Reptiles

Reptiles
Silly Grins

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

What? An Asshole?





Click. Press. Read. 


Elderly should be allowed to _____________ ? 

Check your answer here (click).
 



One of the more surreal, but very real, experiences I've had is observing a physical therapist working with an elderly man who was clearly tired and wanted to die. Everything about the old man who was having his life prolonged in virtual isolation, save for regular nursing care... everything about him was saying that he wanted to be let go. 

There comes a time in life where people are better off addressing the inevitable.  There's a window of opportunity that many people miss. And families have a nasty habit of tearing themselves apart when it happens. We'll see.

I do believe in hospice care.


8 comments:

  1. Something lost in translation?

    The old folks just voted his group back into power...no?

    He is rich and doesn't depend on the gov in the same way average citizens do right?....

    He should drink a big cup of Shut the fuck up or hemlock....he's of age to be let go now......this country just BLOWS MY FUCKING MIND!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Taking translated headlines for face value makes me feel like a sucker. But I stepped into that one, so too late.

      The mere fact that this is mind blowing is reassuring… I take this as a good sign in that I haven’t crossed that sandy line in my gray matter that goes beyond the sane boundary.

      Yeah, the old folks just voted their old-school party back into power. Out of habit maybe. Or the way people go with the familiar, even if the relationship is destructive. He’s definitely a ‘have’ who earned his wealth the traditional way, which is through inheritance. Nothing new there.

      What I would like to know is how the locals interpret what he says. Is this concept of ‘hurry up’ compatible with comfort, self-respect, and tranquility?

      I can see how institutions, as well as enterprising individuals, have a lot to gain from the system set up as it is, milking it for all it is worth.

      A nurse from a veteran’s hospital once told me about an unwritten policy where the emergency crew is not alerted until after a certain time has passed. This practice is something I understand to be a godsend, a form of mercy. She borrowed a routine phrase that paramedics use in a tone that communicates a certain job satisfaction that goes along with hearing that cartilage crack.

      I'm afraid what's not lost in translation is twisted.

      Delete
  2. For a country where tatemae was invented and practiced to it's own detriment ...they seem to come blasting out of that bubble like fucking moronic rockets armed with "Atomic ignorance" warheads.

    It....I dunno what to say? Take away their ciggs and booze and let em' detox for a while cuz they are fucking gone...gonzo fucking gone.

    I'm sitting in the front row with popcorn and dumdums enjoying the show but something in me wants it to stop because society is just gonna let them ....natural selection is gonna catch up with them and they are gonna go extinct...except the ones that bred with non tribe members.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to joke about being around for the fall.

      The 'okay' people, people who are okay... I've met a few I can relate to. They are ambitious, active, sensible, and funny at times. Yet I see a lot of people pretending to be normal, fitting in, and going with the flow dictated by the hierarchy.

      I keep wondering if five more years is really going to make a difference in terms of the generational power shift. The old guys are retiring from the helms of the companies, but the politicians stay in to their very end.

      For one thing, the power of the Internet is finally catching on where media has previously failed.

      Now excuse me while I go make myself some popcorn.



      Delete
  3. My grandmother and grandfather both had DNR orders. They also signed away their rights to my aunt. If they became unconscious and could not function without assistance, she had the right to pull the plug.

    I am glad of that. As my grandma said her last goodbyes, "I have lived a full life and gotten to see my grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow-up. I am ready and it's my time." I still cried a bunch but she was suffering and it would have been selfish to prolong the inevitable. Both her and my grandfather passed away at medical facilities. She slipped away fairly quickly... my grandfather went slowly. His body finally gave out due to illness and complications of Parkinsons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to share reflections on your experience. Your grandmother... a full life... in Japan, they say that witnessing the birth of grandchildren is one of the best things a person can experience. Great-grandchildren... that's got to be beyond it all.

      Your grandfather, I believe you mentioned how he'd walk with you to the store for candy. A hard worker with a kind heart.

      The only grandfather I knew, he passed away at home after giving instructions to remove the tube that fed him. With no food or fluids, it took about a week.

      One of the grandmas, her son kept her plugged in till the hemorrhaging around the brain pumped enough blood out her nose that she was obviously done.

      Delete
  4. Isn't not pulling the plug a cruel and unusual crime? Shit, if I had been given the choice by my mom or my gramps I would have done it in an instant. Those are two people I literally watch die over a whole year!

    Another thing thats not fun is to see a family member who is still alive, but their soul has already left. My grandma was just talking about that happening to one of her friends and its almost as bad as watching somebody die.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If not a crime, it can definitely be an act of selfishness with cruel and unintended side effects - as last part of the response to ST-5000's comment is intended to show.

      Just checked with Wifey this morning about the headlines in the news. While she agrees the Ass that it is okay to let people go, the 'hurry up' translation is fairly accurate. In describing the current leadership head, she used the term 'bon-bon', a pejorative usually reserved for spoiled young blue-blooded boys. To Wifey, the Great Leader 2.0's remark displayed an attitude of righteous irritation and off-handed dismissal.

      Sometimes I wonder if watching someone live isn't worse than watching someone die.


      Delete