I was in the grocery store a while back and happened to see an old woman with a big bottle of vodka in the front of her cart. This got me thinking, of course..but not about what you think...I mean, first of all- good for her that she is still having a good time and throwing one back. Then I took it to a bad place like I am wont to do-maybe she is in a bad relationship with an alcoholic relative and she's buying their drug for them? (Yes I watch Intervention, don't judge me).
The thing that really got me thinking though was this frail little old lady pushing a cart around the store and I wondered how her retirement situation was going. Did she have to roam the aisles slowly, finding the items on her list and hoping it wasn't too much money? So many people have to do that. So many seniors face hunger and poverty, living on fixed incomes with so little wiggle room, if any at all. Inflating food and fuel prices, medications that cost more than they can hope to afford, and the highest cost for housing we've ever seen.
I wonder how I will weather my own retirement. Will I have enough? Or will I also be lugging a giant bottle of vodka and a few items of produce around a grocery store, confused about my future? I already do that. Combined with the arthritis I am feeling very old. Perhaps the booze will help. Maybe that's what she was doing. Maybe that is enough.
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