I think I’m finding out … why older people are more impatient. I’m pretty sure this is something we all recognize. Just take a look at grocery stores, oil change places, pharmacies, etc. I think we’ve all witnessed events where an older person is a bit (?) Impatient or brusque with a salesperson or another customer. I’ve always half smiled, shook my head and felt sorry for whoever was dealing with it. I think it’s just accepted that older people are going to be like this one day and I assume it just happens as part of aging.

Well now that I’m starting to get a little more impatient, I feel a little different about it. I like to believe that I was more tolerant of this behavior when I encountered it, but now I think I am a little more understanding as well. When you’re younger, you have all the time in the world … to go to school, hang out with friends, and maybe get a job. You get a little older, head to college to have more fun (and prepare for a career), or join the workforce and learn to combine your work life with the rest of your life. Some time after that, you may have your own family or different social groups, other families, etc., keeping you busy. We are all still quite tolerant here, we just get along taking care of whatever we need to take care of. For the next 20 to 30 years, we work hard in everything we do, managing work, family, personal life, finances, and health issues. We do the best we can and we just know that eventually all of our hard work will pay off and we will be happy, retire and enjoy the rest of our lives.

Fast forward to that moment when you realize that retirement, whether desired or forced, is almost upon you. Now I know that there is a lucky group of people rich enough to not even notice a change in lifestyle and go on as usual. They can retire whenever they want, without worrying about the economic or health impacts caused by lack of money. That’s great. They can enjoy their days, go out for lunch, play golf, and enjoy activities with friends. Now they too can get in a bad mood, because they all have things to deal with, but not in the same way. The other group, however, the ones who DO have financial worries, are not so much fun. I can say that most of the people I grew up with are not millionaires and many of us lost a lot of money (if we had any) in the past to the problems of the economy. We hold our breath every day to try to survive and weigh how many years we need money versus how many years of money we think we have. I’m not even talking here about those of us who are forced to retire due to work or health problems. That only adds additional years of financial worries. Also, health insurance is not available to us or is prohibitively expensive; many older people get by without it, essentially trading critical medical care and medications for food or shelter. These health problems, in addition to the problems of aging itself, make life more difficult every day, sometimes to the extent that it is disabling. Living every day in pain and worry, unable to do the things you need to do, takes a toll on you … and your mood. No matter how optimistic you are, it will affect you. It is unthinkable that older people have no one they can trust to help them emotionally or physically. Unfortunately, many older people live with this reality; your adult children are busy with their own lives and just don’t make the time or effort to help. Our government programs are simply shameful and inadequate, forcing people to make decisions that no one should have to make and to live lives based on fear and powerlessness.

I know this article took a dark turn here, but it doesn’t even come close to the reality that many of our older generations experience on a daily basis. Most of us don’t think twice about other people’s problems until we experience them ourselves. Of course, we should be more tolerant of everyone and try to consider other people’s circumstances that we don’t know anything about, but maybe this helps when you come across someone arguing with the pharmacist about the cost of their medicine or worrying about that. one hundred coupon. Take a moment and try to understand why. It’s also not fun for them and we don’t need to do anything to make their day (or life) worse. Being patient and kind is the least we can do.