There are many challenges in our world. Being a senior citizen, it is a challenge to just get out of bed! But what other problems do senior citizens face? This site was created because my friend and I are frustrated that the world is not senior friendly anymore. You ask why I say this? Here’s a list just off the top of my head. These may just be rantings of an old woman. But if you relate, please leave a comment. Or a suggestion on what bugs you.
- “Music” in most restaurants is really just noise. Most of the time it sounds like the “singer” is dying. I truly wish they would; put us both out of their misery.
- Print on cell phones, labels, and receipts (to name only a few) is impossible to read.
- Technical people that are hired to help us with our cell phones or computers have no patience for us as we struggle to understand what to do.
- Scams aimed at senior citizens are rampant.
So what can we do? Some of these annoyances can’t be changed. But the following are some solutions I found helpful.
Noise
I live in a quiet apartment complex. It is for senior citizens. I chose it because it was so quiet. At the end of the day it is restful and restorative to be quiet in my little world. But there seems to be noise everywhere. Some sources are traffic, little kids screaming or crying in a restaurant, rap blasting out of a car, and television on in eating establishments. But one of the big ones for me is the music in the restaurant. My friend and I have started to take the food home instead of eating in the place. Or we avoid it altogether. I’m sure the establishments won’t miss our humble business. But it is nice to sit down to a meal (that we didn’t have to make) in the peace and quiet of home.
Some print can’t be changed. You probably have to use a magnifying glass to read a receipt or instructions on your prescription bottle. But you can enlarge the font on your cell phone in the settings. If you don’t know how, here are the instructions: For iPhone: Go to Settings > Accessibility, then select Display & Text Size. Tap Larger Text for larger font options. Drag the slider to select the font size you want. For Android: From the Settings window, in the left pane, tap the Display option. From the right pane, under the Font section, tap the Font size option. On the opened Font size window, tap to select the appropriate radio button to set the desired font size. Did you also know you can use the flashlight on your cell phone for providing more light on something you need to read? Check it out. And there are magnifying apps available for your smartphone. Go to your app search to check that out.
Technical help
If you have to ask for help with something, whenever possible, ask for or look for individuals that appear to be older. The Car Talk guys used to say to bring your older car to a mechanic with only two teeth in his head. That way you know he’s been around awhile. The same can be said for finding assistance at businesses. We were fortunate to have an “older” woman help us in our purchase of new cell phones. She was patient and extremely helpful . She truly made the sale. Businesses would do well to hire older workers for a variety of reasons, especially since most of us are more patient. So if you are fortunate to find an older person to assist you, make a point of telling them you appreciate them. And let the employer or supervisor know. Maybe we can start a trend. I’d like to see big businesses like Microsoft, Apple, Google and the like have a dedicated department of old folks to help us other old folks with the challenges we face with technology. Youngsters throw out words that they assume we know, and we don’t! If you didn’t grow up with computers (which I didn’t), then you have a pretty big learning curve. Add to that the new technology that seems to appear everyday, and we need all the help we can get!
Scams
Senior citizens are unfortunately likely targets for all sorts of scams. Some I am familiar with are:
- IRS scams where the caller tells you that something is wrong with your tax return.
- Your grandson has been arrested and needs bail money.
- You have won thousands of dollars and all you need to do is go to Walmart and buy several gift cards to release the money.
- Someone posing to be in the military tells you they are in love with you.
- Emails or phone calls from companies claiming to be your credit card company telling you that your account is locked, or any other account where your personal information is included.
There are likely many more. In fact each month the crooks seem to think of something new.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you give out any information to these people. That includes credit card numbers, social security numbers, and even addresses.
Furthermore it is helpful to contact the real organization and report these scams. Although I know it is difficult to prosecute these criminals because it is hard to catch them, you never know if your report may help the law enforcement authorities. I worked front desk for a small police department and strongly recommend contacting the authorities. If your local agency can’t help you, they should be able to recommend who you can contact. For the IRS scams you can go to IRS.gov. At the bottom of the page is a column to report fraud and other scams. Where possible, get a phone number of the person who is calling to scam you and then contact the police. I never answer any phone calls where I don’t recognize the number. If it is important they will leave a message.
Here’s a YouTube video that provides even more information. I like that the BBB President here is a senior! I don’t like the “music” at the beginning, but that ends right after the introduction.
And One More Thing (For the time being anyway.)
Another rant I have is not just aimed at seniors. Maybe I am angry because I am an old woman. But I think not. What am I referring to? Drivers that don’t signal when they are going to turn! Are you so lazy that you can’t flick your blinker? Or so self absorbed that you are above the law? Or so clueless to not realize that you might cause an accident by not signaling? I was behind an SUV last night that just stopped in the middle of the road. No oncoming traffic. After a bit they turned left into a parking lot. Hmm. I wonder what they were doing in the meantime before they decided to turn? Besides creating a traffic hazard. And not signaling.
Conclusion
What are your pet peeves? Leave a comment or question. I will respond and if possible, attempt to find solutions to your issues. We older folks have to help each other.
On a different note, in case you are wondering how I managed to build this website, you can check out the company. I wrote another post about membership with them. You can join for free to see if it is for you.
