Advice from Old PeopleSometimes, just sometimes, old people say something worth listening to. Ok, so it's like picking the needle out of a whole haystack of mis-remembered war stories, but those gems should be celebrated.
Tell us something worthwhile an old-type person has told you.
Note, we're leaving the definition of old up to you, you smooth-skinned youngsters.
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chthonic, Thu 19 Jun 2008, 16:16)
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The JazzmanBack in the day when I was a young lad trying to get into medical school, I did all sorts of stuff to try to make my personal statement on my UCAS form stand out.
I worked for a local hospital, I did first aid courses, I wrote articles for the local trust newsletter. I regularly visited my local GP to chat and to try to get a little ‘insider’ knowledge.
I also volunteered at my local Age Concern. To be perfectly honest I was in it just for the personal statement and I claimed back all the mileage I could (and more) to get some cash.
I was assigned an old gentlemen who lived on his own in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t really want to go and do it but I felt like I had to go at least once to morally put it on my personal statement.
The old chap was about 80 and was understandably doddery. I made him tea (washing out the tea cups as they were full of cobwebs) and chatted to him about everything. It turns out that he was used to be rather a handy jazz pianist and had records of himself playing with his band in the 1940/50s.
He had a piano in the corner of his lounge and I invited him to play, but he said he couldn’t anymore because of his arthritis, so he could only listen to himself on his scratchy recordings.
During the time I spent with him I asked him about his wife and family, but it turns out that he got himself a little fucked up due to the booze and drugs that a jazz lifestyle apparently entailed so his wife had eventually left him and his children had grown up and hadn’t come back.
He’d been living by himself for about years and years wallowing in his self pity and listening to himself play jazz. I only visited him three times before I got a call from Age Concern saying that he had passed away.
During the time I was with him he did tell me the following advice.
“Never be alone.”
I have never forgotten it.
(, Fri 20 Jun 2008, 11:59, 2 replies)
ClickThat's really struck a chord with me - I said that's really STRUCK A.. never mind
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Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 20 Jun 2008, 12:10,
closed)
AwwwAnother poignant b3ta answer to a QOTW.
*clicks*
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Mike Fishcake teamfishcake.co.uk - better than your mum's face, Fri 20 Jun 2008, 14:35,
closed)
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