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| May 20, 2024 |
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Ignoring
Clint Eastwood's advice in "Dirty Harry" that
opinions, like certain body parts, are best kept to
yourself.
| The
Bonfire of the Elderlies |
In 1497, Dominican Monk Savonarola encouraged his followers
to destroy anything which could be considered luxuries -
books, works of art, musical instruments, jewellery, silks
and manuscripts were burnt during the period of carnival
around Shrove Tuesday. These events became known as the
'bonfire of the vanities', the biggest happening on February
7th, 1497, when more than one thousand children scoured the
city for luxuries to be burned. The items were thrown on to
a huge fire while women danced around it.
The 1990
movie, based on the best-selling book by Tom Wolfe
is
well-reviewed by Roger Ebert, giving a critical look
and two and a half stars, but with the all-important "thumbs
up" rating.
This might be a stretch, but is
modern society doing the same for our elderly? Case in
point, my friend Bob. (name changed to protect the
guilty.)
Bob called me the other day, he just
returned to Minnesota after spending the winter in Arizona.
Bob is about my age, he said that, while driving, he started
to think about a lady up here in Minnesota that he'd gotten
to know, a widow for a couple of years, at the coffee
get-togethers after Sunday services at his church. She and
her husband were walking the dog, something they did several
times a week, when suddenly he had a massive heart attack.
Bob's wife had died of cancer several years before, and Bob
confessed to be still terribly lonely, thinking maybe he
should risk knowing more about the woman he'd gotten to know
after Sunday church services.
So, Bob said, "I
called her with my cell phone as I drove down the road".
She answered, "nice to hear from you, she said." "I'm
driving back from Arizona", Bob said, "and I
wondered if maybe you'd like to meet, a movie at that local
theatre, and something to eat at that nice restaurant across
the street". There was no response. Then, after the
pregnant pause the woman said "So nice to hear from
you, Bob, but I have to run right now, my daughter will be
here tomorrow from Iowa for a visit, and the house is a mess".
Bob said she shouldn't get him off the phone fast enough.
"So
much for that idea", Bob said.
I asked him how
the rest of the trip went. "Okay", he said, "except
for when I stopped to visit a ... (Bob paused) relative in
Sioux Falls, that didn't go very well." "Tell me
about it," I said.
"Well", Bob said,
"we used to be very close, and I called him the day
before, said I'd be passing through and would like and stop
and see him, and he said 'fine', and I did."
Bob
said the relative answered the door, no smiles, hand-shakes
or hugs, and he was escorted into the living room, where the
wife was already sitting. It was about lunch time, but no
offer for coffee, or anything else, and conversation seemed
to be difficult. "I told him about my winter in Arizona",
Bob said, "he seemed mildly interested, but it became
obvious after a couple of minutes, that this conversation
was really one-sided. I realized these two people were
waiting for me to leave."
"So I said to
them, "I'd better get back on the road, I have a long
way to go, nice to see you, and I got up and left."
"Bob",
I said, "you said this was a relative, a close one?"
Bob
hesitated a moment and then said, "he's my son".
Please
visit
my
travel blog to learn more about my life on the road.
Global
Air Aviation Referral Service
I welcome
responses, and will be glad to post them here. Email your
remarks to
ron@global-air.com |
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