CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY OLD FOLKS WC Really? You do? (We both laugh.) No wonder you work there, kid! You LIKE old people! Far out. This must give you a feeling of power—like being God or something? Joe No, man. When I ’m washin’ somebody like that, I don’t think too much else about their bodies—except like I would washing a baby’s body. I let anyone that can do it wash their own genitals. But it really stinks down there, especially if they have a foreskin. I t ’s stinky! I don’t think the women (workers) wash them. They don’t know anything about penises, probably. WC God, you ’re a perfectionist! You really get right down on the job and do it. Joe Shit—everybody makes a big deal about shaving someone. I say, keeping them comfortable is more important. I don’t mind if they miss a shower. I they get a good shower once a week, that’s enough. I don’t think the nurses do a good enough job of checking to see if things get done! Joe and I conclude the conversation. He felt demoralized by what he saw in nursing homes. He said, “ Working with these people makes you really wonder what it means to be human. When you are sitting there feeding them, you ask yourself what it means to be a person. What separates these people from a dog run over in the streets?” They no longer have choices. When the mental life and personality is gone, does it make sense to force the physical part of the person to remain alive? Joe particularly felt sorry for the older women patients. He said the female workers gave better care to the old men, but sort of ignored the older women. Because they saw their fate in them? Because he was the only male attendant in the entire hospital, he felt he behaved more tenderly toward them. Granny Beating Abuse of the elderly—whether verbal, psychological or physical— “ granny beating,” if you will, affects as many as a million elderly Americans. Are the kids trying to rip-off Mom and Dad’s property in these financially pressed times? Are they just sick of putting up with an old person in the house who needs 24- hour-a-day caretaking? Perhaps the children were abused by the parent and now they are getting even? The Coalition For Better Nursing Home Care At the Wheel of Fortune restaurant in NW Portland, I spoke with Marty Lenke. She is a small, biondish, active woman with blue eyes and an expert in the field. She is also the executive director of the Hospice of Greater Portland. For the last 16 years she has been involved with the problems of old people. “What would you want people to do?” I asked her. “ First of all, give a damn,” she stated briskly. “ If everyone cared about older people, the situation would be all over. But people have avoided facing up to their own mortality. They don’t want to visit a nursing home, because they are looking themselves in the face. ’ ’ Marty Lenke has been active with the Oregon’s Citizens Coalition for Better Nursing Home Care (PO Box 6402, Portland 97208). I quote from their recent testimony before the Oregon State Legislature: “ There are 14,981 beds in Oregon’s 190 nursing homes. Eighty-six percent are profit-making, 11% are non-profit, and 3% are government-owned. Nursing home revenues are conservatively placed at 180 million dollars per year. In 1981, the Department of Human Resources estimates the 9,000 beds occupied by Medicaid recipients will cost the state 100 million dollars.” Marty continues: “ The population of the United States is getting older. In 10 or 15 years, there will be a big explosion. A huge demand on services. There will be a lot more people in nursing homes. We as a society have not yet made a commitment to taking care of these people. We are just now beginning to realize it ’s a major problem.” She recommends the book Unloving Care by Bruce Viadeck. In 1979, two bills were passed in the state legislature: The nursing Home Patients Bill of Rights guarantees human and civil rights, and the N. H. Patients Abuse Bill—surprisingly enough—makes it against the law to beat up patients! There are two lobbyists for nursing home bills working with the coalition: Anita Paulsen and Terry Ann Rogers (phone 223-7502). Call them if you wish to become politically active or are seeking legal advice. TheHuman Spirit What does it mean to be a human being? Are we only rational animals? Do we have souls? Does our spirit escape at death when our bodies are recycled? Mom and I were talking about the Bible. She has great faith in it. I don’t. “ In terms of world history, the era of the Bible,” I said rather harshly, “ represents a pimple on the ass of creation! There is a hell of a lot of human behavior not taken into account by the Bible.” We’re raising our voices, arguing. “ If everyone followed the ten commandments, and lived by them,” she replied, “ this world would be a lot better place. But people don’t do it. I think human beings were not meant to know it all.” “ I believe,” she continued quite sincerely and heroically, given the conditions of her health and the difficulties she has suffered, “ we have ’a spirit’ which continues when you die. I have faith. People know that spirits exist. There is more than what we see here on earth. The confusion, wars, the way people are mixed up—your generation doesn’t know it all, using drugs and being free and easy with your morals. Scientists don’t know anything, either!” She hammered home her point, “ You don’t have any answers better than those in the Bible.’ ’ On another occasion, I was discussing the problem of aging with my mother, I said, “ When my health fails, I ’d consider taking a pill and committing suicide.” She answered, “ It might not be as easy as you think—to do it. The will to live is very strong. I don’t want to be kept alive by artificial means, but I don’t want to be put to sleep either.” WC DeNicolas' Restaurants Mrs. DeNicola and her family invite you to the DeNicolas' Restaurants. The DeNicolas prepare each entree with fine ingredients. . . from recipes they brought with them from Italy. They serve the kind of Italian food you've been looking for. DENICOLAS 234 -2600 3520 SE POWELL DONATA'S RESTAURANT DENICOLAS' WEST 227 -1103 638 -8428 501 NW 21ST 18791 SW MARTINAZZI TUALATIN From DELPHINA’S 33
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz