Old People and Falling

All our lives we have been conditioned with the fact that old people fall. Remember those commercials where the old person has fallen and they "can't get up"? I remember that from YEARS ago. I never thought it would be someone that I know that would continually fall but rise up again. Just walking along, probably chewing some bubble gum and confusion hits, BAM, now they're on the ground.

Let me introduce my mother. She is really not an elderly person but she has the sense of balance of a 127 year old. This chick can fall on demand, literally! I remember when I was just a small tike and my mother would hit the deck, bounce back up and be good to go like it never happened. Now-a-days, we aren't so lucky. When she falls, SHE FALLS! It may take a week or so for the bruises to start to fade.

I have some theories:

A) Old people have a huge equilibrium problem. This is a stretch to me, I see old people driving and they do ok as far as staying in their lane goes. Sure they drive extremely slow but that is an entirely different story. So you have an equilibrium problem that only affects you when you are walking. Running is no problem and driving is easy but walking is a mind fuck. Interesting.

B) Old people can't do more than one task at a time. If chewing gum or holding something that weighs more than 20.5 ounces then a chance of falling while walking increases by 91%. That's a proven scientific fact. Having this knowledge, why continue to try to be a part of the 9%? Stop trying to multitask so maybe one day we can push this number down in the mid-80s where it belongs.

C) An old person's brain is like a computer from the late 80s trying to operate software from 2010. It will not happen! Either upgrade your CPU or stop walking. Your brain is like putty, mold it, shape it, and make it work for you instead of you working for it.

I need your help people. Let's do everything we can to continue to support the foundation for elderly traction and control (FETC). We can change someone's life, as long as they are important enough to deserve it.