Are You Old? Infirm? Then Kindly Disappear
From: New York Times - 12/14/2017
By: Frank Bruni

Nancy Root remembers when she vanished.

Not the exact date, but the occasion: She went shopping for a mattress. This
was a few years ago. Because the mall was so big and her legs were so weak,
she used a wheelchair, which was new to her, and had a friend push her.

Their wait for service was unusually long, and later, as she used the
wheelchair more and more, she understood why. In the chair she became
invisible. In the chair she turned radioactive. People looked over her,
around her, through her. They withdrew. It was the craziest thing. She had
the same keen mind, the same quick wit. But most new acquaintances didn't
notice, because most no longer bothered to.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/opinion/sunday/are-you-old-infirm-then-kindly-disappear.html

Links:
How many people use assistive devices?
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/rehabtech/conditioninfo/Pages/people.aspx

Aging in the United States Fact Sheet
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Media-Guides/2016/aging-unitedstates-fact-sheet.aspx

Submitted by Dick Toepfer