Are you Retired yet?!

On Thursday, February 25, 2010 I went into the post office near Office Depot, right off Lynch Street. I was in a hurry and all I wanted to do was buy some stamps. So of course I looked to see how many people were working… I saw one little old lady squinting over a money order. I couldn’t believe it. Is the economy really that bad off that we were overworking our elderly. Then a elderly man slumped over came shuffling from the back, but he didn’t stay long he just whispered something in his co worker’s ear. The people in line were getting huffy… and I was beginning to feel a little antsy too… The man and the woman behind me stated talking. He said the lady was too old to be working. The woman said well some of them have to, times aren’t the same. She also said that because of her personal experience as an elderly caregiver she knows that lots of our senior citizens have to continue productivity. If they don’t, they feel useless and it contributes to their health and quality of life. The man agreed, and said that someone else should be here to help her, and not just the other senior in the back. He also said he sick of them driving. He believes its dangerous for everyone and very annoying to other drivers. The woman replied in saying that lots of them don’t have people to shuttle them around so they have to do it themselves and we should be more sensitive toward their independence.


I think I would base this story around elderly people remaining or getting back into the work force, and why they do it. Is it really because they want to stay active or is it because of the current economic crisis? I will address how independent our senior citizens need to be, and if society should be more concerned with the retirement stage of life. I would interview a geriatric specialist, probably a therapist or something. I would also interview a senior citizen in the work force. My B-roll would consist of senior citizen jobs… i.e. the door greeter at walmart, post office workers, librarians, and etc. and get a feel for the real reason our elderly aren’t aren’t just sitting on porches knitting gaudy Christmas sweaters.