THE OBSERVATION BOOTH
OP-ED & PHOTOS BY ANDREA DIALECT
Cover Photo: THE OAKWOOD CREW: Mr. George, Mr. Harvey & Ms. Rose, Ms. Eudona, Ms. Marie, Ms. Joyce, Ms. Cheryl
What Is Hierarchy?
- A system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.
Why Is Hierarchy Important?
Hierarchies add structure and regularity to our lives. They give us routines, duties, and responsibilities. We may not realize that we need such things until we lose them.
FEET ON SHOULDERS
If I had been blessed with the skills of my offspring, the three sons and my eldest daughter in mention, capturing the likeness of my beloved elders when we crossed paths the other day (@ The Inner City Café in Orange) would have been with a pen, pencil, chalk, or a paintbrush or such, as opposed to my camera and the bloody tweaks of an app.
But I and the youngest of the five wouldn’t be so lucky. She was more like her mama than her daddy so, when it came to fingers wrapping around pencils or brushes or things of sort to capture or create, naturally, our inclination had been limiting. So for us, fingers are given a bit more ump when creatively illustrating thoughts with a keyboard or logically the pen.
I said all of that to say that we are all artists in our own right one way or another. Thus, I took creative licensing, and instead of submitting the black and white photos as I started. I saw these altered pictures to be like a painting of sorts. A bit whimsical I’ll admit but so were they. The OAKWOOD CREW AKA THE ELDERS was such fun that I decided to depict them that way. Making the acquaintance of every one of them was such an honor and a pleasure.
You hadn’t been there to experience those beautiful personalities and lovely souls as I had. But this filtered imagery that now graces this page mirrors that sweet aroma of love and pleasantry, so that you too may enjoy what I encountered that day. Sniff and inhale it deeply.
Enough of my rambling on, I have just one more thing to say. Bow down and go to the feet of our Hierarchy often. Our circle is still in tack but is constantly in need of reinforcement. Listen and adhere from the shadows if you must. But it is much more impactful and beneficial when we, closely sit in their presence and/or when we linger closely behind.
DO US PROUD
This Is What I Heard…
“So easily sometimes seniors get sorta overlooked and dismissed. But we’re much more than just seniors we are seasoned. We’ve been there, done that and as we move forwards ya know there are things that we can contribute. We’ve been around going through what we’ve gone through, and we are still standing. There’s truth and absolute perseverance we never gave up when people thought we’d give up we’re still here!” – George
“Wisdom is smart!” – Harvey
“My advice to the young people is that they need to stop being so fast and respect older people and today’s my birthday.” – Cheryl
THIS IS WHAT I ASKED…
“What Can We Do For You?”
“I think the seniors need more things to do, anything that can take up some of our time. We’re always at home and nothing is going on there. It would be nice to have some kind of program for us. We need more things to do like more workshops and more programs for us because it is hard.”
“We need a senior citizen site where we can enjoy each other’s company daily!”
“I would like for us to have more time when we go shopping on the bus. We only get one hour on the bus. By the time we get off the bus and get our cart, the hour is almost up. We need more time!”
“We need a new walkway in Orange Park; it’s horrible. Broken up all along the way, all the way around it’s horrible. They know about it and we spoke on it and we haven’t gotten any reply yet from anybody. Seemingly they don’t want to fix it. They fixed all the other parks.”
“We need higher speed bumps. People use our streets now as a racetrack. The way we cross the street, some of the seniors if somebody gets hit they’re gone, because they speed up and down the street. the speed bumps are there but they’re too low. They don’t have an effect. The speed bumps are too low. They’re there, but they don’t have an impact. If somebody gets hit, they’re gone”
“I’m a newcomer here I have been living in Orange for about four years. But I agree with most of the people that spoke. A lot of things need to get done!”
I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Andrea Crouch yesterday, who is newly settling into her position as Recreation Leader. I was assured that she along with Director Wendy Sykes have already made focus and are presently working towards implementing many of the things that are on The Oakwood Crews’ wish list, which is quite promising. So I guess I’ll title this article Christmas in September.
Hopefully, it reaches Santa’s helper’s departments before year-end when December fades and that wish list soon becomes that to-do list that we all get to see swathed in all that lovely packaging. Logically, we will all know that New Year’s will be a happy one because those missions are accomplished and because boxes are checked.
In all honesty we are all Santa when it comes to the maintenance of our cities in one way or another. Fulfillment is the job!
This part is to be posted at the bottom of the above content on online
TODAY THE OBSERVATION BOOTH IS OFF TOPIC!
WHICH WORD BELOW BEST DESCRIBES OUR ELDERS POSITIONS IN OUR SOCIETY?
- ranking
- echelons
- grouping
- position
- pyramid
- scale
- chain of command
- due order
- placing
- pecking order
DO YOU KNOW ANY OF OUR COMMUNITY ACCESS CONTRIBUTORS?
If SO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY’VE MADE THE CUT AND THEY ARE THE TALK OF LOCAL TALK THIS WEEK!
PASS IT ON!
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