Despite the growing population of adults over the age of 60, people still hold ageist views towards such a significant portion of society. While they are in a part of their life where one could have a lot of self inflection and growth as well as benefit society as a whole with the knowledge and skills they gained over decades of working, they are instead just left by the younger generation to sit until the grim reaper comes. During the trip to Mt. Pleasant we met Alice who wanted to grow herself through education and wanted to share her information with others, but she lacked the confidence to do that and even many other daily tasks. People who could be growing themselves and others are neglected. Then there was Al, who had to give up on his passion for music and playing instruments because he had no one to teach him, and when he tried to practice he was pressured into stopping so younger people could play.

These ageist views lead to a lack of decision making and empowerment over your life, the statistic of the mortality rate going from 15% to 30% depending on whether you had been given authority over your life is frightening. Many of the people we interviewed had motivation and passion but hadn’t been given the opportunity to take advantage of that motivation. Such a big part of their life which could be used to positively impact more people than just themselves has turned into an interminate waiting room.