Yes, why seniors? Seniors comprise a good bit of the US population, but in my life they comprise the majority of people I speak to every day and take up about 1/3 of my time. Yes, 1/3. Clearly I work with seniors - I am a social worker. And before you start thinking that I am a saint and that I must really LOVE the geriatric crowd, let me set a few things straight:
1. I do love seniors, but like any job, at times you despise your collegues/tasks/the workplace and there is no helping that (right?). So it stands to reason that sometimes, oh yes sometimes, i don't love the seniors. There, I said it. They can be tough...or rather, sometimes they are fiesty jerks just like the rest of us. But often they go right over the line. And I try to laugh at those moments, hence this blog.
2. I am not a saint. I am probably the only social worker going to hell actually. But for better or for worse, I try to listen, help, reality check, love and laugh with the geriatric generation (oh my god that sounds lame - hopefully I won't sound that sappy all of the time). To be specific, I work with low-income seniors, most of whom have physical/mental disabilities, but I've also worked with dementia clients (I prefer to call that memory loss), adult day care, and senior centers. Anyway, who knows if anyone is ever really good at social service jobs, but I like to think I get there more than 50% of the time. Only time will tell.
3. I have a hard time being "PC". Sorry in advance if I ever offend, it will surely happen.
In the end the "why seniors" answer has to be, "because they are great!", but also because there needs to be an outlet for senior angst, frustration and general misunderstoodness. So this blog is probably for people who hang with, work with or care for the elderly...although seniors are welcome to dive on in too. I will discuss senior issues, offer humor about almost every problem, hopefully provide helpful suggestions/tips/advice, and maybe even answer some questions about why seniors are the way that they are. But probably not.
