So you reached that 50-year-old milestone. Not giving it a second thought you say, it’s time to celebrate ─ “Another Birthday” But the day after that official day comes 50 plus one — more —day. The sign says, “Senior discounts for anybody over 50.”  … How do you like me now?

You wake up that morning after the 50-year milestone, and you’re trying to make it through the worst hangover ever. You happen to see a sign saying, senior discounts for anybody over 50. “Another sign 20 % off anybody over 50 at this discount clothing store. Another sign says we will carry your groceries out to the car for anybody over 50.”

I’m OVER 50! … When did they put those signs up?

If you thought the hangover was bad, the realization of getting closer to the senior citizen milestone, well, that just doesn’t sit right, and most people would call that a “reality check” Eh!

But you have every right to be worried because the next milestone is called the forgotten people, the senior citizens.

Homeless Senior Citizens the Forgotten People

You always found yourself saying and referring to, “look at that old guy over there,” or “isn’t that a nice old couple, still together after all those years.”

Stupid things to say really.

It is not like you were putting the older generation down, but just describing, differentiating them from the young people standing beside them. It’s a way of identifying one group from the other and has nothing to do with discrimination.

Over 50, you’re one step closer to being one of the “forgotten ones.”

But the point of this post is that a person that just turned 50 does have every right to be worried.

As you pick up a paper, different minority groups cry poor. They say the government is just not doing enough for them. Pick a group, any group, and they all cry that something should be done to make their life’s better.

The #forgottenpeople.

What about the forgotten people in this country, the ones over 50, 60 or 70?

Those seniors sit back and wonder, when the elections come up, if there would be a little raise in it for them, maybe bring them up from $1200 poverty level a month to something a little more sustainable for all these years of hard work. Everybody gets a raise in pay, yearly, they call it inflation, and the seniors do not, and that’s why they can be described as the “forgotten ones.”

• A few years ago, a higher-up political leader new their term in office was ending, he stood up and said in parliament, “does anyone wants a raise? “ we haven’t had one since …last year.” Everybody’s hand went up. And that’s how easy that was.

As our political election debates linger, they bring up important and outstanding issues, issues that should and need to be addressed, but the forgotten ones, the ones that have already paid their dues to society, they are (ancient history)

These “senior citizens” that were lucky enough to live a long healthy life should not even think they are forgotten. Most struggled their whole life, and some under deplorable unhealthy conditions to help bring this great nation to where it is today, those people are the forgotten ones.

So you are over 50, everybody just shakes when they get that reality check.

Canada proclaimed to have a NATIONAL SENIORS DAY, and it’s October 1 of every year, but it must be top secret. Most seniors haven’t heard of it. And for you Americans, it’s August 21 of every year.  Why the difference?

Are senior citizens considered a liability and better off forgotten? Some of the younger generations believe that more than not, so is it any wonder that the milestone of over 50 scares everybody? And when those same young people finally get that reality check, and they hit that milestone of 50, well, you will have every right to be worried, because after 50 you’re getting closer to being the forgotten people too.

Are senior citizens considered the forgotten people?

Swaying somewhat in a different direction, I did little research on how senior citizens are making out, generally. It shows me that after the official 50 celebrations, that milestone when reality just kicked in, you can finally kick back after working your whole life ─ you were a responsible homeowner. Brought up a family, paid your dues to the subsidy, now you can reap the rewards of your hard life-time of working.

And if by chance you weren’t lucky enough to put a few dollars away into that retirement saving, your life could sway in a slightly different direction.

The milestone of turning 50 could just be the start of your fears.

Researchers from the University of California interviewed 350 homeless adults. The researchers estimate that half of the single homeless adults are age 50 or older. “This idea that older people are becoming homeless is … hard to reconcile,” says Benjamin Henwood, a social work professor at the University of Southern California who specializes in homelessness. “This is a group of people who worked hard most of their lives and are now living on the street and are what I call “the forgotten people.”

You have to wonder how some seniors end up this way. Well, life has a way of turning on a dime. The cost of health issues is the biggest reason, but there are many other reasons associated with older homeless adults.

• Last year in our community, a husband and wife couple that were over the age of 60 lived in their car for a better part of a year, why, because they could not find affordable housing.
• Let’s see $1200 a month per person x 2 (husband and wife) = $2400. dollars. Now that’s a reality check!

Among older homeless adults, 44 percent became homeless for the first time after age 50, according to the “hope home study” on the homeless population.

They say, “Unless and until we’re prepared to accept the fact that we’re going to have large numbers of people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s living and dying on our streets, we need to do something.  Kushel says.

Seniors need more affordable social housing, old-age pension cheques should be upgraded to a reasonable livable standard.

Now, remember, some seniors over the age of 50 might have fallen on hard times. They might not have been as privileged to scare up 20-50 dollars a week towards their retirement savings like some. So as the study shows, the homeless, elderly population is projected to nearly triple by 2030, and according to the latest research, encompassing major cities in America. Some families today cannot afford to put money away for their retirement and mostly due to the high cost of living, LINK, especially housing, and the food sector.

And this problem spans globally and not just where you live.

Life does not treat everybody fairly or the same, so does turning that milestone of 50 +1 day scare, everybody? I guess it does.

“Happy Birthday” and welcome to the senior citizen forgotten people’s club.

Donate to your local FOOD BANK because “This could happen to You.”