Old

That's old people. Wrinklies. People past their sell-by date. We don't really like them. I mean look at them, they are ugly, wrinkly, watery-eyed, fragile, losing their marbles (if they haven't already lost them), a drain on society. Now why can't they just stay at home, behind closed doors and not be seen in public! Or better still, just die quietly without fuss, without wailing about it.

That's how we, as a society in the UK, seem to increasingly view our elderly population. It's as if they are a reminder of our own mortality that we'd rather not be reminded of, thank you very much. And it's a damn shame. It really is something we should be ashamed of; this way we allow our elderly to be treated. In our society youthful superficial beauty is celebrated. There's nothing wrong with taking a joy in our young. There's nothing wrong with admiring a beautiful object. But has it now gone so far that anyone who does not match this ideal of youthful beauty and who specifically reminds us of how the majority of us are going to be in a shorter time that we want to acknowledge is treated with indifference or contempt?

And when someone brings this to public attention as a nurse did in some undercover work for the BBC to highlight the appalling way we treat our elderly in hospital, the nurse was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council which said she failed to "follow her obligations as a nurse". That speaks volumes about where attitudes to treatment of the elderly lie if that is reported correctly. And the volumes it speaks do not put that governing body in a good light.

Regularly in the media we have stories of how the elderly are suffering. Pensions are not sufficient to cover basic requirements. Elderly people are missing meals as they can't afford to buy the food they need and we're not talking caviar and quails' eggs, we're talking basic staple foods. People are not able to afford to heat their homes in cold weather. Elderly people being denied medical treatment, being treated with contempt in hospitals and care homes and of being physically abused.

This is wrong.

My life at the moment brings me into contact with quite a few elderly people. Almost without fail, each is a joy to me. Yes, there are some cantankerous old farts out there who I don't wish to mix with, but there are cantankerous old farts aged from 16 to 96 I suspect. The people I have most contact with give a lot to me in terms of friendship and their outlook on life. The stories of their lives are fascinating. The way they deal with the challenges life throws at them are something I draw strength from in order to give a sense of perspective to any problems I have: lessons of life learned and passed along. I come away, every time I meet them, with a smile, laughter, new knowledge of something learned from a different point of view. In short, they are just ordinary people like you and me but who have been around a bit longer and we should not treat people with contempt because of that.