No one likes change, it seems
MEMBER COLUMN
by Stevin Cohen
LW contributor
As the saying goes, “no one likes change,” and the older I get, am no exception.
Dealing with change at advancing age is particularly challenging. When’s the last time you’ve spoken to a real, “I’m not a robot” person by phone to resolve a pressing issue?
By this time in life, I figured I had a fairly firm understanding of navigating the path ahead, and living in Leisure World would offer that harbor of understanding, safety, relaxation and support I dreamed of in retirement, offering unlimited recreational activities: gyms, pools, classes, and many opportunities for meaningful social interactions.
But “whoa horsey” reality reared its ugly head after the initial honeymoon period with the realization that advancing age brings with it encroaching health issues, endless runs to physical therapist to reverse the damage of living a extravagant lifestyle, joint replacements, doctor’s appointments, slavish pill-taking schedules, threats of online hackers ever more cleverly trying to steal our life’s savings, and now, AI.
Meanwhile, the real world is stalking in the shadows cast by the giant immobile globe standing guard over our idyllic community and compounded additionally by the pressures imposed by ageinduced incompetence in negotiating the highly technical world foisted unwillingly onto too many of us Luddites.
It’s my impression, and shared by many here, that we are being unduly subjugated to bear the burden of indifference imposed by wholesale changes coming down in a “sink or swim” manner almost daily by edicts from on high.
In the good old days, Leisure Land was immaculately and quietly groomed by men with rakes and shovels, not motorized mowers, and noisy gas-powered leaf blowers that make it impossible to sleep beyond 9 a.m.
Do I sound like an old fart? Only because I am. I would hope this current administration keeps this in mind by offering a more considerate approach to the population they were hired by, and promised to serve.
