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What Does It Mean ? What does this all mean for the Ground Crew ? |
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11-03-2008, 10:25 AM | #1 |
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Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' !!?? U.K.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...s-removed.html
Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' - and unless they talk quietly their benches will be removed By Arthur Martin Last updated at 7:46 AM on 03rd November 2008 It's a simple pleasure that brings a little extra joy to these pensioners' lives. Once a day the seven friends meet up for a cup of tea and a chat on the benches outside the sheltered accommodation where they live. But their get-togethers could soon be banned - because of claims they are an anti-social nuisance. Ann Reddy (front) and her friends have been told the benches they use to chat over a cup of tea in the fresh air will be removed - because their talking is anti-social The housing association which owns their homes says it has received several complaints over the past two years about noise from the group, the oldest of whom is aged 96. It is warning them that the four benches they sit on could be removed unless the friends keep it down. Yesterday one of the pensioners - who is recovering from a stroke and has had 45 operations over the years - said she was horrified at being branded a troublemaker. Ann Reddy, 69, who also has rheumatoid arthritis, said the accusations of anti-social behaviour against her and her friends were incomprehensible. 'How could I possibly be capable of anti-social behaviour?' she said. 'When I told my doctor that we might be having our benches taken away, he asked me if I had been drinking. We don't drink and sit on walls throwing cans of lager around the place. 'We don't sing in the middle of the night. It's unbelievable.' The retired medical secretary, who worked for the NHS for 40 years, added: 'We just love sitting outside in the fresh air enjoying each other's company and talking quietly about our families, the weather, and the cost of living.' The pensioners - most of whom live alone - meet on the benches so they can escape the isolation of their flats. They are unable to walk to the benches in their nearest park because some are too frail. But Broomleigh Housing Association, which owns the flats in Mottingham, South London, is refusing to back down. The pensioners were told their teatime chats outside are too noisy and that they disturb nearby residents Another member of the group is 96-year-old Rose Anderson. Mrs Anderson, who has nine great-grandchildren and five grandchildren, said: 'I would be devastated if I was stopped from meeting with my friends. 'I'm so old now and I have got nothing else to do with my day. 'I would just have to sit in my flat all day long and I would go mad. We all deserve to be treated with a lot more respect than this.' Julie Schoon, assistant director of supported housing at Broomleigh, said: 'As a registered social landlord we are responsible for ensuring that any complaints of noise nuisance or other forms of antisocial behaviour are acted upon. 'Following a number of complaints from residents over the last two years we have worked hard to try to mediate between those involved. 'We are very reluctant to remove any of the benches and would view this as a last resort. We are currently talking to residents and considering various solutions to try to resolve the issue.' Last week a report by Help The Aged found a third of over-65s - some 3.6million people - live alone and have little contact with their friends and family. But something as simple as a having a chat with friends can greatly improve their lives, it said. Amy Swan of Help the Aged said: 'It's such a tragic state of affairs when older people tell us that the only person they see from week to week is the postman. 'Isolation and loneliness are not inevitable side-effects of the ageing process, but the life events associated with older age can leave people vulnerable. 'Once the clocks go back and the nights draw in, older people can feel even more cut off from society, but we know that something as simple as getting out of the house to meet and chat with other people can have a lasting effect.' This type of situation scares me, what happens in the UK invariably ends up in Canada a few years later. The prospect of moving into a seniors facility is daunting to say the least, with added restrictions such as these imposed it becomes a night mare! At least they have a postman to break the loneliness, we are denied this privilege, house deliveries no longer exist. C'est le vie. - Mervyn Van Arkadie, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 02/11/2008 16:52 it beggers belief the lunatics are surly running the asylum now - mick, chesterfield derbyshire, 02/11/2008 16:46 Gosh what next from this depraved society that we are forced to live in surely Nostradamus must be correct when he writes in the lost book of verse that all will end in 2012. We are now going through the final motions of the end. Last edited by Antaletriangle; 11-03-2008 at 10:37 AM. |
11-03-2008, 11:57 AM | #2 |
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Re: Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' !!?? U.K.
Maybe the complaining neighbours should be invited to the tea and chat. Maybe the Broomleigh Housing Association should install more benches and set that time of day for the entire housing residents to have social time. Even to go so far as to install a gazebo or pavilion for those rainy days. It would be astatically pleasing to the neighbourhood and facilitate good neighbours. Some pensioners may even enjoy gardening.
There are other ways around disputes that does not entail harm to ones freedom to enjoy the small pleasures in life. |
11-03-2008, 03:25 PM | #3 |
Avalon Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Kent,England
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Re: Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' !!?? U.K.
This is absolutely absurb!
The aged in this country are already outcasted, with many not getting any interaction from others sometimes weeks on end. There are to few people today intergrating with elderly and the young look down on them as a second class human. Even a stroll round a childrens park these days apparently bring suspicians from the public asking "Why are they hanging round kiddies play areas?" When loneliness takes hold of someones life it is the saddest thing to see. Leave the elderly alone let them have their walks and their chats too much is made of this sort of thing, and let us not forget we will all have to get old one day. |
11-03-2008, 03:45 PM | #4 |
Banned
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: On a boat in Tacoma, wa, usa
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Re: Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' !!?? U.K.
What else can one say, , ,
Oh, for the restoration of youth to such ones as our elderly, best get out of their way if it happens, , , |
11-03-2008, 03:54 PM | #5 | |
Avalon Senior Member
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Re: Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' !!?? U.K.
Quote:
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11-03-2008, 04:00 PM | #6 |
Avalon Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2,482
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Re: Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' !!?? U.K.
Norvel, your idea made me choke on my grahan cracker
I am on oxygen and my oxygen man told me that they had a meeting at the state dept determining that all people who use oxygen should be placed in a resident home. They decided that we were too much bother. He went before the board because his father was on oxygen. Apparently they pay too much for the carriers to come to our home. How sick is that$$$$$$$$ I say that they would have to carry me out of my home. I didn't pay half my life to just hand it over I get enough rolling eyes when I walk by cause Im crazy as a loon. Do not try and place me in a so called retreat. I'm awake, I'm alive and I don't care for you rule makers |
11-03-2008, 07:56 PM | #7 |
Avalon Senior Member
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Location: Ireland
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Re: Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' !!?? U.K.
Nothing surprises me about the UK anymore, including the fact that people are still mad enough to live there.
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11-03-2008, 08:30 PM | #8 |
I dont need a label !
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Shire of Wilt
Posts: 2,889
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Re: Pensioners told tea-time chats in the park are 'anti-social' !!?? U.K.
Everyday something unbelievable happens
It's like a Dom Jolly joke |
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