I am taking a one-week workshop directed by Greg Philo, one of the representatives of the Glasgow media group. He arranged a homework of writing an article about the biggest problem facing the old people in China for an magazine. We have a 4-people team. Though we interviewed 8 old people, we didn't get what i expected. It might have something to do with the choice of the sample, becasue most of them are the retiring old professor who don't have any dissatisfied problems. We coudn't do other interviews becasue of the tight time, so what we could do is just to explore the problems which seems to be. I am in charge of the 'time' issue and 'respect' issue which are as followed:
Kill the Time or Save the Time?
Time is a big issue almost every ole people interviewed talked about. Suddenly retiring from the job they have dedicated to for half of their life, they don’t know what to do and how to spend the whole day. The time seems to go slowly. They begin to think about how to kill the time instead of being tied off by the countless jobs every day.
When we asked how they spend their daily life, though the answer might be different, the way they answered is the same- trying to prove how they are busy and how the day is full of all kinds of the things. They go to the college specially organized for the old people, find a new hobby, and regularly meet friends who they haven’t contacted for many years, take care of the grandchildren, walk slowly, and even spend 2 hours on cooking.
An old professor says, ‘Hey, I am busy, really busy. I have to buy the vegetables, make the lunch, and pick up my grandson every day, so I don’t have much time.
How to spend the time is a big problem, however, how to prolong their life and try to save more time is another problem.
‘What is my biggest thing I care more about?...Eh, Surely live as long as possible.’
They care more about their life than anything else. They live a regular life, spend much time doing exercise, and spend much money on a lot of health products.
‘I spend two hours on playing ping pong every day. Health is the most important thing for me, you know? If you don’t have strong body, you could do thing.’
‘It is not me, but I know a person who spend all of his money on two things, food and health products.’
Time might be one of the biggest problems, which pushes the old people into a dilemma. On the one hand, they don’t know how to arrange their long free time, however, one the other hand, they want more and more time while they can feel the fewer and fewer days in the rest of their life.
‘Time goes really fast. I live along by counting the days passing on one by one.’
To Love or to Be Loved?
‘What is my biggest problem? I have talked a lot about myself. Now I want to talk about your problem. We need more respect and care.’——an old professor directly pointed out the social problem when we deal with the old.
‘Nothing is needed to prove it; I only tell you a story that exactly happened on me. One day I went out for my part-time job as a consultant in a private school. I know I am an old man, and I don’t want to bring trouble for others so I took a bus specially choosing a time without traffic jam when working people have to struggle for their time and transportation in the early morning. Regardless of my consideration, I happened to take a buy full of people. While the bus was suddenly moving, I couldn’t stand on my feet and pressed a young man’s hand against the pillar which must have hurt him. My apology was blurted out and in the meantime the response was given back in return-‘Are you nuts?’
‘I have worked as a teacher for many years and I don’t want to waste all my precious teaching experience just because I retire, so I spend my time and walk a long way doing the consultant job. I am trying to love people and do what I can do for the society, however, what do I get? I don’t need the money, need care with love, but could I get the least respect? That is all I want.’
What the old people said led us into a deep thought.
What should we do for the old people? What could the old people get from the society they have served for their entire life? Respect might be the most basic thing we could do, how about anything else, the love, the care, the attention, which all needs the morality and self-discipline of everybody.
We have got so much love from the old people, isn’t the right timing to give them all back, is it?