Shame on you
The senior citizens in attendance Monday night thought it was a good deal.
I thought it was a good deal.
Anderson County Commission didn’t think the same way.
So, Anderson County seniors, should they so choose, can go hang out on Edgewood Avenue in Clinton at the current senior center.
They can get a meal.
They can socialize.
They can get any of the services offered by the Anderson County Office on Aging.
But only if you can find a parking spot, or don’t get run over turning off Main Street to get there.
There were a lot of “concerns” bandied around by commissioners Monday for not approving the purchase of the former Lifepoint Church site for a new senior center.
But then, aren’t there concerns about every decision made?
Or maybe I just have a soft spot for older people. You know, senior citizens.
So, I’m gonna have to kinda disagree with commission on this vote.
In fact, shame on you.
I didn’t really feel one way or another — well, surprised I guess — about this issue until a couple of senior citizens told about two commissioners “celebrating” the rejection after the vote was taken and a recess was called.
Apparently they were quite happy — almost joyous — in the rejection of the site.
This is second hand, so take it how you will. Not sure I believe it myself.
But if that’s the perception of a couple of senior citizens, then that is their reality of the type of person you are.
That is what you look like to them — how you appear to them.
And they may not be able to gather more than 50 at a time at the senior center, but you can bet that perception will spread to a lot of the 27,000 senior citizens in this county.
And these senior citizens vote.
And if what they saw is, in fact … Well, fact.
Then shame on you.
Not only do you appear cruel and insensitive, but you also appear very small minded and rather unworthy of being a commissioner.
Or maybe you don’t think senior citizens are “real” taxpayers.
Cherie Phillips said one commissioner wasn’t worried about the seniors, he was worried about the “real taxpayers.”
Again, I wasn’t there, this is second hand, so take it as you will.
But if true, that has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of anybody saying.
Ever.
A lot of these folks have paid taxes for as long as 70 years. That’s pretty freaking “real” if you ask me.
So, if you do think that, then shame on you.
These senior citizens not only vote, they pay taxes. And about 65 cents of every dollar they pay in taxes goes to funding something they no longer have a use for: schools.
And if none of these things are true, then sleep well at night knowing you did what you thought was right.
Yeah, it’s just a senior center. I know, I know … They already have a building.
It’s more like a big closet with one bathroom, but it’s a building.
The seniors should be happy, grateful even, they have that.
But if you judge a community by the way it treats its senior citizens, then I think county commission has hurt this county’s reputation.
Maybe Anderson County’s senior citizens aren’t worth $500,000. Maybe they’re not worth a nickel.
Maybe a lifetime of working and surviving and being productive citizens in a world that didn’t offer the comforts the next generation, those youngsters of today, enjoy means nothing.
It sure doesn’t seem to mean anything to the Anderson County Commission.
Shame on you.
