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Aug. 10th, 2012 04:23 pmToday my mother had jury duty. The justice center, where one reports for jury duty, is two blocks away from Reading Terminal (huge market area with lots of awesome food), and so I said she should go to lunch there. She says--I am not kidding--"I'm not going out for lunch, I'll get lost." It was not a joke. She also was saying she was not going to take her water pill or bring a water bottle, because she was afraid she'd get lost on her way to the bathroom--again, not kidding.
We all have things we are scared of, and I'm not one of those who thinks you have some personal obligation to do things that scare you--I usually think that's a very personal decision. But her willingness to accept such an extreme degree of helplessness is terribly frustrating. She's 62 years old and though she feels she occasionally has memory lapses she has exhibited no signs of dementia or any other condition that would make her fear well-founded. I truly feel that if she were to get lost, it could be ONLY because she is convinced she will.
Maybe it's not my place to judge. But damn, it was hard not to just say "Fine, starve. And pee your pants."
We all have things we are scared of, and I'm not one of those who thinks you have some personal obligation to do things that scare you--I usually think that's a very personal decision. But her willingness to accept such an extreme degree of helplessness is terribly frustrating. She's 62 years old and though she feels she occasionally has memory lapses she has exhibited no signs of dementia or any other condition that would make her fear well-founded. I truly feel that if she were to get lost, it could be ONLY because she is convinced she will.
Maybe it's not my place to judge. But damn, it was hard not to just say "Fine, starve. And pee your pants."
