Contents
«You have to combine … I collect cans, last year I sold 200 kg! I took scrap metal, non-ferrous metals, got seven hundred. I go on my way and look around. If nobody is watching, it’s a mike, a mike and that’s it. You are a bit ashamed of bidota ”. We talk to the Polish “grandfathers” about the “evening of life”.
- Mirka does not spare her health. – I order an Uber, I pay PLN 400 and have a doctor right away
- Most Polish seniors, however, live on the brink of survival. Andrzej does not go to research, but the promotional magazine decides what will be for lunch and dinner
- We talk with Polish seniors about how to live for PLN 1350 a month
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
On the track of Barbarella
When I think about the passing of time, I remember the headline of the Daily Mail four years ago: “80 is the new 50” with a note if you are rich and a picture of Jane Fonda. Although the “queen of aerobics” is approaching an old age, in the interviews she openly says that she feels better in the skin of a senior woman than ever before. I decided to look for Barbarella doubles among Polish seniors and check whether the concept of “successful aging” is right with the statistical PLN 1905,35 going into the pensioner’s pocket every month.
The results of PolSenior2, a continuation of PolSenior1, the largest Polish study evaluating the health, economic and social situation of people over 60 prove that my plan is a false start, and that Polish grandfathers are closer to the “keep crying” attitude than the American “keep smiling” attitude. .
Even 75 percent. of them have hypertension, almost half of them struggle with chronic pain, on average, every sixth senior has a cognitive deficit in a degree that raises suspicion of dementia. Let’s add visual impairment (in over 40%!), Hearing impairment (one in ten!) And white nights (insomnia).
This is how Polish old age looks like in the research, and how is it in practice? For two days in a row, I knocked on my neighbor’s door to door. Contrary to the nurses from PolSenior, I did not have questionnaires, test tubes and a blood pressure monitor with me, only a dictaphone and a mask. The respondents trusted me, they remembered me as a child on a bicycle on four wheels.
Próchno turns into a fairy tale
Before the meeting with Mirek, I will have to measure the temperature and present a vaccination certificate – the senior woman is not vaccinated, but she is not an anti-vaccine agent. He explains that he is afraid of the vaccine because of a history of anaphylactic shock in the past.
– The doctor told me this: Mrs. Mirko, if you get vaccinated, it can be different, if you do not get vaccinated and the crown catches you, it can also be different. So, for peasants’ reason, lest it be different, I do not vaccinate and try not to infect … – he reports, pointing to a place on a satin, maroon couch.
“I nearly came down from the wasp venom twice,” she continues. – The first time she punched me on the tongue when I was a child. Immediately I started to suffocate, my parents called an ambulance and rescued me in the hospital on Hoża Street. The second time she hit me in the hand in Masuria. May evening, a bonfire, a forester and a forester next to it and bang… In an instant, I swelled like a balloon. They measured my blood pressure – dramatically low. An ambulance was called again. Since then, I have not left the house without adrenaline. Anyway, recently prof. Fal said that my allergy should be muted at the time of vaccination, and that I have an eternal exacerbation. I have skin rashes, hives, itching. I take allergy medications or calcium every day.
W trakcie dalszej rozmowy okazuje się, że alergia to niejedyny problem Mirki. Ma wrzody żołądka, celiakię, astmę, chorobę zwyrodnieniową stawów, nadciśnienie i niezdiagnozowane hashimoto. Fortunately, as she emphasizes, she has plenty of “powders” and doctors.
– When I have a problem, I do not wait two or three years in a queue, I order Uber, I pay PLN 400 for an appointment and I have a doctor right away. Medicover, Enelmed, Mazovia Hospital, Polmed – I choose it myself. These are the realities in Poland, if you can’t afford it, you won’t pull … But I’ll tell you that you also need to keep your eyes on the back of your head and verify the quality of services. Imagine if they did an MRI of the abdominal cavity, they probably lost the result and wrote it down from another: no cervix. So I went to them and asked: where do you think the doctor takes the material for my cytology from? From the head, from the ear, from the nose? They didn’t know what to say, but gave a second description in Latin. It was supposed to sound smarter …
When I ask a 70-year-old girl to use dietary supplements, she flatly denies it. For her, supplements are vegetables and fruits.
– My diet is super healthy, I eat gluten and lactose free. I avoid red meat. Before, I had a soft spot for coffee, but became a tea maker like the English queen. I have the entire collection from my son. Anything you want, choose: Darjeeling, Ceylon, Assam, Yunnan … No other stimulants, no alcohol, I quit cigarettes. I told myself that from tomorrow I neither smoked nor smoked. This is a strong will.
It turns out that the senior lady is very active. In summer he rides a bike, in winter he walks around the house with poles. She even planned to sign up for an Argentine tango and yoga course, but SARS-CoV-2 came …
– If it weren’t for the crown, I wouldn’t have been home for five minutes. I would go to England, to my son, to the mountains, to the sea. This is what my retirement was supposed to look like, but it turned out that I predicted everything except the unpredictable. Now I’m just looking for something to do to avoid getting a cat. I’ll clean it up, vacuum it up, shake the carpets, talk to them on WhatsApp, then I’ll go to Facebook and read it. I have a soft spot for books – when I start, I have to finish. I even sit on the couch until morning, which also kills me with motion … The worst thing is that it won’t end … Prof. Fal said 10 years are gone. See what is happening in the UK …
When we enter about sanatoriums, including the famous Ciechocinek, a longer story awaits me again.
– I was once and that’s enough. For me it is “pseudo-healing”. I went for inhalations and I look and the staff of the tubes and mouthpieces do not wash. Just next, next. I made such noise. I burst into the director’s office and grabbed him: sir, you don’t heal people, you only infect people! And he tells me that he won’t stop me. If I want, I will get an extract immediately. In two days, almost all of the sanatorium had viral pneumonia. Not only that, they gave me a tenant who went to dance parties every day and woke me up. She kicked the receptionist downstairs who unlocked her door after midnight. The old cow is healthy like a bull. Anyway, like most – patients on camps, it is a handful. The society comes for one purpose: get drunk and vile … To są ‘przytułki». Mają darmowe wczasy trzytygodniowe, a ktoś na tym zarabia. Umowy popodpisywane, a Fundusz siada i niedługo usiądzie…
Finally, I ask Mirka about the stereotype, that is, is the life of the “Polish grandpa” in the series: “Złotopolscy”, “Na Wspólnej”, “For good and for bad”. It turns out that it rarely turns on its 55-inch Samsung. The news is good for mental health, but he likes the “Love it or Sell” program about the renovation and sale of real estate.
“Watch it,” he says to me at the end. – They can turn old decay into a fairy tale.
There is Harnaś at 1,99
Three houses away from Mirka, at nine, there is no health anymore, but an addiction. 68-year-old Andrzej has been trying to break up with the bottle for a decade. To no avail … Others’ guilty – there will always be someone who will bring a pint, and the thrust starts with the first sip. Every occasion is good – the last reason was Omikron and the toast was: gentlemen, it’s over. Time to say goodbye.
She quickly realizes that my neighbor hasn’t been vaccinated either. This time not through allergy to Hymenoptera venom, but through Podhale. Although he is not a highlander, highlanders do not get vaccinated. In addition, it has a high inherent resistance. He was in the military, exercised bodybuilding, and COVID-19 likely passed during the first wave. He nibbled on a clove of garlic with a chunk of bread and washed it down with spirit.
“Hell as if I had an Anaconda in my stomach and it was biting me from the inside,” she begins. Seeing my confusion, he quickly explains. – The biggest snake in the world. More than 10 m in length, 400 kg in weight. He can eat a calf.
After this introduction, I know that I will stay longer. We start the conversation with the budget. It is fragile – Andrzej’s pension is PLN 1300 with pennies. ZUS recognized him only two years of the army and eighteen years of work in the People’s Republic of Poland. He did not work illegally for democracy anymore, and after all, he “ran like a donkey on a construction site, on plots of land, in neighbors’ gardens”. How is life for a Samsung Galaxy M31s for a month?
– You have to combine … I collect cans, last year I sold 200 kg! I took scrap metal, non-ferrous metals, got seven hundred. I go on my way and look around. If nobody is watching, it’s a mike, a mike and that’s it. You are a bit ashamed of bidots. On the other hand, ecology.
Combining in the case of Andrzej also applies to the shopping cart. The promotional newsletter decides what will be for lunch and dinner. He does not eat breakfast – since he lost 15 kg, he is a fan of intermittent fasting (IF).
– I buy every occasion. There is a beer in Lidl for PLN 1,74, that’s three cartons, please. As much as you can fit on a bicycle. 18 cans on the right side of the steering wheel, 18 on the left and 18 for the trunk. I am 54! I continue to… Biedronka. There is Harnaś for PLN 1,99. I also take. Two weeks ago I was at Dino. I hit the bacon – skinny! You won’t find one like this anywhere. I took seven kg, four thick slices. My wife baked two, ate one whole, left me only with a slice. The second one is in the refrigerator, and two raw ones in the freezer. But I’m picky about bread. They have sawdust in our bakery, but it’s beautiful in Biedra for PLN 1,79. It’s good that it is not cut, it does not get dry. I just put it from the foil into a paper bag and eat it for a week.
While shopping, my neighbor always thinks about others, especially his wife and five-year-old York – Misia. Random order…
– Last week I gave her 10 kg of apples. PLN 1,49 each. Beautiful, juicy, straight from the crates – Ligole. And one red grapefruit for dessert. And Misi I bought XXL chicken thighs. Seven trays. Before you came, I cooked the last portion, minced it with a fork and gave it to her. What fell, I ate myself. I love a doggie and I cut a shorthair dachshund at the hairdresser. With us, they wanted PLN 120 for the cut, in Komorów only 100, I bought four tickets for WKD for PLN 2,05, two for myself, two for Misia and we went. Balance sheet – PLN 108,20 versus PLN 120. And cheaper and better.
When we move on to stimulants … it turns out that apart from beer there is also tobacco. Not just any from Bakalarska. He rolls the cigarettes himself with the help of a clipper. Supposedly the best – Made in Germany. The lungs are not x-rayed, and neither are other organs. Like a typical Pole, he comes to the doctor when it hurts.
– Teraz mam do usunięcia czwórkę. Cały nerw na wierzchu. Byłem wczoraj w ośrodku, to powiedziano mi, że dentystka zlikwidowana. Nowa ma powstać w starej gminie, «w swoim czasie». Co to znaczy? Nie wiadomo…
From aversion to doctors, we smoothly move to self-medication and my neighbor’s home medicine cabinet. He likes vitamins… D3 4000 is taken every day. Besides, B12, K2, C, magnesium B6, stomach drops, ascorbic acid. Magnesium and sleep syrup. Nothing else… He focuses on movement, two circles to be exact.
– I drive a white lady every day. My record is 220 km, I was returning from Częstochowa. When I am in a mood and I don’t have a hangover, I leave the garage 4-5 am, and I come back at 9. Additionally, we walk with Misia three times a day for 30 to 50 minutes. Even my wife says to me: Andrzej, you have good health. What should I not have? I’m a bull, I was a bodybuilder, until today I have muscles as hard as stones. If you want, check it out …
Thanks evasively and back to my notes. Time for the mental health question.
– Currently stable, but it was different. I’ve had three tries, honey. The first by the mother. She was terribly sharp. While still in elementary school, she told me this: if you bring the wrong grades, we will undress you and your father naked, tie you to the table and continue to pour blood until the blood spurts to the ceiling. After 52 years, I remember that sentence… I was so nervous. And when I was about to fail from class to class, I panicked…. Second time before the army. Everyone was afraid … Third – after martial law, unemployment, no prospects, my wife and a small child … After they woke me up from the coma, I didn’t recognize myself. A view as if to dig out of a man’s coffin, 21 kg less, wrinkled, gray … Human shred. I barely got to my feet and sepsis caught up with me. This is how I worked from seven to seven, hauling piles on the wheelbarrow. Pus infiltrated the fourth and fifth vertebrae of the spine and circulated into the bloodstream.
Finally, I ask my neighbor about the pandemic, how have the last two years influenced his life?
– Sepsis affected, I got a pension, but the pandemic … I’ve never been outgoing. I even have a prepaid phone, I call so rarely. A top-up for PLN 30 is enough for me for half a year, if not longer.
- You can buy a blood and urine test package for a senior citizen at Medonet Market
Strain – over three dozen
The last on the list is Hanka from under 10. Unlike the rest of the neighbors, she is already after three doses. I breathe a sigh of relief – my street is not an anti-vaccine basin.
It is unusual for a senior woman – cigarettes, an ax on the table, a pink tracksuit and the scent of Diorella floating in the air. It’s almost noon and she offers me a pork chop. Considering that at Mirka’s place I drank only tea, at Andrzej’s, Oligocene water from the well, at the best possible price, i.e. for free, I consider. The more so because the breadcrumbs are as thin as in Fukier’s. Anyway, why not break the ice by asking about red meat …
– Rarely once a week, although I love it. Bitki, roulades, Silesian rolls, stew boeuf strogonow. As advised by my doctor, I try to “eat vegetables”. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, but dinner is always two courses: soup and the second. I avoid sweet – I have diabetes.
The bitter life of a diabetic is not all that ailments Hanka. The neighbor also suffers from hypertension and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Besides, in “old age” – here she has a teat, and there it hurts. Every day she takes 11 to 16 tablets.
– No medication! All 11 were assigned to me by doctors, the rest were assigned to me by the Internet, including magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, milk thistle, and garlic. Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I take sleeping pills, but more often wine makes me sleepy. Dose – bottle. Strain – over three dozen.
It is on alcohol and cigarettes that he spends the lion’s share, or actually the entire pension, which amounts to PLN 1350. As he says, “the amount is nothing and for nothing”.
– Enough to wipe tears and cotton buds. And if now gas, electricity and subscription bills go up, none of us will be able to get away with it. I have no choice but to keep plowing.
Her “plowing” is the rental of real estate – it is possible to make a living out of three tenants. For the success of his own company, he works in an office, i.e. a room behind the wall. In his spare time, he plays solitaire on a laptop to improve perception, does crosswords good by heart and watches TV, her window to the world. The preferred channel is TVN24. It is not the best with physical activity – overcoming 10 it takes her almost a week to walk.
— Jestem mocno «zastana». Ruszam się z samochodu do samochodu, ale w Nowym Roku zamierzam to zmienić. Od Mikołaja zażyczyłam sobie torbę na zakupy na kółkach. Będę spacerować… Tylko zimą znowu zimno, latem za gorąco, wiosną alergeny, jesienią wirusy. O kant d*** rozbić to wszystko…
Her last reflection is a good end to the story about how living in Poland is 60 years old. There is a lot of frustration, there is no Barbarella, and not only smog in the air …
* The names of the text heroes have been changed
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