Gone are the days of visiting the butcher, the baker and the
candlestick maker. Today we have grocery stores that house
pharmacies, furniture, florists, video rental kiosks and banks.
Gone are the days of visiting the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker. Today we have grocery stores that house pharmacies, furniture, florists, video rental kiosks and banks. The butcher and the baker are no longer across the street from one another – now they are in the same location separated by endless aisles of grocery items and home goods.
According to Janet Belsky, author of “The Psychology of Aging,” basic to living is our ability to receive information about the environment around us. Just as crucial is our capacity to respond to that information. Our five senses help us make “sense” of the world. Limitations in sensory motor functioning may make the elderly feel less sure of themselves, less independent and more vulnerable to their surroundings.
The grocery store is an environment familiar to all of us. Belsky explains that shopping is an instrumental activity of daily living. We need to shop in order to buy food, and we need to buy food in order to nourish our bodies. However important grocery shopping is to our survival, it is still a chore; a chore some of us may take for granted. Grocery shopping can be physically challenging and mentally exhausting for senior citizens.
Some seniors may be suffering from any combination of physical impairments or conditions that are common later in life. Age-related vision loss and hearing loss can greatly affect our seniors at the grocery store. Not being able to recognize a product’s label or hear a sales clerk can be frustrating. Seniors who suffer with arthritis may find it difficult to move quickly, bend over to reach their favorite product, or maneuver their carts or motorized scooters around stacks of boxes waiting to be stocked.
In addition to physical hindrances, there are also psychological and social issues. When seniors are shopping, they may be reminded that they are alone; spouses have died, kids have grown up and moved away, friends are no longer around. The grocery store can be a depressing place for some. For others, a trip to the grocery store may be their one “social outing” of the week. They may not be in a hurry because they enjoy being around other people.
One day while grocery shopping, I witnessed three separate incidents that got me thinking about this activity crucial to daily living:
n An elderly women couldn’t find her favorite bread and asked for help: I found it and handed it to her. She needed to know the price as well but couldn’t hear me, so I moved closer and repeated myself. She said her eyesight was horrible and I said it must be hard for her. I had to walk on, as I had my own schedule to keep. As I continued to shop I wondered where her family was, how she got to the store, with whom she lived.
n An older man was paying for groceries one line over from me. He had to bend over in order to fill out his check and his hand was trembling. The checker was visibly agitated although no one else was in line. When someone did get in line, the checker declared loudly that since this was “obviously going to take forever,” he should probably find another line. The old man continued to concentrate on writing but with the added pressure from the rude checker, his hand began to tremble even more.
n When I left the store, I saw an older woman in the parking lot struggling with her grocery bags. No one from the grocery store had helped her to the car. I offered to help and she accepted. I had a hard time too; the bags were heavy and difficult to get out of the cart.
With the holiday season upon us, the grocery store isn’t the only place our seniors will find themselves. They will be frequenting department and mega stores on a quest to find the perfect gift for loved ones. If you find yourself rushing by a lone elderly shopper and your first instinct is to ignore a request for help – or if you find yourself tempted to tap your foot while sighing loudly in the checkout line – take a moment to consider the situation at hand. Take a minute to help someone, a minute to visit and then take 10 seconds to pat yourself on the back. In less than five minutes, you can make a big difference in an elderly person’s day.
