Maybe it’s symptomatic of my being a senior citizen, but little things are beginning to aggravate me.
As a starter, traipsing through the whole Medicare registration process is a calamitous journey that is not for the faint of heart. One needs a cadre of physicians, pharmacists and legal beagles to assist in the navigation. It’s similar to a take home test, except most of the answers are not in the book!
One can only hope that when the complicated package is completed, the road taken is a clear path to reduced healthcare benefits and not some side road to confusion and refusal of the healthcare industry to provide reimbursement.
Then there’s the issue of magazine subscription renewals. For years I have religiously renewed my periodicals after receiving a notice in the mail. I just assumed that it was time to renew. Some of the offers were too enticing to pass up, such as ‘pay for one year and receive the second year free? or ‘pay for one year and send a complimentary subscription to a friend.? I guess during these renewal times I neglected to thoroughly examine the mailing label to determine the expiration date.
Just recently I performed this tedious task on several publications I subscribe to, and what a shock. One particular magazine does not expire until the year 2012! This magazine might just outlive me! And maybe I should consider making it part of my will so that I can pass this on to my children.
Whatever the case, you can be sure I will be meticulous in reviewing expiration dates in the future before succumbing to another renewal notice!
And then there’s the case of restaurants putting cutesy monikers on restroom doors just to confuse us senior citizens. This seems to happen more frequently in themed restaurants.
For instance a recent visit to the restroom in a seafood restaurant became an adventure. One door was marked ‘grouper? while the other was labeled ’tilapia.? I opted for the ‘grouper? and fortunately made the correct choice.
Now I have been in restaurants in northern Michigan hunting country labeled ‘buck? and ‘doe? and that doesn’t distress me. Or a country-dance emporium labeled ‘gents? and ‘gals? is fine. But frankly when I am under some pressure to enter the confines of commode headquarters is it necessary for me to have an understanding of the sexes of various mammals and species. I sure hope not!
Several months ago I was at a restaurant that had clearly labeled the restroom doors as ‘men? and ‘ladies.? But just to confuse me the other side of the door facing into the restroom was labeled ‘ladies.?
Maybe some type of magical transformation was to have taken place inside but for a brief moment I was discombobulated and looked around to make sure I was in the presence of male counterparts. In any event, as a senior citizen it may be time to circumvent all these mind boggling choices and just bring a supply of Depends!
So as I enter the mystical age of 65 in 2008 my hope is for less confusion. I need stability in my life especially if I’m going to be reading magazines well into 2012!