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!
