Senior Citizens Can Be Dangerous

One would think senior citizens an amiable group of folks to get along with and for the most part they are. But don’t let their frail, bent, bodies deceive you. Some of our elderly populations are powder kegs of seething rage just waiting for someone to light the fuse.

Don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about! I’ve seen them. They use their aged and harmless appearance as a disguise to lull people into a sense of false security. But I’ve learned to see through their little deception. They’ve formed a group of fellow conspirators and have secret memberships in clandestine organizations. OK, so maybe that’s a bit of a stretch.

However, seriously, I have witnessed several occasions where even wheelchair bound old timers have become irate, cane wielding vehicles of savage destruction, capable of causing extreme damage.

One instance comes immediately to mind. It occurred at a nursing home where my wife and I were visiting an elderly female friend. She had recently become the newest resident at age 97. She was, sadly, bound to a wheelchair. This kindly old woman had lived next door to our family since my earliest memories. On this visit we had brought her a jar of roasted peanuts. We knew she loved them.

We found her in her semi-private room alone watching the local news on TV. She beamed brightly as she recognized us and invited us in. The peanuts were proffered and immediately locked in a small safe. “Ya gotta lock up everything round here” she explained. “The place is rife with thieves”! This news brought an amused expression to our faces, but she was dead serious. “Really”, I questioned.

“Yer dang tootin” she expounded in her heavily accented Ozark twang. “I can’t even put my teeth in a glass on the night stand when I go to bed. That old lady in the next room tried to steal’em a few nights ago”!

We demanded to know more. “What did you do about it”, I asked. What she related next came as a shock to us. Apparently, our kindly, shy mannered friend had taken matters into her own hands.

“Ya see that there ugly lady in the wheelchair” she pointed emphatically with an accusing finger. “That’s the varmint yonder”! The guilty party, sporting a head bandage wheeled off in fright as she saw herself being identified. “I showed her what fer”! “What did you do” I asked. “I hit her over the head with this here cane”, she replied.

But violence involving seniors isn’t limited to only American born citizens. The trait is equally displayed from other demographic populations in this country. Of this, I was a first hand witness.

The incident happened while in the employ of a handicapped transportation company. See http://hubpages.com/hub/LOOKING-FOR-JOBS-IN-ALL-THE-WRONG-PLACES I was a driver assigned to transporting a Korean women’s’ senior citizens’ group to their weekly meetings. I was taken in by their innocent demeanor and acts of kindness. I was a professional and extended every courtesy to my charges. When Christmas rolled around one year, the compassionate ladies collected $75 as a gift for my services. I was touched by their sincerity. However, several months later, their true colors emerged.

Picture this scenario. The ladies are congregating in the parking lot following their weekly meeting. This was the week they received food assistance and all had an armload of bags containing canned goods. One octogenarian accidently dropped a bag which burst open sending the contents rolling all over the parking lot. She frantically began picking them up and having nothing to put them in, set them on the hood of a brand new automobile inflicting a few scratches on its’ shiny surface .

The owner happened to be looking out the window of his apartment building and witnessed the inconsiderate act. The enraged man promptly called the police and hurried out to the parking lot to confront the offending party. Naturally, he spoke no Korean, adding to the ensuing confusion, and a loud argument broke out.

For those readers who are not familiar with Korean culture and history, it is not advisable to call local authorities in such matters. In their country, older citizens are deathly afraid of police or other law enforcement officials. Many remember the disappearance of family members who had been arrested. They also recall horror stories about cruel and inhumane treatment told by the lucky few who did return.

The heated argument escalated and the next event set off the following reactions. Police sirens were heard rapidly approaching the scene. Thirty terrified old ladies scrambled to board their bus. One diminutive lady, who didn’t look like she could harm a fly, savagely grabbed me by my tie and tried to get me in the drivers’ seat. The excited gibberish (to me) issuing from her screaming mouth could only be pleas for me to get them out of there as quickly as possible.

However, the oxygen to my brain had been severely curtailed due to the ever tightening tie around my neck. Another old Korean lady joined in with the neck tie pulling. By this time I was on the ground and they were literally dragging me onto the bus. A few more assisted in getting me into the bus and seated behind the steering wheel. They even fastened the seat belt. No sense in breaking anymore laws. I was prompted to action by several canes which beat me about my head and shoulders.

I truly don’t know how I got the bus on the road and underway in my half unconscious condition. But I managed to get them all home. I decided to take a short break and access any injuries I may have sustained in the brutal attack. I seemed to be none the worse for the ordeal except for my now unkempt uniform appearance. I tucked in my shirt, straightened my tie and dusted off my pants, which now sported holes in both knees.

To me, this had been a serious, terrifying experience. I made out the required incident reports and put them in my clipboard to be turned in at the end of the day. However, as serious as the event had been, my peers failed to see that. To them, it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. I was razzed from that day on about “getting beat-up by an old lady”.