Magbiro ka na sa bagong gising, ‘wag lang sa senior citizen.
Those at the receiving end of old people’s wrath will attest that the latter’s tongues could be tarty when let loose, which happens to be every time.
I’ve witnessed senior citizens raising their voice, haranguing bank tellers, waiters, guards, young people and even each other – sometimes comically, sometimes sadly.
We Are Survivors!
“I know my rights!” is a common angry ammo when they complain about perceived grievances, disservice or misbehavior.
At age 60 and above, people think that they have gone through the worst and believe that they are survivors.
They should be treated like heroes of life and must be accorded appropriate pansin and pagkilala.
They believe they could be cranky, irrational, boorish, and forgetful because these only come naturally.
Never Had It So Good
But when you think about it, senior citizens never had it so good especially the Pinoy kind.
The 20 percent discount, free parking, free movies, special cakes, and such have made them feeling special and, I suspect, regally privileged.
In other words, spoiled.
The law that gives people above 60 sweet treatment assumed that their beneficiaries are at the last lap of their lives and must be given rites of despedidas. Haha.
But at the rate that humans are living longer healthy these days, we might have senior citizens demanding their due for 40 more years or so.
Do Oldies Really Need The Goodies?
Imagine a roomful of fart-challenged citizens trying to have a disco party? Or a line of wrinkled ladies lining up in a movie comfort room? Will they last?
These are funny scenes that may be deleted soon.
Wellness practices and awareness are running third gear.
Western medicine is fusing with Asian traditional therapies.
Liver flushes, acupuncture, organic diet, colonics, energy healing, ad infinitum – the options to stay hale and hunky seem endless.
Ask the guys who have had stem cell therapy and they’d probably say they don’t need Robust.
So, why then would they deserve discounts when they are capable of unaided erection?
Of Cougars And D.O.Ms
“60 is the new 40”, making the pitch “40 is the new 30” quite ancient.
Nowadays it is just normal for cougars or senior women to snatch willing Adams aged between 20 and 30.
The society no longer raises its eyebrow over matches made in heave-in, misis na may asim pa parading totoy may gatas sa labi pa.
What about the d.o.ms? I don’t think their image as predators will change overnight.
For the longest time, they’ve made such a bad rep of getting young women just because they are sex trophies. No love earns no sympathies.
Don’t get me wrong. Old men want to live longer not for sex alone. Bah! Believe me, there are also sublime reasons to be there in the future.
Pwede Na Rin
As for me? I’d be happy to reach 60 years old. I felt that way before I turned 60 three years ago. But I told God: Erase! Erase!
A deep thought like that could be a self-fulfilling wish. And so far, the stars have been very generous in making my wishes come true.
That is not to say, I don’t put a little will into them.
My dad went at the young age of 70.
But my grand dads, both from the father and mother sides, stayed up to their nineties, and that was before breakthrough developments in medical science.
So, I thought, if you reach ripe old geezer age without too much illness, pwede na rin.
There’s A Lot Of Time
There is a lot to celebrate about life, not just on weekends despite the pandemic and crazy governments.
There a lot of discoveries, big and small, about the world around us. Even if I feel cranky these days, my wish list gets longer and longer.
There is a lot of time. Forty to sixty more years to go. Knock on wood.
Happy New Year!