Where Are The Old People?

In my little town in Oregon, almost all you see is old people, excepting the million or so school kids who come to the Shakespeare festival. But you don't really see them much except in the Plaza between shows. There is a lot of grey hair around town. That is a fact.

But here in Chiang Mai , Thailand, and come to think of it, in Bangkok and Ko Samet, I NEVER see an old person. Tomorrow I am going to ask the nice young man next door where they hide the old ones. In Nicaragua, the old folks sit in rocking chairs in front of the house many mornings and just about every evening. They are neat, tidy, scrubbed up, fed, and their work is over. They watch the pass and schmooze with neighbors and family members come and sit with them.

There are several possibilities here:

1. No one lives here. The young people just come to work and then go home somewhere else.

2. The old folks are dead. That could be why there are so many ancestor altars.

3. They don't look so good. Keep them hidden.

4. They are still working rice in the countryside.

5. Thai people don't age. Many of the people I think are teenagers are really 100.

I guess the possibilities are endless. I just got the willies when I figured what was missing around me. I like a good mix of ages. I feel that we all have something to offer each other.

In fact, when I was a kid (here she goes again) we played with all ages. On a good snow day, the parents and kids were all sledding or skating together. We played baseball and swam at the pond with whomever showed up. Big kids, little kids, dumb kids, smart kids, terrible players, great players...together. We made up our rules and enforced them. We made teams. We behaved well because it was fun. There was no tension. 'My team' was one bunch of kids one day and another bunch the next day. I think this was healthy.

Today everything seems to be divided up by age groups. You have to take your birth certificate, for heaven's sake, to play on a 7 year old soccer team. Don't want any team to tip the balance by putting in an 8 year old! The kids have to learn everything from adults. We learned most good stuff from other kids.

How is this segregation working out? It seems to me that it might be backfiring a little bit. With the adults trying to make everything fair, it seems to me that the competitiveness of the adults comes down quickly on the kids. It seems that a lot of kids won't try a lot of things if they fear they can not be excellent. It builds up an intolerance for under performers who might never have the chance to find their way.

This is probably bull shit nostalgia, but everyone I know remembers going out in the neighborhood after dinner as the best thing of their childhood except maybe visiting the grandparents. Intergenerational memories. So, I have to find out where the aged population of Chiang Mai is. I'll let you know.