3 ms·

It’s not a documentary purporting to be a factual examination of multiple people’s life stories or an analysis of social attitudes to the elderly. It’s a touch

by Veen 3y ago

It’s not a documentary purporting to be a factual examination of multiple people’s life stories or an analysis of social attitudes to the elderly. It’s a touching essay detailing one man’s thoughts and experiences as he moves through life, presented with the intention of eliciting certain feelings and thoughts in the reader. And that’s all it needs to be. Here’s an alternative perspective about getting old. Maybe you’ll enjoy it more: https://allpoetry.com/The-Old-Fools https://allpoetry.com/The-Old-Fools

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
monero-xmr 3y ago
And my counterpoint is that "old men working" is not the same as "society has failed these dull, vacant-eyed poors". I'm arguing for dignity
- weard_beard 3y ago
  If the old man told Weiss what he was feeling we wouldn’t get the artistry of his rumination. It’s like the student who hates the exercise of inferring authorial intent and ascribing situations and plots as metaphors in high school English. The point isn’t to KNOW the authors intent. The point is to understand what it means to YOU! You’re both right. This piece was about a sad old man. This piece makes us ponder our unknowable connections and the loss of dignity in suffering and old age. This piece can mean many things to many people. That’s what makes it good.
- bugglebeetle 3y ago
  Dignity being manifested through work is more of a Western illness, informed by Protestant Ideology and all of its accompanying baggage. Many other societies have roles for the elderly that do not require them to be service workers and all the corresponding degradation and abuse that comes along with it. And I say this as someone who spent many years in these kinds of jobs and found them in no way to be wholesome, engaging, or dignified. At least in the American context, people are remarkably rude and demanding to those who they deem beneath them, which is most often determined by the jobs they perform, how much money they have, etc. Assuming someone is miserable in these jobs may not always be correct, but it’s also not in anyway improbable. I and all my coworkers certainly were.
  - mlhpdx 3y ago
    People are awful to each other everywhere - there is nothing exceptional about America there. I agree with you that dignity requires fundamental (not judgemental) respect, and that is sorely lacking in the world (even in your response).
- rcme 3y ago
  Ok, but plenty of old people do work menial jobs out of necessity. This particular old man can be a symbol of that to the author regardless of the specific circumstances regarding the old man’s employment.

by Veen 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

monero-xmr 3y ago

And my counterpoint is that "old men working" is not the same as "society has failed these dull, vacant-eyed poors". I'm arguing for dignity

weard_beard 3y ago
If the old man told Weiss what he was feeling we wouldn’t get the artistry of his rumination. It’s like the student who hates the exercise of inferring authorial intent and ascribing situations and plots as metaphors in high school English. The point isn’t to KNOW the authors intent. The point is to understand what it means to YOU! You’re both right. This piece was about a sad old man. This piece makes us ponder our unknowable connections and the loss of dignity in suffering and old age. This piece can mean many things to many people. That’s what makes it good.
bugglebeetle 3y ago
Dignity being manifested through work is more of a Western illness, informed by Protestant Ideology and all of its accompanying baggage. Many other societies have roles for the elderly that do not require them to be service workers and all the corresponding degradation and abuse that comes along with it. And I say this as someone who spent many years in these kinds of jobs and found them in no way to be wholesome, engaging, or dignified. At least in the American context, people are remarkably rude and demanding to those who they deem beneath them, which is most often determined by the jobs they perform, how much money they have, etc. Assuming someone is miserable in these jobs may not always be correct, but it’s also not in anyway improbable. I and all my coworkers certainly were.
- mlhpdx 3y ago
  People are awful to each other everywhere - there is nothing exceptional about America there. I agree with you that dignity requires fundamental (not judgemental) respect, and that is sorely lacking in the world (even in your response).
rcme 3y ago
Ok, but plenty of old people do work menial jobs out of necessity. This particular old man can be a symbol of that to the author regardless of the specific circumstances regarding the old man’s employment.