by Emma Willey

Created on: December 23, 2009

Humor in Living to Be Elderly

 When you live in a place where all the residents are elderly, some things can't help but strike you as humorous.  It's a little sad too when you realize that people who have dementia or Alzheimer's disease can't help some of the strange things they do.  You absolutely have to have a sense of humor to live with the elderly, especially if you are one of them. .

 We have all lost some of our skills, and many of us have to use walkers or wheelchairs, and at the least, a cane.  We are all more or less in the same boat, but it helps to be able to laugh at ourselves and each other sometimes.

 We are each assigned to a table in the dining room for our meals but when it’s mix-up day, we are supposed to sit at another table to get acquainted with more people. But some people don't want to do that, so they come to the meal about 30 minutes early to save their own place.  It would be awful if someone stole their space for one meal.  And then there are those who try to honor mix-up day. One day   I tried sitting at three differenttables and was told, “You can't sit there.  We are saving that place for someone else.”  So there are some people who want to meet more people and some who prefer to keep their own little circle of friends.

 I sit where I can see most of the people enter the dining room.   Here comes a very overweight lady, she flops down in her chair, pushes up her boobs, shoves her chair up close to the table and   settles down for dinner.  Another lady comes in laughing and talking to everyone, but it's plain to see she forgot to comb her hair this morning.  One lady stops abruptly on the way in and says,
“Oops, I forgot my teeth,” and she’s on her way back home to get her dentures.

 The residents are seated at tables for four.  At the next table from mine, there's a lady who obviously takes charge of everyone at her table.  Every meal she takes it upon herself to read the men to the other table mates, and when the waitress comes, she tries to order for everyone too.  She even has the audacity to tell each one what he likes and orders it for them.  Some of them have dementia so it's a perfect place for her to take charge.

 We play Bingo once a week and I enjoyed it for awhile until I realized I wasn't making many friends there, especially if I won too many times in a row. 

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