Senior Slant
by Hilda Maston
What will people say?
Remember that phrase? I wonder if anyone
says it these days.? When we were young, we heard it all
the time. "Your skirt is too short, what will people
say?"
"You didn't get good grades this term,
what will people say?" "Don't let the dishes set in the
sink, what will people say?"
Any number of situations could cause that
phrase to be brought out. "Mow the lawn, what will
people say if our grass is that high?" "We've got to
get the laundry out early on Monday morning, or what
will people say?"
So it went, we were so afraid of what
people would say.
I wonder what caused this phenomenon.
Were there folks monitoring our every mode of behavior,
or was it our own conscience that made us believe that
everyone was judging us?
Was it a sign of the times, when life was
simpler and the rules were very clear? Now in a more
relaxed time, nobody seems to care what "people will
say."
As a kid, I often wondered who those
people were who watched my every move, and who would
talk about what I did.
These days, however, nobody seems to care
what people will say. Maybe we are less judgmental, or
we are just too busy to pay that much attention to what
others are doing.
Of course, it is different now. People
living in apartments or developments don't know their
neighbors (with everyone off to work early, and the way
commutes are). People come home late and have little
interest in the behavior of their neighbors. A lot of
us don't even know who our neighbors are, much less what
they are doing.
Did your mother ever say to you, "When
they are talking about you, they are leaving someone
else alone?" Somehow that wasn't much comfort. I felt
bad for the people that were being talked about in my
place.
Maybe it comes down to this: "What will
people say" doesn't pack the wallop it used to. Is it
because we don't care what people will say, or because
the gossip columns, tabloids and TV satisfy our need to
know?
Volunteer Work
Last month I got a certificate and a
little pin marking 10 years of volunteering for R.S.V.P.
I was happy to get it of course, but I should be sending
R.S.V.P a pin for letting me volunteer. I was new in
town, didn't know many people, but volunteering let me
meet some wonderful friends and gave my live new
meaning. I found that whatever my physical condition at
any one time -- there was always something I could do,
even if it was tutoring 3rd graders in reading, or
giving manicures to patients at Martha and Mary.
Barbara Stuart introduced me to Fishline,
another place where I found wonderful friends among both
clients and co-workers. Volunteering pays "big"
dividends on the time you spend at it.
