Week 6: To The Grandpa I Saw At Sujus - Eason

A rough depiction of the Grandpa. 

To the Grandpa I saw at Sujus,

I first observed you walk in gently as I waited for my pistachio frappe to be made, seeing your legs, probably frail from age, lift and step forward to the counter. I noticed your slow movements to cut through the line that accumulated as students rushed over from school, and I watched you pull out what looked like to be a hearing aid, only finding out later that it was actually glasses that you placed upon your face, only appearing to be a hearing aid from the gadget on the back of the temple tips on the frame that secured the glasses frame onto your ears. Maybe it was my preconceptions of the elderly that led me to believe, at first, that you needed hearing aids. In retrospect, there was no reason for you to have hearing aids on to read from the menu panels above the cafeteria machines. When I saw your legs struggling to move, I didn’t consider the past you had, the possible life experiences that you suffered or enjoyed through, or the potential medical cases that led to you having it. Instead, my prejudices led me to believe it was all a result of old age. I watched as the rushing students, pacing for god-knows-what reason, hurried past you as you patiently waited for your body to deliver you to the metal divide where your finished drink was placed. Spiritually, whether I should have or not, I felt that you were the product of a slower, more casual time period while the students, conditioned to stress, were just a manifestation of a more demanding world. There was no stress about grades, colleges, and jobs. In fact, you could probably, if you hadn’t already, retire. I hear stories of the older American generation acknowledging the changing country, for better or for worse, but they brush it off by saying that they wouldn’t be around when it harms or benefits the new generation, and I wondered if you feel the same way. 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Individualism?” Don’t be Daft!

Image
        The trees   are dependent on the environment, but the environment is purified through trees.       The topic of individualism tends to be lionized in contemporary society, but to further perpetuate the lie of the individual existing truly as an independent subject would be foolish.  In history class, we learn about the codependency of colonies to the imperial core (without the raw capital of the colonies, the empire would not flourish) and the reliance on mutual understanding and bureaucratic decisions to further beneficial trade. (international alliances such as NATO) In biology class we learn about the cycles and how the environment is affected by our actions. We learn about the dependency of trees to the sun, soil, and rain; the dependency of soil nutrition levels to human action; the dependency of humans to the trees. In nature, a tree dying would be detrimental to the rest of the ecosystem, so why do we as humans thi...
Read more

Sairishitha Week #1: In the Spotlight

Image
Sophie Birenbaum in Waitress; Netflix 2026 This past Sunday, in the midst of my studying, I took a break to watch Don’t Say Good Luck . A recent Netflix Original that follows Sophie Birenbaum’s theatrical activities and family life while in high school. While she juggles learning to drive, the lead in the school musical, and relationship problems, her mother, Elizabeth, experiences a cancer relapse. Immediately after hearing the exposition, I resonated heavily with the main character’s crisis. Although I have never planned on auditioning for a musical production, her family dynamic and how Sophie processes her emotions lingered with me. Despite the family’s adversity, her parents continue to be deeply involved in their children’s lives, promising Sophie that they will be there to watch her perform.  At first, Sophie felt that she could not fill the role as the protagonist, having difficulty mastering Jenna’s southern accent for the musical. To combat this, her mother takes her to a...
Read more

Alisha Week #1 - Otherworldly Perceptions of the Self

Image
  Dr. Heisenberg Magic Mirror of Uncertainty, Duane Michals, 1998           Within the past few days, the world lost two major public figures, Tim Curry and Dolly Parton (rest in peace). As the world began to mourn the dearly departed, I noticed an interesting divide in what exactly people mourned about each person. Some focused on their public personas, praising their incredible accolades and connections; some focused on the their integrity as people, praising their contributions and support for minorities. It has made me start to think about how I will be remembered.           There are two main aspects of each of our identities: internal and external. How we view ourselves and how others view us, respectively. Obviously, it is our external identities that dictate our legacies—we can’t exactly tell anybody how we viewed ourselves when we are gone. Yet I remain fascinated by the notion that for every person who ever lived...
Read more