visitors (esp those that you know) are fun. they make you feel alive again, and loved (as you are in a sense, taking in the "alien"). meeting up with like-minded people is also good. its just nice to have those nice long conversations. even though sometimes it might be abbreviated, and without awkwardness.
it used to be that having a long life was seen as a blessing. if anyone got passed the big 6-0, he / she was regarded as worthy of respect, and in many cases a pillar of the community.
but nowadays, people talk of "longevity risk", as it is now a big downside to someone else if you're living long. the loss of respect for elders due to the over-emphasis on youth part has been around for quite awhile already, as is age-ism in the workplace. but now there seems to be a fundamental societal shift towards regarding long life as a risk to be hedged against, cause you are too 废 (useless)
Saturday, 30 August 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Very good points kp. I like visitors too.
We were talking last night about how the goal of our culture is to be "forever 21," as the store is called. This means youngsters are supposed to act older and anyone past 21 should try to stay frozen there forever.
But think of the implications for old people. If you're 60, that means you're a good 39 years past the best year of your life. You can't even pretend you're 21 anymore. What a sad state.
Post a Comment