When I get old.

     I spend a good time working from Starbucks because I don't have a permanent office and I like to get out of the house every morning. Kind of like going to an office.  I have a good deal of time to watch things that go on around me.  I have watched an elderly man and his caretaker for the last year and half.  We have had some conversations.  The elderly man suffers from dementia and he rarely remembers what happens from one day to another.  He carries around a notebook on a string around his neck and he keeps notes that he thinks are important to him.  His caretaker keeps him engaged quite well.  They look out the window and count the airplanes that come by, or try and find shapes in the clouds or sometimes play simple card games.  The old guy rarely talks.  Very simple sentences.  Recently his caretaker has changed.  He has been on some kind of rotation with three different caretakers.  I have to say they suck.  One listens to her headphones and never speaks to him at all.  One orders him around and talks to him like his is deaf and dumb, and I think one of them is totally taking advantage of him because she always orders coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and usually yogurt or a lunch sandwich.  He used to come every day.  The original caretaker was very good to him.  He was respectful to the fact that even though he is somewhat incapacitated, he treated him with the respect that you would treat an elder.  I used to see him at the same time every day.  He was on a strict schedule.  Recently he is there at random times if at all.  Of course he looks none the worse for the wear and truthfully this is none of my business, but it sure got me to thinking about the state of elder health care in America and just how quickly it is getting out of hand.

     When Mark got sick and passed away.  I had the luxury of boarding the horses at a fantastic facility so I knew that they were taken care of and I had a loyal customer base that waited patiently for me to work through the situation.  Had I not been able to take care of him, I would have had to hire it done and insurance only paid $2000.00/month.  We had some supplemental policies but the bottom line is with the emergency room and hospital stays and the Doctor bills, that was just a drop in the bucket.  When the time came to switch to hospice care that was basically free except that they weren't there full time. So I still had to be there.  Also he was a big guy so technically if I hadn't been there to take care of him.  We would have had to rent hospital beds, portable potties, wheel chairs etc.  I was very fortunate to be able to drop everything and take up the slack.  Family was not an option, not because he didn't have a large family, because they weren't equipped to handle the situation.  For many families dropping everything, taking a leave from work, especially if it is a long drawn out illness is not an option.  I am sure that the situation with the V.A. is just as bleak or bleaker.  I have looked through the classifieds and there are plenty of employment opportunities for caretakers, Unfortunately the pay is usually $10.00/hour or less.  Seems like pennies when you compare it with the amount that was spent on us while getting us raised and sent off into the world as responsible adults.

     Maybe I am worrying about this because truthfully I've gotten to at least half way in my life and I've started to recognize things that I am going to need to worry about in my advanced age.  With the elected officials fighting about shit that makes no sense for the country I don't see them coming up with anything that will help either.  Lets hope by the time we all get there we have plenty of quality paid well employees to take care of us.