Class: Eng101
Student: YoonJung Kim
Professor: Teddy Chocos
Being old is nothing to start new things, just physical change
According to the development of society, the population of old people is increasing, such as
people could live longer than before thanks to the development of medicine. Even though people
can live longer than before, many people consider that being old is similar to be lethargic person
because they consider that the old are waiting their death and society makes him/her retire from
their works and treat them as burden. However, people have to acknowledge that being old is just
physical factor and is not obstacle to challenge to new things. The old can do everything like the
young, such as climbing or travelling because their mind is not getting old like physical factor,
and the old don’t want to wait their death.
Katherine Barrett who wrote ‘Old Before Her Time’ dealt with the story of a woman ‘Patty
Moore’ who experienced the life of the old by disguising herself as eighty-five-year-old woman.
During her experience, she met a man who has open mind and wanted to challenge to new
things. According to Moore, “Life does go on… as long as you’re flexible and open to change.
He was real old-fashioned gentleman, yet not afraid to show his feelings-as so many men my age
are”(106). During meeting with him, she felt that he wants to challenge to new things, such as
meeting with new person or experiencing new adventure. Even though he is getting old, he
wanted to challenge to new things because he knows that life is still moving and it is wasting
time to wait death.
According to article ‘The Graying Of America’, the old start to enjoy their lives and challenge to
new things. It states, “Seniors themselves have brought about this image change. Older
Americans played an important part in the “fitness craze” of the 1970s and 1980s. Some, like 74year-old James Jay, run marathons. Others are more daring: Hulda Crooks climbed more than 90
mountains after she reached the age of 65. Many more continue to work part-time or do
volunteer work after their retirement”(35). Many old people start to challenge about new things
because they wanted to enjoy their lives regardless of their ages. Their physical factor might be
hard to challenge to new things, but their minds are same as young people who want to challenge
or adventure. Like these, being old is nothing to the old who want to challenge or experience
new things because there is no late age to do new things, and they don’t want to just wait their
death.
People have to realize that being old is physical factor, and it doesn’t matter to start or challenge
to new things because the old can challenge to new things or experience to new works, and they
don’t want to be treated as burden or the person who waits his/her death. If society and other
people consider that being old is nothing, the old can start to live new life easier than before
because society makes people retire when they are old. However, if society doesn’t treat them as
society’s burden, they could keep works in their fields or challenge to new works. For the old
who is still increased, society and people have to think that getting old is nothing to challenge or
experience new things and being old is just physical change.