@PentashotUK

The reason why I do my restrained, online version of someone completely losing it when I encounter the pensioner / boomer hate which seems increasingly prevalent in the media these days is this: When someone says "pensioner", I don't think of the caricature in the Telegraph of a selfish, greedy 70 year old couple in a leafy Surrey suburb who own two cars, two houses, holiday abroad several times a year, voted Remain for the cheap Polish builders and charming Estonian baristas and who think lockdown was "absolutely wonderful". I think of my two elderly neighbours and their increasing struggles with life in their 80s. Their falls in the garden and on the stairs. The distraction burglary one suffered in which her engagement and wedding rings were stolen. Their struggles to deal with technology as the world turns digital. Their isolation from their families during COVID. Their increasing lack of mobility. Their difficulties dealing with tradespeople to keep their houses maintained. The loss, in their 80s, of their spouses of 50+ years. Their later lives consisting mainly of a seemingly never-ending series of funerals as all of their nearby friends died. I also think of the hours they continued to give as volunteers at the church, the Rotary Club, the Scouts and the British Legion, well into their late 70s. Their love of their children and grandchildren, and of our children. Their determination to "keep calm and carry on". Their determination to keep their homes and gardens and neighbourhood tidy and spotless. They bought their homes when they were built in 1972. They worked hard and paid off their mortgages before they retired. They chose to remain in the family home because of all the friends and family who lived nearby and because, after 50 years, their entire life was connected with their home town. Moving elsewhere to "downsize" was inconceivable in their early days of retirement, and impossible later, as they became more frail. Yes, that home rose in paper "value" enormously in the intervening years, thanks to government policies they never wanted or asked for, but that was of no interest to them. Its value was as a home, a place to feel safe and keep their treasured possessions. Determined to live an independent life, they remained there almost to the very end. Having worked and saved hard, they no doubt had private pensions in addition to the state pension. They were, in income terms, probably comfortably off. But life was not a bed of roses, as it is not for most elderly people. So when I see politicians, and journalists foment hatred of the elderly with their lazy tropes about "greedy, selfish boomers" and "millionaire pensioners", it makes me really angry. Because for me, it's personal. They're talking about real people, like my neighbours. Exemplary, morally upright, selfless, generous, warm-hearted citizens. The people fomenting this pensioner hate don't seem to realise that one day, they too, will be elderly, incontinent, falling in the bathroom, pressing the emergency button on their lanyard, and wondering if anyone will come to their aid. If hatred of the elderly becomes the norm, they may come to regret their foolish, childish, envious, short-sighted words.