Agnostic.com

4 13

On getting old . . . I voted today and then, went to Walmart to get a few things. When I got out of my car, I noted a thin, elderly lady pushing a cart and looking quite confused. I immediately thought that she could not find her car.

I asked, "Do you need some help?" Yes, she did and I was right: she could not find her vehicle which, according to her, was a blue pick-up. She said that she had searched the entire parking lot.

"Are you sure that you parked on this side?" I asked.

She replied testily, "Of course I know where I parked."

Okkk . . . She said that she had come with a friend but couldn't find her. I told her she could page the friend in the store and she said, even more testily, "I did a lot of times. I called her, too. She didn't come."

She asked me if I could take her home. Well, not a good idea since she had a friend in the store.

We wandered around the parking lot and I found a blue pick-up. She said it was not hers and against my better judgement, I said, "Are you sure it isn't yours?"

"I guess I know my own pick-up," she snapped.

She snapped at me quite a few times when I questioned her, but I kept my patience intact.

She opened her purse, took out some keys, handed them to me and said, "Hold these so I won't lose them." She then took out her phone and called the friend again, leaving a voicemail. She put the phone back in her purse and said, "I don't know what I did with my keys." I told her that she handed them to me and gave them back. She said, "Was that all I gave to you?"

"Yes."

I said, "Let's go inside and have your friend paged one more time."

She responded, "I TOLD you I already did that! Do you think that I don't know what I'm doing?"

Well, yes--that is exactly what I thought.

I suggested that we walk back to the store and if she didn't want to page again, that she stand by the door because her friend would come out sooner or later. We walked that way and once on the sidewalk, she called the friend again who answered this time. The woman demanded, "Where are you?! I had you paged and you never answered. What?"

Silence from her for a second.

"Oh, well, I thought that you had come to the store with me. Can you come get me?"
I went inside, told the door greeter that a disoriented old woman was outside and management or security needed to go see about her.

On my way out, the door greeter told me that he had alerted management, but he didn't know if anything had been done. The woman was not outside the door or wandering the parking lot when I got outside.

This woman, IF she drove to the store, should not be driving. She shouldn't be leaving the house alone. She was angry with me several times, but I understood it was due to her confusion. I wonder how long she had wandered before I showed up.

And so it goes . . .

Gwendolyn2018 9 Nov 8
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

4 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

1

One good thing about these key fobs that flash lights or honk when you press the "lock" function is that it can sometime alert you to where a car is parked. Bad of course if someone finds or steals the keys and can therefore find the car to steal.

How sad that woman would be wandering around with nobody watching out for her --- Gee I hope that is never my fate.

0

A lady at the polling booth was 85+ ,,,staff asked if she was fine -- she came from near by nursing home ( the van was outside ) and seemed tired by the walk with her cane . The polling folks helped hwr to the van. I guess the last thing they want is pity -- but I fear any more complicated task would have been very stressful for her.
I admired her but felt entrepidation/ voting by mail gets my vote for conditions that need it.🟪🟣💜

@Gwendolyn2018 ,,,,yes the world is not
a kinder/genterlier place. Volunteers & or hospitality is not the norm. The staff could loose thier position,or get sued.
Thanks

@Gwendolyn2018 I think it will only get worse~ after all they are against a wall with
no enlighted truths to present to HUMANITY
and America is a holdout quickly falling behind in basic rights and services. Older folks vollenteer more - probably because they have the time , yet this activity is beneficial on so many levels.

2

Dementia. Early stages people have bouts with confusion. She may have gotten home in familiar surroundings and then seem to be much better. She needs to not live alone or go shopping alone. Hopefully she has familial support. This could be an early warming for her loved ones. I had a similar thing happen with my mom 13 years ago. The store she was at was more proactive. Mom didn't have a cellphone but they got my number from her phone book. They let her stay in the office. They called me and explained that my mother was wandering around confused. Me and my buddy picked her up and got her car home. Walmart doesn't give a shit about people.

@Gwendolyn2018 There's always a first time. When ShopRite called me, I feared she had a heart attack or something, but they told me she was fine, just 'confused'. When we got back to her apartment and parked her car. Me and my friend went upstairs and she was fine. She gave us each a beer and made a great home cooked meal. When we left she was fine. I asked her to call the doctor, he treated her for UTI but confided in me that it was early stage dementia. She was in denial about that until the day she died, from Alzheimer's .

5

Getting old Sucks!

That it does

I always tell my mom, getting old isn't for sissies!

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:694548
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.