'I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!' v2.0

great by FuckingNickName · 2010-07-31 10:57 · Score: 3, Insightful

Now social services in England will have another excuse not to help people who need human attendance. "This equipment works just as well!" No, some GPS/accelerometer/camera/button is no substitute for the supervision, companionship and observational skill of humans.

Re:great by PopeRatzo · 2010-07-31 11:08 · Score: 4, Insightful

Now social services in England will have another excuse not to help people who need human attendance.
The alternative is an archaic system of elder care called "families". I understand it was practiced in some parts of the world back in the 20th century.
Apparently, here in the brave new world of the 21st century, every relative has to work in order to pay off the credit cards and cell phone bill, so there's insufficient personnel to staff these "families".

--
You are welcome on my lawn.
Re:great by FuckingNickName · 2010-07-31 11:19 · Score: 4, Insightful

The alternative is an archaic system of elder care called "families".
Right, where to begin...
(1) Yes, families do have the option to look after older members to a certain degree, and it's sad that parents in some societies are encouraged to separate themselves from their children and vice versa;
(2) But not everyone has children. Recall also that children are a huge unearnt burden to the state, while older people have already paid their national insurance / social security / whatever contributions and are just getting the care they paid for. We are all better off because we do not breed out of concern about our frailties;
(3) There are certain classes of illnesses better tackled by a staff of trained physical and mental health shift workers. For example, someone who is senile but mobile can be a great danger to themselves. They will keep you up all night. When do you propose to sleep?
There are lots of poor alternatives to a good system of social welfare, and assuming that everyone has a loving able family of infinite resources produces one of them.
Re:great by davester666 · 2010-07-31 11:20 · Score: 3, Funny

I for one have NO desire to know what 'movements' my parents have, nor when they may have them, nor which type of movement it is.

--
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Re:great by brasselv · 2010-07-31 11:25 · Score: 2, Informative

luddism anyone?
just because a technology is available, it does not automatically make us more evil.
Along those same lines, you could argue that phone is inherently bad - as it is no substitute for comanionship. (phone is not bad: it is just an additional useful tool, to be used wisely)

--
"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong." (Oscar Wilde)
Re:great by CohibaVancouver · 2010-07-31 11:40 · Score: 4, Insightful

Not sure how old you are, but as your parents age, you may find your parents value their independence and won't necessarily want their children around mollycoddling them. These gadgets, used judiciously, make for the best of both worlds - Your parents can continue to live independently in surroundings in which they're comfortable and to which they've grown accustomed, but they still can summon help if they need it. That doesn't mean you shouldn't come around with their grandkids or show up for Sunday dinner or mow dad's lawn or take mum out for brunch, it just means everyone can continue to have peace of mind.
Re:great by SlideGuitar · 2010-07-31 11:48 · Score: 3, Insightful

>(1) Yes, families do have the option to look after older members to a certain degree, and it's sad that parents in some societies are encouraged to separate themselves from their children and vice versa;
(2) But not everyone has children. Recall also that children are a huge unearnt burden to the state, while older people have already paid their national insurance / social security / whatever contributions and are just getting the care they paid for. We are all better off because we do not breed out of concern about our frailties; >

My preteen children year old are on firm warning... they can move out of state, but we parents are coming after them and moving into their attics/basements/spare rooms. There is no escape. And we live what we talk, taking care of our mother/mother-in-law next door.
Are we better off if people do not breed for the purposes of old age insurance? I doubt it. We are better off if people do not breed excessively out of fear that disease will utterly deprive them of offspring for old age, but it is probably more sustainable to "entrain" children in the care of parents out of a sense of duty, than it is to free them to maximize their income and then tax that income to pay "someone else" to provide elder care.
We might ask "would it not be more efficient for a lawyer or engineer to earn $200 K and pay someone else $50 K to watch an elder?" but that is probably a rare case. The cost of quality care is the cost of middle class income anyway, roughly, so why should this family service be exogenized into the market as opposed to remaining endogenous to the family?
Well there is ONE very good reason and that is that women are the vastly predominant providers of elder care services. Marketizing those services enables women to have public careers as opposed to be locked into the family care giver role... mother to children, nurse to elders... for their entire life. Families are only "free" if you ignore the lost opportunities they tend to cause for women.
Re:great by rbphilip · 2010-07-31 13:05 · Score: 4, Insightful

I don't have children, step-children or any other variation on extended family, so I'm on my own. Technology that allows me to continue to live on my own when/if I become frail would be welcome. I hope, if I become senile, that it happens gradually and/or with lucid phases so I can remove myself from the population and avoid becoming a vegetable.
Re:great by westlake · 2010-07-31 13:26 · Score: 2, Informative

The alternative is an archaic system of elder care called "families". I understand it was practiced in some parts of the world back in the 20th century.
Families were often much larger.
Three kids. Six kids.
Families were often much less mobile.
Five generations of our own family still live within the same township.
Jobs for women outside the household were still scarce.
Before World War Two it wasn't at all unusual for a middle class family of relatively modest income to employ full or part time help.
The alternatives to home care were few and often quite bleak.
Even today, there are only two nursing homes locally that I would willingly place anyone.
Re:great by h4rr4r · 2010-07-31 13:39 · Score: 4, Informative

You might also remember most were not middle class, most were poor. Those poor folks that made all this possible often had horrible lives, the middle class therefore had it's luxury on the backs of these other people.
Re:great by PopeRatzo · 2010-07-31 14:59 · Score: 2, Insightful

Families were often much larger.
Three kids. Six kids.
I come from three generations of two-kid families. Everyone has lived to at least 68 and most over 75. I was the first to go to college. None has gone to "retirement homes". It's to a large part a matter of choice and priority, and to a large part thanks to labor unions, which brought such social advances as health insurance and pensions, which unfortunately have been under constant attack from the ownership class here in the US.

Jobs for women outside the household were still scarce.
Jobs for women outside the home, except during the periods of some glorious war or other, were not as necessary to raise a family.

The alternatives to home care were few and often quite bleak.
They are still quite bleak compared to families. Even the nicest of them.

--
You are welcome on my lawn.
Re:great by PopeRatzo · 2010-07-31 15:01 · Score: 2, Interesting

You might also remember most were not middle class, most were poor.

Sorry, I was referring to the US, not the UK.
We used to have a very large middle class here in the US, thanks to labor unions. It's not so much any more since Reagan, and the ruling corporations realized they couldn't have a middle class with choices if they were going to maximize quarterly profits.

--
You are welcome on my lawn.
Re:great by couchslug · 2010-07-31 15:55 · Score: 3, Interesting

"The alternative is an archaic system of elder care called "families". I understand it was practiced in some parts of the world back in the 20th century"
Elder care is utterly consuming and exhausting. Been there, done that. It is not a one person job, but monitoring tech can help monitor other caregivers (I used cams for this) as well as the oldster in question. The extreme demands of elder care can exhaust even fit, dedicated, informed, and intelligent caregiving relatives.
Modern medical technology ensures years of madness, incontinence, and incontinent madness await most of us. We WILL be a burden on all who care for us (even love doesn't make it not a burden), and should know that long before we turn to shit. There is no heroism in merely living as long as possible, just giving in to fear. Hunter Thompson and Ernest Hemingway were wise to check out before what made them men was taken from them.
Warren Zevon chose differently, and left us this to think about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV6E0KYiMmM

--
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Re:great by Velex · 2010-07-31 16:15 · Score: 2, Insightful

My preteen children year old are on firm warning... they can move out of state, but we parents are coming after them and moving into their attics/basements/spare rooms. There is no escape.
If my parents did that, I'd call the cops on them for trespassing just like they did for me. I had to resign a good internship because I wasn't certain where I was living for a few days.
In hindsight, sure, I was stupid to trust them without a written lease. I should have ditched them when I was 16 instead of waiting for them to upset my life with a 0-day move-out notice.

--
Join the Slashcott! Stay away entirely Feb 10 thru Feb 17! Close all tabs to prevent autorefresh!
Re:great by westlake · 2010-07-31 16:55 · Score: 2, Informative

Before WW-II was the Great Depression. Unemployment was over 50%. I doubt that many had hired help during that time.
Unemployment was high - but at its peak, more like 20% than 50%. Great Depression in the United States Race and sex could up those numbers dramatically, of course.
Not everyone goes bust in hard times - not everyone prospers in boom times.
If you had a middle class income in the Depression, domestic help was easy to find and cheap.
Re:great by phantomlord · 2010-07-31 18:21 · Score: 2, Interesting

I'd love to take care of my mom all day, but if I did, I'd have to move into her tiny house (because I'd lose my house, which she can't get around in because of all the stairs), and YOU'D be paying for me to eat and go to the doctor, because I would have no income. Now, if we had universal healthcare, reasonably priced education (I'll probably be paying for college forever), and any ability to recover after losing jobs and our credit ratings getting screwed (which, ironically, hurts when looking for a good job, which would allow us to fix things), then our families might have the ability to care for our elderly again.
I DO take care of a disabled parent and have for 12 years, almost entirely by myself. I've been in the position of being unemployed for the last 4 years - you think it's hard getting a job right now, try getting a job that allows you to take a physically disabled parent to work with you since working is pointless unless you can make more, after taxes, than it costs to send the parent to adult daycare ($60+ per day (meaning you need to make at least $90, or about $12/hr just to break even or $20/hr to earn minimum wage after expenses)) or a home health aide ($24/hr through the agency that came for my dad when he first came home, which is even more expensive than the daycare option). I live with him in the same house I grew up in - his bedroom and the bathroom are on the first floor. We get by on his modest retirement income of about $25k per year, and yeah, that included paying a mortgage for 11 of the last 12 years (we paid off the house last year). His medical bills have become rather substantial since he's developed diabetes and various other complications after his brain aneurysm/stroke that rendered him immobile on his left side, and thus, largely non-ambulatory... but we get by.

As for me, I dropped my private health insurance 5 years ago. After 6 years, my premiums had gone from $200/month to nearly $500/month, largely because of new mandates required by the state insurance board. The likelihood of me needing expensive care at the age of 28 is pretty slim, not worth $6000 annually to me (and that wasn't the cadillac plan, I had high co-pays and whatnot). I'd love to buy catastrophic coverage, but my state won't let me and the federal government won't let me buy across state lines. Over the past 5 years, I've saved somewhere between $35-40k on premiums while my medical expenses amounted to $115, $515 or so if you want to include my glasses and contacts. I qualify for most of the welfare slate, including medical, but I refuse to take it because I believe that, on principle, it is theft for me to do so. I put up with some minor issues like tendonitis in my elbow and bone spurs in my feet, choosing to treat myself rather than go for surgery since it isn't necessary at this point (and I will pay for it when it is) and, in the case of my heels, because I can't be off my feet for weeks to heal post-surgery.

Most of his family shares the modern day American value of "me, me, me" and they do nothing to help. The vast majority of his family doesn't even call to check to see how he's doing. Why should they put themselves out in any manner to help a family member? While pretty shitty of them, it isn't their responsibility to care for him. Likewise, it is even less the responsibility of you or some other slashdotter, since you aren't even related to him. The government sees absolutely no value in him - he'll be a net loss for the rest of his life, thus, if they were in control, they have every reason to let him die early to save money. That goes likewise for the insurance companies if he wasn't on Medicare (hey, unlike me, he paid a lifetime of premiums). His family may like the idea of the someone taking care of him, so they don't have to feel guilty for not doing it, but that doesn't make government the moral choice. Too many people say "hey, I paid my taxes, so why should I have to give to charity on top of that?," which is the danger of government "promi

--
Don't leave your mind so open that your brain falls out. Don't close it so much that you cut off the blood.
Re:great by Gordonjcp · 2010-07-31 19:12 · Score: 2, Interesting

I liked the idea that the operators of a nursing home in Germany had, where they put a fake bus stop at the end of the road. They looked after a lot of Alzheimer's patients, who would wander off and try to make their way home. Of course, they'd get as far as the bus stop, and wait for a bus - so if you noticed someone was missing you knew the first place to look.
It's a bigger problem than people realise. I used to work near a nursing home, where one of my minion's grandmother stayed. About once a week she'd wander off and walk the six or seven miles back to her old house, assuming that minion or I didn't notice and set off in the car to retrieve her. The nursing home never learned from the experience.
Re:great by DaveGod · 2010-08-01 00:47 · Score: 2, Informative

The alternative is an archaic system of elder care called "families". I understand it was practiced in some parts of the world back in the 20th century.
US Life Expectancy [PDF]:
Born 1900: 49
Born 2000: 77
Immediately from this we can see the task of looking after an old person is not the same. Very, very unfortunately, this is not even close to being the problem.
Compounding the life expectancy is the birth rates over the period. For example, in Britain already the number of pensioners exceed the number of children. By 2060 there will be 2 adults of working age for every 1 pensioner. Adults of working age of course includes 16+ year olds, university students and so on, and people in the vital early years of building careers.
The demographics are frightening. Yet it doesn't end there. There's a massive pensions crisis looming, people are buying homes later and are more debt-ridden - few people have any real capital anymore.
The demographic time bomb has been well understood, almost from the moment it began ticking. It very likely will have far more severe consequences (at least here in the West) than The Environment, but it's just being swept under the carpet. Let's be clear, the need for pensioners to remain autonomous and allow families to remain working is utterly critical.

GeriatricVille by shaunbr · 2010-07-31 10:58 · Score: 2, Funny

Great, I can just see the Facebook updates now:

"My grandma just had a heart attack and fell in the bathroom in GeriatricVille. Can you help me out?"

Re:GeriatricVille by nacturation · 2010-07-31 11:18 · Score: 4, Funny

Actually I think PharmVille would be more appropriate to ensure they're taking their meds.

--
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.

Global Parent System. by Anonymous Coward · 2010-07-31 11:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

Well as someone taking care of an Alzheimer parent I can see how all this will be beneficial. Being a caregiver is hard and we need all the help we can muster.

In the movies... by Anne_Nonymous · 2010-07-31 11:03 · Score: 3, Funny

A octogenarian 007 would probably deal with this by attaching the device to a friendly dog, and going about his geriatric super-spy business.

Bathroom Activity Monitoring Based on Sound by Nick+Fel · 2010-07-31 11:09 · Score: 3, Insightful

Along these lines, I found a great research paper abandoned at the printer a few weeks back: http://www.yaroslavvb.com/papers/chen-bathroom.pdf

This is a bug, not a feature by turing_m · 2010-07-31 11:37 · Score: 4, Interesting

If I had alzheimers to the point where I was wandering off into the woods somewhere, unable to get home, I don't think I'd like to be "rescued" with a GPS device. My own grandfather (alzheimers) tried to commit suicide at least once by sitting in his car in his garage with the engine turned on. He was found and "rescued". He lived to a somewhat older age, with all the dignity of a crazy old man, not knowing who most of his relatives were, shitting his pants, etc. I hope my relatives don't keep me around against my will as a still technically living reminder of the person I once was.

As the usual proportion of baby boomers start to become demented, I hope we will see some more realism about what dementia is. There will be a lot of demented people and the associated problems will become commonly experienced. Car accidents for one. It's not going to be pretty.

--
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.

Re:This is a bug, not a feature by couchslug · 2010-07-31 16:07 · Score: 3, Interesting

"It is arrogant and irresponsible to project your own motives and emotions into the mind of someone with a senile dementia."
Senile dementia is so mentally destructive that interfering with an apparent suicide attempt is extremely cruel. I watched both my parents eventually succumb, and if I'd walked in on either doing "suicide by car" I'd have walked out and shut the door. THAT would have been kindness.
May everyone who wants to prolong the life of the demented, become demented themselves. It takes a while, so you can know the bitter frustration of losing your faculties bit by bit by bit...

--
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."

Coming soon to a job or government near you! by DNS-and-BIND · 2010-07-31 11:39 · Score: 2, Interesting

The first three groups of people in any society who always give up their rights before anyone else:

Children and the elderly, because they cannot speak for themselves;
Prisoners, because they have forfeited their rights by harming the rest of us; and
Military, because they voluntarily relinquish their rights in order to serve the rest of us.

You're kidding yourself if you think wearing one of these won't be mandatory to qualify for a life insurance policy in 10 years. Without life insurance, you can't get a job, without a job, you can't get a citizen number, without a citizen number, you can't buy food from state-owned stores (because food distribution is too important to be left in the hands of crazed free market advocates). Fill in the blanks with snippets from the dystopian sci-fi writer of your choice.

--
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!

Re:Coming soon to a job or government near you! by Jedi+Alec · 2010-07-31 12:14 · Score: 4, Interesting

Let me take a wild guess, you're sufficiently afraid of the medical establishment to have avoided contact with them for an extended amount of time?
Because that is one serious case of paranoia you got going on there...

--

People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.

Helicopter children by basketcase · 2010-07-31 11:44 · Score: 3, Funny

So, some day the children of helicopter parents will get their revenge.
Assuming some of them at some point learn how to live.

Gee what happened to grandma living with her kids? by stevegee58 · 2010-07-31 11:48 · Score: 2, Insightful

What a lonely thing it's become to grow old in our society.

Yes, but is mom going to be ok with it? by NotSoHeavyD3 · 2010-07-31 11:51 · Score: 3, Insightful

I had an instance of this when I was taking care of mom in her last few months. (With ALS for what it's worth) I basically got a baby monitor and was going to set it up in her room so I could hear if she needed my help. Lets just say she wasn't particularly happy with the idea that I was using a product for infants to help her. (Especially because it was for infants. She really didn't like it because of that fact.) I did manage to find an easier to use walkie talkie with a simple button that you could push to ring me. She was ok with that. (I'm thinking she'd be pissed if I had a device that could keep complete track of her) Just saying, the psychology of it needs to be considered.

--
Did you know 80 to 90% of the moderators on slashdot wouldn't recognize a troll even if one dragged them under a bridge.

Re:Yes, but is mom going to be ok with it? by Penguinshit · 2010-07-31 12:38 · Score: 3, Interesting

I have ALS and requested the baby monitor system. I also use various IM clients on my optical tracking computer system to communicate with friends and family. The IM has saved my life more than once when the in-home monitor failed for whatever reason. I am on a ventilator so communication failures can turn lethal quickly.

--
I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...

The old days weren't that good by mangu · 2010-07-31 11:53 · Score: 3, Insightful

In the 20th century, which you remember so fondly, it was a woman's job to be a mother and housewife. It was she who stayed at home taking care of children and elders, while dad went to work.

Also, the gap between rich and poor was so wide that middle-class families earned enough to hire helpers from the lower classes. There was the cook, the housemaid(s), the gardener, to help take care of house and family.

Re:The old days weren't that good by PopeRatzo · 2010-08-01 13:06 · Score: 2, Interesting

In the 20th century, which you remember so fondly, it was a woman's job to be a mother and housewife.

Not always. My mom worked in a munitions plant during WWII and after the war had a career working full-time. But since I lived in an extended family, and my grandparents lived in the same big house (actually a 2-flat in Chicago) there was no need for day care. So "elder care" and "child care" are both taken care of just by having a family that stuck together.
Not far from the house I live in now, there's a condo building that's full of singles. Who's going to take care of these people when they get old, when their tattoos are faded and saggy and when their hipster goatees are gray and there's no more money for cosmetic surgery?
I wouldn't trade my experience growing up in a loving, extended family for anything. And it was made possible by labor unions, which the "family values" crowd seems to hate.

--
You are welcome on my lawn.

Re:More likely v2.0 by BiggerIsBetter · 2010-07-31 12:14 · Score: 2, Insightful

In case you don't know, there are people who have to work for a living and can't stay home all day taking care of their parents.

Also, in case you don't know, there are people who have to work for a living and can't stay home all day taking care of their children.

It's all about priorities. Not judging, just saying.

--
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.

Micro Jet Pack by Simonetta · 2010-07-31 12:24 · Score: 2, Funny

Hey all you jet pack affectionados!

How about making a micro miniature jet pack about the size of 20 oz beer can! Grandma can wear it on her shoulders. When she falls down, she just reaches over, pops the mini jet pack off her shoulder strap, point it at the ground, press the button, and hold on tight!

WHooosh! Upsee daisy again! No calls, no worries, no lying on the floor for days in your own mess. Just a convenient reload after each fall.

So how about it, guys? Let's do something for grand-ma! And maybe she'll let you sample some of her medicinal marijuana. Sure leaves all that trash dorm weed in the dirt!

High cost $8,000 install , $75 /M by Joe+The+Dragon · 2010-07-31 13:47 · Score: 3, Interesting

High cost $8,000 install , $75 /M.

Re:Lick my nuts by Nikker · 2010-07-31 14:26 · Score: 2, Funny

You just caught your kids on one of those websites didn't you?

--
A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.

The creeping horror by deadhammer · 2010-07-31 15:25 · Score: 4, Funny

"Okay, so grandma's in the bedroom, but why is her breathing and heart rate up so much? Her body temperature's too high, it's almost like there's a second reading there... And why's the accelerometer going off rhythmically once or twice a secoOHGOD!!!!!"

--
I'll be honest, we're throwing science against the wall to see what sticks. -Cave Johnson

Also as lifespans increase by Sycraft-fu · 2010-07-31 15:29 · Score: 2, Insightful

This becomes more of a problem. If you are 60 years old, with some health problems of your own and still working for a few more years, do you really have time to look after your 85-90 year old parents? You can't very well be all day care, you still have to work, and you have commitments to your own health as well outside of that. Also the conditions of extremely advanced age can be much, much worse than younger, requiring nearly continuous attention of some kind.

The people who look back to the "family did everything" days forget that lifespans were much shorter. Generally you died of something else before your age got the better of you. So your family wasn't saddled with care for all that long. You health might deteriorate and necessitate care for awhile, but it wasn't the situation like you sometimes see now where someone lives for 5-10 years nearly completely unable to care for themselves.

There's also the simple issue of those that don't have kids. If we want population growth to stabilize you've got two choices:

1) Rigidly enforce a two child per family model, require everyone to have no more or less children.

2) Accept that some people will choose to have no children, just as some will choose to have many.

What does the 80 year old person, who's done their work and paid in their money but has no kids, do?

I'll just warn you by Sycraft-fu · 2010-07-31 15:36 · Score: 2, Interesting

You'd better be nice to your kids, and foster a good relationship. You might think such a thing in mandatory on their part but let me assure you it is not. When they turn 18 (and at any time after) they can sever any and all ties with you. You have no legal claim to force them to care for you. If they want to leave you to fend for yourself, they can.

I warn this, because I've known more than a couple students that have come through (I work at a university) who's parents seem to assume they should have to pay their own way, take care of themselves, etc, etc, yet still think the kid owes them. The attitude of such students is often as not "Fuck you." They don't have a particularly good relationship with their parents and being told to go out on their own makes it less so. Heck one of my coworkers (who is 40) says 3000 miles is about the right distance to be away from his parents.

So just something to consider. If you want your kids to be your caregivers, help them out, treat them well, make sure you give them whatever you can. That doesn't guarantee they'll help you, but it gives you a lot better chance. Either way though, I'd save some money and have a backup plan. Their option to tell you to get bent always exists.

Not everyone is practical by Sycraft-fu · 2010-07-31 15:58 · Score: 2, Insightful

People get things stuck in their heads like "I won't use a baby monitor because I'm not a baby," and won't budge on it, regardless of practical considerations. Goes double for people who's minds are going anyhow. It is a continual problem with regards to getting people to take medication for mental conditions. Their logic goes along the lines of "Only sick people take medicine, I don't want to be sick so I won't take any medicine." Then they slip back in to whatever their particular form of crazy is, of course.

Many people just lack the ability to be practical about some things. This gets even more problematic when it comes to things that deal with a loss of independence. That is something that many elderly people fear above all else. They do not want to feel like they are no longer independent. Doesn't matter how true it is, doesn't matter how manifestly clear it is, humans are great at denying things.

So I'm glad you are a practical person, who can and will use whatever technology you can get to make your life better, and to keep yourself safe. Unfortunately, not everyone is the same way.

Mrs Fletcher? by Macka · 2010-07-31 18:56 · Score: 2, Funny

Wasn't the original old lady called Mrs Fletcher?

I remember a system crash/panic message from back in the days of Ultrix (an early version of Unix from Digital Equipment Co. that ran on MIPS). It read: "Mrs Fletcher has fallen down again and can't get up". Some engineer's idea of a joke. DEC were forced to change it though as affected customers were not amused.

Re:Also a big difference by Sycraft-fu · 2010-07-31 23:18 · Score: 2, Insightful

Oh shut up. Seriously, I get real tired of people who have a loved one with problems and thus get touchy about every damn thing relating to that. Get a thicker skin, or stop reading message boards.

My point was not to throw the elderly out and let them die. My point was simply that care for them can be extremely difficult and stressful for many reasons. One of the reasons is that there's nothing to look forward to in terms of it getting better. That adds to stress.

As for my heirs, there will not be any. I am not going to have children. We have plenty of people as it is.

Slashdot Mirror

'I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!' v2.0

43 of 155 comments (clear)