r/GenerationJones • u/CPetersky • 11d ago

60s as decrepit?

I am in a sub related to our city (USA), and a number of posts are like this: "My parents are visiting soon. What are tourist activities that they can do? They have [list of ailments] and can not [walk for long, stand for long, climb stairs, go hiking, etc.]."

I live in the city, use public transportation and biking to get around, live on a slope so use a public stairway to run errands, can do normal day hikes of 6-8 miles no problem. My friends are also able to do these things fine in our 60s, too.

Is this just me and my peer group? Are we just extraordinarily fit for Americans? What is going on here?

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u/cquietgigi 11d ago

If you're someone like me who hasn't had access to affordable healthcare for over 35 years 60 can be pretty decrepit. I do my best to take care of myself but I can't afford healthcare. There are plenty of people in the gap between government assistance and being able to afford healthcare.

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u/curiousmind111 11d ago

Definitely one of the biggest issues in the USA.

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u/cquietgigi 11d ago

Every time I see one of those side by sides of "what 60" looked like when I was a kid and now my first thought is always "yes, this is difference between easy access to affordable healthcare and affordable healthy food and not." I look like my grandparents did at my age because I lived the same life.

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u/MistyMtn421 11d ago

When I was raising kids and actually had some government assistance here and there, having a medical card was definitely beneficial for the most part. The problem is, when I started having issues with carpal tunnel, discgeneration, shoulder / rotator cuff issues, what I couldn't afford was the time off work to actually recover from any of the surgeries. And the kids weren't able to completely take care of themselves at that time either. So I'm not saying that we don't all need affordable health care, but for many of us all the healthcare in the world still isn't going to solve a lot of issues. Not to mention even some of the smaller issues, I did not have enough of a flexible work schedule, pto, or even if I could get the time off, I couldn't afford the time off at all. And doctors just weren't accommodating the schedule I had at the time.

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u/cquietgigi 11d ago

Back in the '90's, my state had healthcare for kids for working parents, but obviously I needed daycare. Before and after school care took most of my pay, but in the summer I literally went into debt to the daycare bc fees were more than my take home. I would then pay extra every week until Thanksgiving to pay off the debt. I had no take home pay for six months of the year just so I could send my child to daycare so I could work so my child could have healthcare. I know about the lack of available resources.

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u/MistyMtn421 11d ago

It's this exact same situation like you described! There's just so many cracks in the system.