AYLMER, QUEBEC | Being a senior citizen myself, it bothers me no end to see how some of my co-seniors behave in public. We may agree that what people do or say in private is none of our business, but, for example, when we see so many senior citizens still smoking -- anywhere -- we should all be shocked.

We seniors, of all people, should know better. We've heard the warnings, read the reports, and we've had friends or family drop dead from the habit.

How many seniors are there who still wait in their cars with the engine running, spitting carbon dioxide and other toxins out into the only air we have to breathe. There are reasons and exceptions, but far too many people have this dirty habit of leaving the car running, winter and summer. The biggest shock I get, and it's shocking every time, is to hear seniors say they don't keep up with the news, they don't read a paper or listen to radio news. In other words, they're saying, "I don't want to know what's going on around me."

Is that logical? We're supposed to have leisure time to do just that, but instead what do we do? Do we watch TV instead as if we're plugged into a Matrix-machine every evening?

There are many more items on this list, and, obviously, they are not only for senior citizens (although we seniors, of all people, ought to know better). My complaints have a common thread: seniors' disinterest in the wider world around them.

Sure, we've seen it all before and it's nothing but tiring; but that world around us matters. It matters to our own inner heath that we keep our mental doors open, and it matters to the world around us. As the strongest growing population we seniors wield a lot of political and economic power.

Seniors may sign off on the revolution, although many would welcome a lot of change, but we do play our minimal role as citizens, consistently. We vote. We buy things and services. These may be passive, but they add up to a huge influence.

Seniors will never all think the same way on anything, except stiff backs and fading memories. Many of us rank our senior interests well below those of our family, our language and culture, our neighbourhood, national background, religion, various social assistance programs and movements, and so on.

Of course we do.

But there are many things that can make our lives much simpler, and many ways in which we can help others, help ourselves, and also improve the world around us. Stopping smoking and idling are two. Reading the newspaper every day is another.

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Copyright © 2008 Fred Ryan/Log Cabin Chronicles/02.08