A few days ago, while I was walking downtown, I was stopped by a man a little younger than me, about sixty-five years old. He asked me if I could give him ten bolivars, about twenty cents at the official exchange rate, to buy a small loaf of bread. He explained that he was still a few days away from collecting his social security pension and that he had run short of money. The basic social security pension in my country is less than four dollars a month.
I was deeply moved by the man's face. In his expression I could see the embarrassment of having to make such a request, I could see that he had crossed one of his limits, that he was not used to asking.
As I put the bill in his hands, I thought of the millions of people in our country who have reached the golden age in absolute unprotected.
It is very likely that the man had dedicated his life to fulfill his task. Surely he worked for many years and rendered some important service to society, surely with his work he helped to make the lives of others easier. And now he is at a time when much of his energy is gone, perhaps suffering from any of the ailments that befall us as we age.
Civilized societies have understood that the stage of old age is very similar to that of the first years of life; people at that age need help to continue living. That is why institutions such as social security are created, in which contributions are made when one is young in order to have a guaranteed pension in the final stages of life.
However, there are times when, due to the bad decisions of the leaders, these resources are squandered, they are spent on other things, and the elderly are left unprotected.
One of the things that saddens me is the indifference with which the society of my country sees this type of problems, it is as if it did not matter, as if it were not a priority to press and fight for the welfare of the elderly.
Until a few years ago in my country the young population predominated. In the streets and houses it was common to see many young people. The elderly were actually rarely seen. But economic difficulties increased and the young people decided to leave. The number of those who have left has been so great that it has completely changed our population pyramid. Now the elderly are a very large group, many of them live alone, without close relatives to care for them, relying on the assistance of neighbors who are in the same situation as they are.
During my childhood, the figure of the elderly was respectable. In my upbringing I always received messages that the elderly should be cared for. My parents insisted a lot on that, they taught me that I had to be aware of grandma, of her needs, to accompany her when she went shopping, to carry her bags from the market, to turn the TV on and off when she saw it because at that time there was no remote control.
Those teachings stayed with me and when my parents grew older it was clear in my mind what I had to do, to fulfill a responsibility inherited from centuries of human experience in which the younger ones had to take care of the older ones. Something like taking over the baton to continue the race of life.
Sometimes I think something has changed. Sometimes I feel that the younger ones think that youth is maintained through time, that one will always be young. Maybe that is why there is indifference towards the elders.
Maybe we need to take up again those teachings received in my childhood that helped me to understand that life is finite, that it is a cycle, that at some point we will all be older and that we will need the assistance of others.
If our young people would learn to think about these things, perhaps social sensitivity towards the elderly could increase.
I am publishing this post motivated by the initiative proposed by my friend @ericvancewalton, Memoir Monday, in the forty six week. For more information click on the link.
Thank you for your time.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version).
Logo creado por @themanualbot