As a child, I was plaqued by sore throats and strep throat. My throat is my Achilles Heel. So, today I am home with a sore throat. Saturday I worked at church, and got very tired in the evening, and tried to recover on Sunday, but I still didn't feel well, and took a nap, which is rare for me. Now I know. I was getting a cold. We will not call this the flu, but it is more than a cold, because my throat is so sore and raw it is hard to swallow.
Speaking of flu, it is pretty sad that the elders of America have gone into a panic over flu shots. Elderly people are pretty interested in flu shots, and I hear about hers from my mom every year. I don't think I have ever even had one, but I know that they are important to her. So, when they announced that millions of folks would not get them this year, but that some Stop and Shop stores had them...lines started to form and old people stood in line outside for hours. One woman fell, and hit her head, and died. Several others collapsed. Yesterday, the head of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, said that elders should not form long lines, that everyone who needs one will get a flu shot. But that announcement came five days after the lines had formed. Five days is a long time when you are 80 or 90 years old, worried, and standing in a line at a mall. The reason they want flu shots is that they know they are susceptible to a fatal case of the flu, and they do not want to die! That is enough to scare anyone into standing in line.
Speaking of standing in line, I have another point to consider. My mother is 94, and when we go shopping, we notice that there are NO chairs anywhere in stores. Once in a while, at a Kohl's or Walmart, there is a bench outside. I know they don't want people to sit around, they want them to shop, but it seems that we have forgotten about the elderly and folks who have disabilities, or just sore legs and feet, who need to sit for awhile so they can continue their shopping. Why do we have to be so inconsiderate? Sometimes I have to make a scene to ask a sales lady to please find a chair for my mother while I bring clothes to her to choose.
Mother is now 94, and it is only lately that people have started to help her do things. Until she was 92 and had a stroke that affected her eyesight, she was still driving herself to the stores, she would be out in the parking lot of a WalMart lugging gallons of water into her trunk and people would just walk by her. Why don't people stop to help? It is just that we are not used to being considerate, so we rush by with our own agenda in our head, and forget to think about what the other person is going through?
So, commit a random act of kindness today and help an elderly person carry their shopping bags.
And don't catch a cold!
