Actions of vandals hard to figure out

Call me weird or oldfashioned, and I will accept it if you can explain to me one thing: why do some people consider it their privilege to destroy or disfigure other people’s property? What do they get out of it? On a couple of days last month I went down to Aotea Lagoon for my daily walk and found a heap of geraniums and other plants had been pulled up and thrown on the path.

Bits of the plants could be seen on the rocks at the side of the lagoon, so the damage was obviously vandalism.

I was angry. What had the flowers done to the perpetrators, I wonder?

Had they called them names, perhaps, or refused to hand over their money?

Besides, why spoil the efforts of the council people who work so hard to keep our public spaces beautiful?

This conduct is not only inane, but insane.

It’s like tagging. What purpose does such mindless scrawling serve for anyone, the tagger or the owner of the tagged property?

Of course, the people who do such things generally do them at night when most other people are not around to see them.

If they are so proud of their artistic endeavours, surely they would do them in the full light of day so everyone could watch them.

But enough about such idiocy, though I could go on for longer.

I recently attended a meeting about a New Zealand Firstproposed bill that advocates for three free doctor visits per year for Super Gold cardholders.

As we all know, children up to the age of 13 will be able to go to the doctor free from July 1, and we heartily applaud that move.

But there are many seniors also who exist from hand to mouth, fortnight to fortnight, not knowing whether they will be able to pay all their bills as well as eat healthily in the recommended fashion (have you noticed how expensive these recommended items of diet are getting?), let alone afford a visit to the doctor.

Late last year, I conducted a survey of DHBs regarding the numbers of people aged 65-plus who had presented at hospitals with symptoms of malnutrition.

While several DHBs had not kept such statistics – I recommended they start, considering the projected increase in the numbers of the elderly – those that did provided some very interesting figures.

With regard to the possible free visits to the doctor, would this not be a much more economical use of health dollars than keeping an elderly person in hospital because he/she could not afford an adequate diet?

Last month, we enjoyed a very informative talk from Pania Houkamau-Ngaheu and Joan Ward from MSD senior services.

This month, to inform our newer members, we will have a presentation on Grey Power – what it is, what it does, its aims and scope.

To make us a vibrant organisation, we need our members’ input, so come along and share your concerns and interests.