Posted by servScene on June 29, 2009
While we’re all familiar with the concept of “ageism” – discrimination against older people — in the work place, there are actually some companies that deliberately choose to hire older employees.
An example is Wal-Mart, the well-known discount supercenter. Wal-Mart likes to hire retired people to be “greeters,” the people who stand in the doorways and hand out coupons or baskets.
I think part of the reason they hire older people is because they’ve realized this demographic represents major savings for their company. They don’t have to pay them as much, for one thing, and they can usually keep them at part-time hours — since they are retired and probably pulling a pension from another job. But most importantly, they don’t have to worry about making them full-time and paying them benefits, because they are already covered under Medicare.
I wonder if companies like this that hire older people ever offer supplemental health insurance to their employees. Surely it wouldn’t cost as much as the usual group plans, and might be a good way to attract older employees. For instance, they could offer Medicare supplements in Florida as part of their benefits package.
Companies are always going to gravitate toward employees that cost them less money. While most companies focus on hiring high school and college students for part-time jobs, Wal-Mart has recognized that older employees also offer the potential for substantial savings.
Technorati Tags: ageism, Medicare supplements in Florida, Wal-Mart
Posted by Sam on June 16, 2009
Shortly after I finished college, I was blessed with a most wonderful job at a nursing home. I have such a big spot in my heart for the elderly. I watched my grandmother battle Alzheimer’s disease and I saw, it first hand, what the disease did to her. This made me understand more about these people who lose every sense of who they are. In the end, grandmother had no idea who I was, but I still knew exactly who she was and that was what got me through the tough last months of her life.
In the nursing home that I was working in, I had my first experience with lift recliners. I had never seen such a thing before. A few years ago, my mother had a bad fall off of a ladder and broke her upper leg in two places. Right away, I thought of getting her a lift chair recliner to use during her recovery. I knew she would be so much happier than if she had to stay in bed the whole time. I was right. She pretty much lived in that thing.
She had the stair lifts and she had her recliner. She was certainly not going to let this accident slow her down. She was still able to do her knitting, her crossword puzzles and her scrapbooking, from the comfort of her own chair. In fact, I think she was rather sad to have to give that chair up. I think she may have even faked it at the end a little.
Technorati Tags: lift recliners, stair lifts, Upper leg
Posted by Service Man on June 14, 2009
During a recent family reunion I was chatting with a cousin of mine who had recently been diagnosed with extreme sleep apnea disorder. He indicated to me the sleep apnea was the reason he had always snored so much. We had spent many summers together as teen agers, and he was always ridiculed for his tremendous ability to snore like an elephant.
After his doctor prescribed him a sleep apnea machine, he had begun to see some real improvement to his quality of life. While his snoring had definitely decreased tremendously, there were other benefits as well.
I was able to tell just by looking at his complexion that he was resting better. Additionally, the weight he had lost since starting use of the bipap machine made him look fit, trim and years younger than the last time I’d seen him.
The best part of his new medical treatments, however was something he shared with me in private. Since he had been receiving the regular treatments necessary to sleep and live better, he’d become much more mellow and relaxed during his waking hours. He shared that this was helping him at work and with customers, but even better in his relations with his children and wife. And in return, he and his bride of 14 years were returning to a healthy and active personal life as well!
Technorati Tags: bipap, sleep apnea machine
