Abusing Old Parents

-


Elder abuse is cloaked in many forms, but it becomes worse when parents and grandparents are denied a voice.

Four year-old kids have more rights than senior citizens. We see them in shopping malls throwing tantrums. Prince William's kids do it all the time, and we call it cute. If it was Prince Harry’s kids, we would accuse Meghan Markle of shaming the perfect royal family.

The Queen is old, but she doesn’t experience elder abuse because she has her own space in castles and mini-castles. Parents and grandparents living at home do not have that independence. That is why some of them prefer living in old age homes.

Mental abuse is when they cannot voice their opinion about their health or what they want. In some cases, it is naked fear of their grown-up kids. Mental abuse is when kids make travel arrangements for parents, without asking them if they want to be tied to a plane seat for 20 hours, or not.

It is even worse now, because we do everything for strangers called followers. The internet is a showroom. It is a marketplace where we sell perception. Recently, a famous Mumbai producer was seen at the airport going on holiday with his mother and kids.

She is in a wheelchair. Social media applauded him as a good son but how does the mother feel? Did he ask her if she wanted to board a plane? Air travel is exciting right? Not when you want to use the bathroom.

How much more for senior citizens in wheelchairs? We have a right to our lifestyle, but it is mental abuse when we impose it on ageing parents, just for the photo shoot.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

Einstein Passengers

-
Image
Being a passenger is very stressful.   You must listen to the owner of the car, nod and grumble yes to everything he says because you don’t want to piss him off. Two things can happen if you disagree with the driver: he can lose concentration and you all end up in a mash-up accident or stop the car and ask you to get out.   That is the driver’s prerogative.   You must listen to me if you are a passenger in my car.   Let’s flip the script for a minute and sympathise with the driver if she has a passenger who is more intelligent than Albert Einstein. He talks non-stop.   It is all about himself, how right he is, how good he is, how stupid his boss is. Einstein is also a driving instructor.   “Careful.   Look at that guy.   Is he crazy or something? ” says Einstein. Einstein is the unofficial pilot.   He presses imaginary brakes in the passenger seat when the driver stops abruptly for a guy who is texting on his bicycle. A certain Einstein took it to another level.   S
Read more