Another Day in Retirement Hell

 

by Pa Rock

Unartful Codger

There are no "golden" years.  That's just a ruse pushed by social engineers tying to get old people to leave the work force and make way for younger people to enjoy the chains of wage slavery.  The supposed "golden" years are consumed with physical and mental deterioriation, and spending days with predictable chores - much like those encountered in the good old days when we were punching the time clock at the factory.  There is no rest for the wicked - or the retired.

As old people slowly fall apart, a few basic activities take up more and more of their time and become the equivalent of daily "jobs."  Most maintain homes or apartments, a vehicle,  and make purchases to  support their lives and lifestyles - while gradually downsizing as time races by.   But some activities of old people also tend to increase with the passage of time - doctor's visits and trips to the pharmacy, for example, and as those activities increase so does interaction with insurance companies - a major time-suck in the lives of the elderly.

Dealing with doctor visits, trips to the pharmacy, and insurance companies are a constant in ithe lives of old coots.  We can't have medical programs that pay 100% of costs like other countries do, we can't have insurance plans with standard care options and coverages - they all have to be different in order to force us to patch together plans that heighten confusion and out-of-pocket expense.

Old people are vulnerable to a political system that looks out for the needs of the wealthy, a health care system that many cannot access or afford, medicines that cost more here than in other countries, and a profit-driven insurance system whose primary goal is to take care of their stockholders.  It is a constant battle with bureaucracy where some days the only comfort is in knowing that the little pisssant giving you needless grief over the phone will one day be retired, too.

Old people are so busy keeping up with government and business regulations and assaults on our lives and integrity, that some days there is not even adequate time for bitching.  Fortunately, for me at least, today is Sunday an I was able to make the time!

Gray Power!