Senior Daze

by Katie Bourg

About Katie: Having arrived in time for the Great (?) Depression, WWII, and all other 20th century problems, I am endowed with long and varied memories. Writing classes have long been my home away from home. Other people's stories are fascinating, and sharing is growth at its best. Hope you seniors will join me with your stories. Try it. You'll like it.

I grew up in a very political household, listening to complaints and arguments of all sizes and sorts. Once in my own home I read the paper, listened to the news, and voted. But I didn't get very involved. A hard-working husband and five kids kept most of my attention. Scouting, camping, and square dancing were of primary importance, it seemed to me. Not that I didn't form opinions, and argue with my own spouse. That was just part of our fun. It stopped at the door, as a rule.

Through the years issues did arise which led to a little more excitement. When the City of Seattle wanted to run a twenty-five foot trail through my back yard, including Thornton Creek, I did help gather signatures to stop it and spoke at a council meeting. A neighbor pointed out that this plan would run right down the middle of his bathroom. He said he would sit on the toilet with a shotgun across his knees. Seemed a little extreme, but we were all pretty sympathetic at the time. The plan never materialized. We all calmed down and went back to planning neighborhood picnics and camping trips.

By and large I seem to drift along with the rest of you, not really paying a lot of attention. I do get irritable when parties try to sway voters with personal scandals. The other fellows'...not their own. However, sometimes something will trigger an interest. I was invited to a dinner this past week. A friend asked, so I went. And a couple of things I heard made me sit up and listen.

A speaker told of his own struggle as a child. He'd lost both parents way too soon. But he grew up in New York City, where there was free tuition, and managed to become a lawyer. Sounded like a winning idea to me. Instead our kids are losing out even in the early grades. I have to wonder, where is our tax money going? I admit to being bothered.

He also spoke of the function of the Supreme Court. Pointed out that they are supposed to rule on the narrowest information brought before them, but said they are not always doing so, and that other information is being allowed to enter into their judgments. This seems a little scary to me. Been bothering me all week. Guess I'll have to think about that.

I do have other complaints that get under my skin. Public toilets, for instance.

About forty years ago my mother was very upset. ( We foolishly laughed at her, which only made matters worse.) This was in the days when women still wore awkward clothing--skirts and petticoats, nylons with garters and girdles. She was at a senior function at Green Lake and nature called. In answering, she had to reverse, squeeze around the door which swung in and remove the necessary clothing. For lack of an alternative, she placed her purse on the back of the tank. It dropped into the commode. Definitely not a happy experience. I think about it every time I'm forced to make the same trip. And I've learned I'm not the only one that has little or no respect for the designers of public facilities. After 40 years, those darn doors are still swinging in, with nowhere to go when you get there. And no room! There ought to be a law!

But there probably won't be. Nobody seems to be able to get excited enough for long enough to do anything about anything. And that's sad.