Senior Citizen Overload

There’s exactly one week left before the move to the “old folks home” in Waikiki. There have been numerous episodes of “second thoughts,” but the latter is moot. All arrangements have been completed, so there’s no turning back.

Using Kahala Mall as the staging area for the senior citizen mobile command center (read: minivan) is also rapidly drawing to a close. No more wasting petrol to drive the minivan to Kahala every morning just to enjoy some semblance of solitude for coffee time. The minivan also had its own “reserved” spot in the shaded parking area.

Kahala Mall

Kahala Mall, as mentioned previously, is very “senior friendly.” During the tenure there, however, the number of senior citizens walking the perimeter of the mall for exercise has increased dramatically. The number of exercise classes has also increased. Frankly, the sheer number of senior citizens of varying stages of decrepitude on parade in the mall is both staggering and unnerving. In the morning, Kahala Mall is essentially a senior citizen recreation center. In fact, any denial of mortality is impossible under those circumstances.

Add in the residency at the “old folks home” in Makiki and a totally depressing situation results. Last night during the brief stopover before departing for dinner, an ambulance arrived to take one of the residents to the hospital. There’s always some kind of reminder about the proximity of death.

The constant barrage of decrepit senior citizens is beginning to take a major toll on the psyche. If the move to the Waikiki “old folks home” proves to be similarly demoralizing, there will be no other option but to revert to motorhomelessness with a cargo van camper conversion.