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Perhaps city council can tap into wise elder's wisdom
© by Mike Keenan 
T. S. Eliot thought that people grow older, but that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates. I've known some folks in that category. They find their niche and pitch a rocking chair instead of a tent, foregoing the ascent.
William James reasoned that it becomes pleasant when we give up striving to be young. I'm not deliberately trying to connect the two dots here, but advertising does dwell on the idea of eternal youth, our great delusion to think that through some magic (usually elective surgery), we can remain fixed at Jack Benny's favourite age, 39. As retirees, we have an opportunity and perhaps a responsibility to be wise, to take the sum total of all of our experience and knowledge and focus it into proactive suggestions for others embarking on similar journeys. Of course, Willa Cather thought that the dead might as well try to speak to the living as the old to the young. A few of us may indeed possess wisdom, but who is going to listen? Wouldn't it be a novel idea that before each city council meeting, St. Catharines mayor, Brian McMullan, might take off his weighty chain of office and meet at a local coffee shop with a group of wise elders? He could tell him his council's ideas about fixing the city. For example, he could say, "We've decided to give up one-way traffic on St. Paul St. What do you think?" And then, the council of the wise would tell him what they thought, after they stopped laughing. Virginia Wolf believed that one of the signs of passing youth was the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings, but Voltaire was cynical, claiming that what most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy. Okay, forget about our motives, but wisdom is wisdom, but I guess there are issues. For example, in his later years Pablo Picasso was not allowed to roam an art gallery unattended, for he had previously been discovered in the act of trying to improve on one of his old masterpieces. Some of us do tend to act in unique ways. Thomas Jefferson entertained the right concept when he said, "Though an old man, I am but a young gardener." Mayor McMullan could treat us precisely like that, and as Robert Frost suggested, be diplomatic. ("A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.") We might call ourselves SSS or Seniors Sewing Seeds. I know; it's an oxymoron! The sss sound reminds me that it's almost time for a nap. Mayor McMullan would have to start his meetings at a decent hour. Most of us don't make it to the evening CBC news broadcast with Peter Mansbridge. Pearl S. Buck provided warnings for both sides of the issue, young and old. She maintained that society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members. At the same time, she reasoned that you can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea. So we (McMullan and us wise wizards) will have to often seek compromise. The important thing is for us to communicate, which always reminds me of that great movie based on lack of communication, with actor Paul Newman starring in his role as Cool Hand Luke. What we can offer mayor McMullan is our collective experience which Oscar Wilde reminds us is simply the name we give our mistakes. Every with-it council these days assembles and trots out a youth advisory council to provide ideas representing their age group. Mayor McMullan, you will find yourself in the history books and on the front page of this newspaper if you provide the same opportunity for the retired. |
