Cuba - No Country for the Elderly

Cuba: No Country for the Elderly
April 17, 2014
Warhol P

HAVANA TIMES — Some days ago, I was thinking about the inevitable
passage of time and, after a very simple calculation, concluded I would
turn 50 in 10 years. In 20, if I haven't died of a heart attack (the
main cause of death among men in Cuba), I will have turned 60 and
become, as they say, a senior citizen.

By chance, I ran into my friend and colleague Veronica Vega at a stop of
the P11 bus, bound for the neighborhood of Alamar. The trip is tedious
and unpleasant, and there's nothing better than having someone to
converse with on the way over.

We talked about the rise in the price of powdered milk, the positive and
negative aspects of the Cuban film Conducta ("Conduct"), about Internet
and our limited connection, which hasn't improved with the installation
of Venezuela's fiber-optic cable, and, finally, got to the issue of the
elderly. Veronica mentioned something I'd never noticed (which is
understandable, as I am still a young man).

She pointed out to me that crossing an avenue was something nearly
impossible for an old person, as the streetlights go green for only 15
seconds and thoroughfares are usually very wide (to the point that even
young people have to walk briskly across). "No one thinks about the
elderly here," she said. Thinking about what she said, I realized it's true.

It dawned on me that an elderly person would be unable to stand in line
at Havana's Coppelia ice-cream parlor for long, or go out to buy
potatoes, because the long lines of people and squabbles that take place
at the market would be too much for them.

To get any kind of medication, an old person who has no one to look
after them must go to a doctor's office to get a prescription and arm
themselves with plenty of patience, as one must wait a long time to get
seen by the physician.

Many a time, I've seen an elderly man or woman be left behind at a bus
stop because they were unable to get on the bus. Everyone knows about
Cuba's transportation situation. One has to be on guard all the time and
be aggressive to board a bus, and this is impossible for many old people
– we must recall that many have physical issues, rely on walking sticks
to get around and, to make matters more complicated, can't see very well.

We live in a time in which it's every man for himself and, by the looks
of it the elderly don't have many things going for them right now.

I read somewhere that Cuba is a country of elderly and that it is
governed by old men (the latter, of course, do enjoy a good quality of
life).

The population is gradually aging: couples don't want to have more than
one child, because of the economic problems we all know (housing,
nutrition, a long list of problems with no solution in sight yet).

It remains to be seen whether, 20 years from now, things will look any
brighter for the young and my generation – and for me, who, in a
not-so-distant future, will be an old geezer.

Source: Cuba: No Country for the Elderly - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=103063