Question M

The video I choose to watch was Once we were young. Once again I was saddened to watch another video where we see someone struggle. The older woman in this video lived by herself, walked and took the bus to run errands by herself and was basically isolated from the world after losing her husband. We then start to see flashbacks of her when she was young, and how full of life she was.

            I feel that the root cause of ageism is ableism. Since older men and women may have a harder time doing things or be slower keeping up with the pace of life we may see this is a disability. I think this particular ism is so seldom talked about because we will all become old sometime, it is something we will all experience and we deny that we will ever look older and walk slower. Children never think they will get old, and think that their parents were never young. As I think about getting older, I think of how I don’t want to end up alone or treated unfairly because I am a 75 year old woman buying bread for my sandwich. I have always respected my elders, and although I have never had a grandmother I have always loved my grandfather. He was the kindest man I knew and never wanted anything from anyone. He was strong and never needed help, and I can only hope that when I am 90 I will be able to go shopping by myself and walk around with no assistance like he did. I have never thought of someone older as a burden, and it makes me so angry when I hear other people talk like they will be young forever, and treat the elderly so rudely.