall near the door.  As you can see in the picture below, it reads "Every TUESDAY, here at Shop Rite of Southington we honor our Seniors with a 5% discount."  In addition, Shop Rite clearly goes above and beyond the call of duty by piping in older music from the 40s, 50s, and 60s that customers of that generation would enjoy.  It may seem like a little thing, but it really tugged at my heart strings to see a store do something for the older folks in this area.
                 I never really developed this appreciation for the elderly until my grandmother moved into my parents’ house a few years ago.  Grandma Colucci was living by herself after my grandpa passed away when I was in high school.  However, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and came to the point where she could no longer take care of herself.  My mom decided that the best course of action would be for Grandma to move in with us.  It took a little getting used to but I quickly developed a deeper and more wonderful relationship with her than I ever thought possible.  We would sit in her matching recliners, she on the left and I on the right, spending time watching episodes of the Golden Girls on cable or listening to stories about what it was like to grow up in a time gone by.  Eventually Grandma’s Alzheimer’s got worse and we had to move her into a local nursing home when we as a family were no longer able to give her the care she needed and deserved.  Eventually she passed away on December 27th, 2008 due to complications of the Alzheimer’s and old age.  While I was sad to see Grandma go, I knew her suffering was finally at an end and she could be in paradise with God.  I always I know that she’s looking down on me and taking my prayers right to the foot of Jesus.

              I think it’s far too common for people in their teens, 20s and 30s to simply buy-in to the stereotypes that are so often perpetuated about the elderly.  They serve little purpose, they smell weird, they balk at technology and complain about every last thing about modern life.  And while some of these things are true here and there, I say that older folks are essential and valuable members of our society.  Their wisdom is so often overlooked and I’m sure they chuckle at the problems that so many of us younger people bring upon ourselves.  This would most likely be a proper time to bring up how much emphasis that Eastern cultures put on respecting the elderly, but I don’t think we need to take things that far in this country in 2012.

All we really need to do is just stick to the teachings of Christ to show a little care and compassion for those around us.  Old people don’t always need special treatment, they just want to be loved and respected like everyone else; those desires never go away with age.  Maybe if we have the courage to strike up a conversation every now and then we’d learn something valuable or perhaps have a new story that we can share with our friends.  Not that this should be the reason for doing something nice for others, but it does feel good when we treat people with such respect.  But the best reason of all is that it brings us closer to Christ when we show love towards others with not expecting anything in return.

In closing, I’d like to give kudos to Shop Rite for doing something little some nice for the elderly in our little Connecticut community.  They don’t stand to gain a lot financially from something like this but they’re doing it anyway.  I will certainly be rewarding Shop Rite with my business a little more often because of this.  It’s not always easy, but we can help to influence corporate culture with our wallets.  If you have issues that you care about, I would encourage you to do a little research and maybe see if the companies that you patronize on a regular basis line up with the values you practice.  If we all did that, maybe some of these corporations would finally wise up and stop trying to unsuspectingly change the culture, in ways we don't approve of, from under our noses.  Most people don’t take heart to stand up for what they believe in and while we won’t be able to see major change right away, we can still show our appreciation or dissatisfaction with our dollars and a little accompanying communication to the store manager or to the corporate headquarters.  Sure it takes a little extra effort, but isn’t it worth it in the long run?  Keep me in your prayers and I’ll do the same for you!  St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of the elderly, pray for us!

No comments:

Post a Comment