At the office, there are two older women, they are something else to behold. They spend the work day discussing god and laxatives.
The other topic is ‘why can’t I lose weight’? It probably has something to do with the small amount of vegetables and the rolls with 3 pats of butter on it.
One woman actually said she gave her 16 year old son a bible for his birthday and he wasn’t too pleased.
The rest of the time it is which brand of Metamucal is better and how much fiber they have eaten.
Is this an isolated case, or are most older women so doggone invested in their intestinal tracts?
I too, have noticed that older people seem to be almost obsessed by their bodily functions and doctor’s visits. The bad bit it that they want to share all of this info with you. I was once in a restaurant where an older woman was showing the waiter her hammertoe. She talked about it loud and proud. I was kinda grossed out.
I’m rapidly approaching that age and I sincerely hope that I don’t wind up with such things as the main topic of conversation. I have an elderly aunt who insists on buying my brother’s little girl old style dresses seemingly designed for funerals or strict churches. So, I had to step in and persuade her to let me pick out her gift clothing to give to the kid. (I select bright clothing and things that I see the other kids wearing in her school.)
For Easter, her other set of grandparents bought her books instead of an Easter Basket. (That went over real big.) So, for her birthday, which was shortly after Easter, I bought her this BIG pump water gun. That went over real big!
Far too many elderly people, who start seeing the doctor more and more as they start having minor problems, get concerned with discussing ‘old’ things and kind of fall into a rut. I hope to be able to hang around younger people instead of getting stuck with a pile of old farts. Young thoughts and attitudes keep one young even as the body ages. It even helps slow down the aging process.
One thing some of my older relatives did was talk about their upcoming death. They did it with such relish. Creepy. It was I’ll be buried by the apple tree, or some such.
If I EVER get like that, someone put the gun to my head and shoot me. Pull the trigger and put me out of my misery.
Now that prunes are renamed “dried plums”, the laxitive question should be quickly resolved.
I have a few aches and pains I always bring up. I don’t know why, and it does make me show my age, but it’s no worse than other topics you don’t care about. People are always talking to me about jazz or football like I’m supposed to care. I always answer them with stories of my hearing loss or trick knee. Serves them right.
Here in the South the old people mix physical ailments with the weather:
“My goiter is itching, it’s gonna rain”
“I passed a kidney stone, snow is coming”
“It’s getting colder, I can feel it in my arthritis”
For my 16th Birthday, my “ancient” parents got me The Bible, and I think it is one of the most heartfelt gifts parents can give to their children. People get old and they stop caring about what is cool, and more about what they are concerned over.
As a female, I can’t stand the way women (and even girls) obsess about makeup, clothes, and men. It’s so stupid! While these women are worried about whether their eye shadow matches their underwear, they are completely ignoring life itself! That’s why there are so few women who are engineers–most women spend so much time picking out makeup and clothes and going to the beauty salon and the tanning bed that they don’t have time enough to even pick up a book! It’s really disgusting to me.
I don’t think this is a problem just with older people or women. I think many people are too narrow to discuss anything outside their sphere of interest (or, rather, to discuss anything that is not of interest to them). This includes teenagers, young adults, new parents, old parents, sports nuts, PETA wackos, Fundies, and neurosurgeons. No group is immune. It’s just human nature to talk about what interests you, and what interests most people is themselves.
It just so happens that these two women share ailments; therefore, they share interests. But if you listen to their conversation, they almost never ask “how does that laxative work for you?” They probably always tell how it works for them.
Reminds me of a woman who had a falling out with a cousin of hers. Seems the cousin only wanted to brag about her grandchildren (but of course, that line of conversation didn’t allow the other woman to brag about her grandchildren).
It’s not a phenomenon unique to the elderly. Listen to your own friends some time. Gad, they’re boring!
Yes, some of us who are actually women do realize the content of what we’re discussing, “Lindsay”.
Strangest thing, men AND women seem to have digestive tracts. True, actual women limit most of their discussions about hormonal impact on various bodily functions to those of their own gender. But then again, men seem most comfortable talking about prostates, etc. among themselves.
I just can’t fathom how it works out that way. Must be a deeply paranoid conspiracy; people of similar concerns talking among those who understand best.
Gee, “Lindsay”, why exactly do you have a problem with conversations you eavesdrop upon? Seems to me more reasonable that if it’s something personal or offensive to your fine sensiblities, then maybe you’re intruding on a conversation without invitation, hmmm?
Men talk about guy stuff; women talk about chick stuff. Life is really complicated that way, isn’t it?
If you overhear a conversation not intended for you, fake manners and ignore it!
But of course manners, decency and common courtesy are such distant concepts for you.
Lindsay said:
“If I EVER get like that, someone put the gun to my head and shoot me. Pull the trigger and put me out of my misery.”
Do we really have to WAIT until then??? Can we please just put a gun to your head right now?? PLEASE!!! I have a really big one. It is loaded with hollow points. Hollow like your head. Dont misunderstand me though. I will not shoot you to put YOU out of your misery, I will be doing it to end OUR misery.
:::Cleaning gun and waiting for lindsay to talk about her indigestion:::
“O-o-o-o-o-o-o-omigod. Like, these old farts just totally annoy me. Like, this one time there was, like, this old bitch at the mall who just, like, kept insisting that she was being, y’know, overcharged or whatever, and I’m all going, look, just show them the plastic and get out!”
Well, I am the only woman in the department I work in, and 2 of the men are 50 something. They manage to spend 2 hours a day discussing either a) prune juice or b) viagra.
As a 20 something year old woman… do I REALLY need this information? And I try very hard to NOT hear.
As a female, I dislike when the women around me seem completely incapable of discussing things that require more than a neuron or two to fire. (Note: I’ve had my share of fluffy conversations. I just object to hearing nothing BUT fluff; thankfully, I don’t come across that too often.)
But the suggestion that women don’t become engineers, or scientists of any stripe, because they are too busy discussing their make-up and wardrobe is remarkably naive for someone in the field, even if they are still a student. Please wake up and realize that many women, at some point in their scientific careers, face tremendous resistance because SOCIETY says that such pursuits are supposed to be masculine, not feminine, and if you pursue that course you’re a freak somehow. I won’t even go into all the other reasons why women tend not to stay in these careers even after they’ve finished their education, most of which have to do with societal-related pressures…
So yeah, while some women might enjoy keeping conversation at a perpetually light level, remember that our society encourages it, and the problem starts long before the adult stage of one’s life.
Lindsey, if you think old people are dull and boring, just wait until you become pregnant. You are not allowed to whine, bitch or moan about your pregnancy unless you are prepared to listen to the other women ( all non-pregnant) piss and moan about how their pregnancies were the worst on record.
Labor stories are even worse.I won’t even scare you with the “My child is a genius…” stuff. ( My son *is * a genius, why just the other day he tried to shove a matchbox car up the dogs butt. Call Harvard and put him on the waiting list!)
However, as trite as the conversation are, it is * shared information *and eventually, one small glimmer of information about ABC could help you down the road.
I cannot tell you how many times my brain has filed away what I considered useless information. It’s like I’m listening to a conversation that goes like this,
“Blah blah blah blah blah, [clarity]then instead of putting junior in another Time Out, I put his toy in time out instead.[/clarity] blah blah blah…” I’ve used all of it, and it’s not all child related stuff. Really. I tell dog stories too. )
As a facsinating example: While struggling to stay alert during a one upswomanship pregnancy/birth/labor horror story competition, one woman said that if you ever had hemerroids(sp?), to never sit on the little U shaped pillows to ease the pain and discomfort. Use a regular pillow BECAUSE the U shaped pillow slows the blood flow to where you need it the most to help the healing. In the spirit of Straight Dope, I asked her what was her source, she looked at me and said she was a nurse and worked in a hemerroid clinic for ten years.
So, there you have it.
I would also like to take this opportunity to say that I’ve never had hemerroids.
)