We should recognize and celebrate the contributions of seniors

Art Battiste says this cohort volunteers, supports causes, keeps economy bubbling.

The July 16 edition of the Regina Leader-post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix contained an opinion piece entitled My fellow seniors annoy and embarrass by Ronald Macfarlane of Quebec.

I am a senior, and I found this “opinion” to be mean-spirited, thinly anecdotal and just wrong. There is a saying, “When you are a giraffe and you receive criticism from turtles, they are reporting the view from the level they are on.” How wonderfully well Mr. Macfarlane’s article represents the turtle’s view of those of us who are pleased and proud to have reached an age and stage of life wherein we can generally return the love and care we have enjoyed in life to those who most need it.

Mr. Macfarlane’s “print rage” is an imperfect example of what he terms “Aggressive Aged Syndrome,”

a behaviour that, fortunately, is restricted to only a few persons in our society, regardless of age or class. I do not shop in the same grocery stores as he does, nor attend the same public events, since I have not seen the behaviours he describes either occurring in great numbers or restricted or attributed principally to those of more advanced age.

I am fortunate, in my senior years, to manage a program of non-credit courses for seniors at a major university. In the 24 courses this program produces in an academic year, approximately 1,200 spaces are filled. That’s a lot of seniors. Yet, I have yet to see more than one or two older students exhibiting poor attitudes or inappropriate behaviours such as those Mr. Macfarlane attributes in general to seniors. Admittedly, there are some who “act out,” as we would say if they were youngsters, but I can count them on one hand.

Recently, 712 seniors, 615 competitors and 97 guests gathered in Moose Jaw for the 2018 Saskatchewan 55+ Provincial Games. The Moose Jaw Games selected 84 participant/competitors to attend the Canada 55+ Games in August; hockey, curling, and cycling added another 74, bringing the total Saskatchewan contingent of seniors to 158, plus 73 guests, spouses, and observers from Saskatchewan. More than 2,000 seniors will gather in Saint John, N.B. for the 2018 Canada 55+ Games.

When I look at these thousands of seniors working, exercising, and interacting in many different activities and at many different levels, I am struck by the positive attitudes, courtesy and respect they show toward one another and toward seniors as a group.

The Canada 55+ Games and the preceding provincial and district 55+ Games are not limited to tests of strength and athletic prowess. There are 23 events in this year’s games: eight-ball, badminton, bowling, cycling, curling, contract bridge, cribbage, duplicate bridge, darts, shuffleboard, golf, horseshoes, women’s and men’s ice hockey, lawn bowling, men’s and women’s pickleball, Scrabble, slo-pitch, swimming, tennis, and men’s and women’s track and field (14 different events).

Masters track and field competitions are also organized on local, provincial, national, international and world-class bases. Many Saskatchewan senior athletes compete in these events, and many Saskatchewan men and women seniors hold provincial, national, and world records in most events. Some of Saskatchewan’s senior track and field competitors are former Olympians, as well as current champions.

It often has been said that the fastest growing population cohorts are the under-15 age group, or the Indigenous populations, but this is not so: the fastest-growing population in Saskatchewan is seniors. The term “seniors” includes people of all ethnic, social and economic groups.

In a great majority of instances, it is seniors who are helping others, who are supporting causes, organizations, political parties and candidates and generally keeping our society and economy bubbling. Most grandparents are seniors.

We should recognize and celebrate seniors, not criticize them and condemn their actions. Our public media only very rarely report on Saskatchewan seniors and their endeavours and successes.

More frequently, there are stories and reports that parallel Mr. Macfarlane’s. What a pity. Battiste is a 75-year-old retired business and civil service executive who manages university programs for seniors in Saskatoon and competes in track-and-field events in his spare time.