CW FISHER
You've heard the story: an old lady lives alone, newspapers start piling up at her door, cops take a look and find her sitting in front of the television, frozen solid.
It's not an urban myth. It's a common occurrence in cities and towns around the world. And for reasons unexplained it seems to strike women, rather than men.
A frozen woman is hard to forget. About a year ago we had one not too far from here: woman lived across the street from the golf course in a very nice house in an upscale neighborhood of a quaint little town. I read about it in the paper, recognized the address. It was cold and snowy and the police became curious due to a consistent lack of tracks in the snow, a situation they rectified by pulling into the driveway and trompsing about. Everything looked fine from the front, but the drapes were closed, so they went around to the back and noticed a hole in the roof the size of a Cadillac. They climb up, look inside. Floor to ceiling junk and stuff jammed too tight for human entry, and except for the snowy, windswept parts, the livingroom teemed with life: cats, mice, roaches, fungi living together under one half of a roof.
Cops say, hm... where's the homeowner? wonder what's in the garage? They pop the door, walk inside — it's dense but not full yet. There's an igloo of newspaper in the corner. It's cold. It's a garage in February. They find her sitting on an easy chair in a newspaper nest, kitty kat on her lap, curled up and dead, both of them stiff as statues.
I googled the story, didn't find it but found similar stories in London and Toronto and Boston, which led me to conclude we were in the middle of another pandemic like the one I predicted a month ago (involving birds). This one, however, is sure to come, because whatever phase of life the baby boomers are going through, the whole damn world is sure to get dragged along.
Article comments
1 - lisa
Sad but true, I don't even know most of my neighbors names. Doesn't the word neighbor mean something besides the person who lives next to you?
2 - Michael Croft
Eric Bogle wrote "A Reason for it All" in 1981 after reading about a similar incident in Sydney. It's from the depressive side of Eric's catalogue, but it's a brilliant duet, even if his partner (usually John Munro of Colcannon)'s side gets short shrift...
3 - Shark
We have the opposite problem where I live, kinda like Europe last summer: a heat wave hits (or a normal Texas summer), and thousands of elderly people with no A/C sit and slo-bake in their domiciles. And if they open their windows or go sit out back under the dying pecan tree, they get eaten alive by Nile Virus carrying mosquitos.
(this post not approved by the Texas Tourism Board)
Architecture used to take care of the problem; cities weren't so crowded, there was less concrete, and everyone had a 'dog-run' house that allowed a steady wind to be funneled through one's log-pad.
And architecture used to take care of the "I don't know my neighbor" problem, too. Sidewalks, small yards, large open front porches, alleys, side driveways, detached garages, etc. encouraged one to know one's neighbors.
I wouldn't know my neighbors if they were the Branch Davidians... unless, of course, the FBI and ATF showed up with a tank or two.
4 - Eric Olsen
The other element of this, and why it may seem to be a growing problem, is that people are living longer and longer into their decrepitude: there are simply a lot more really old people around and we haven't quite figured out what to do with them yet. At minimum they should be given classes in domestic hygiene and responsible pet maintenance. And let's be frank: really old crazy people are creepy and no one wants to deal with them.
5 - CW Fisher
The youth is asia have an interesting solution...
6 - Shark
"...there are simply a lot more really old people around and we haven't qite figured out what to do with them yet."
Since it might be the last American generation with manners, the last of dying species' known as 'gentlemen' and 'ladies' --- maybe they could teach classes to the rest of us?
7 - Eric Olsen
Yes, but the problem is that the people we are talking about aren't really functioning in this way anymore: they aren't going around being all polite and teaching classes and whatnot.
8 - Shark
I dunno, Eric.
I know a lot of vital, relatively active people who could die and not be found in weeks simply because they're ALONE in life.
Their friends are dead, they were childless and therefore have no immediate families, their neighbors don't know them, etc etc.
Just for the record, I really love old people; I love to be around them, to listen to their stories, to hear their accumulated wisdom. Matter of fact, I'd much rather be around old people as opposed to the rude, ignorant cracker spawn I encounter every day.
And besides, I'm not that far from being one myself.
9 - Eric Olsen
I love old people too, but we're talking about those who have lost touch. People die alone al the time, but I thought we were talking about those who would allow themselves to freeze to death in their homes, which is actually pretty difficult to achieve. All you have to do is talk to them and they won't turn off your heat. We are talking about people who don't have it together enough to talk to the flipping power company and who have stopped interacting with ANTYONE. the old people you are talking to are talking to you, aren't they?
10 - CW Fisher
Shark, we have the problem in summer too with exploding corpses. Quite common. A old lady friend of ours (we took care of her every time she's have a stroke; she was very poor and we got her into public housing, etc.), but what was cool was getting to meet the subsidized subculture of dependent old people. Half the doors had big hand-lettered signs that said: DO NOT RESUSCITATE. People would die in the heat, explode a week later, give everybody something to talk about until the next explosion. They were like suicide bombers in a way.
There are many people in the world who get their social interaction off the net, and it wouldn't surpise me if many of them are bloggers or blog readers. It's another reason why I think sarcastic and mean replies should be discouraged. We can make our points better by being polite. Words are very effective weapons, as you all know.
There are many other people who just want to be let alone without a net or tv set. I respect that, if that's what they choose. I'd rather have that myself than live in a nursing home with shiny, squeeky floors and staff that look through you.
I say it's time to reinvent elderly care.
11 - bhw
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our lo-ove, yes they'll kno-ow we are Christians by our looooove.