>> I've been trying to reach out, being conscious of attempts to socialize, since becoming a widow.<<
Sensible.
>> The success rate so far is abysmal, <<
Sadly, not a surprise.
>> but I can clearly see what many of the barriers are: inaccessible times or locations (either not when bus service is accessible because the call center closes before the busses stop running, or because the location itself is a building with many ste4ps and no ramp access),<<
Yeah. We have a car, but barriers for me include:
* crowds, as I don't like being around too many people
* noise
* just plain a lack of activities in my interests
>> prohibitive cover fees (frex, museum entrance fees range from $25 per adult to $85 per adult), <<
Museums are supposed to be free. They're public places of learning, like libraries. Otherwise they're just toys for the rich.
>> or events located outside the bus routes, so that I'd have to sign up for a ride service JUST to attend the event.<<
Bummer.
>> That winnows out a LOT of events, or charities that I would love to support, before getting down to sorting through things like clubs that meet in a pub, where one is expected to order a meal when joining in, and so on. If I had prohibitions against alcohol, I could very well avoid any clubs that meet where alcohol is served. <<
It sounds like what's needed is a charity for people who have a hard time getting out, or even for widows in particular to support socializing.
Used to be, churches did a lot of the community maintenance, particularly when it came to ridesharing and visiting people who didn't get out much. There's little of that safety net left. I did find one church that still has descriptions of all its volunteer positions, though, dozens of them, including various types of visitors.
>>But the sieve has already eliminated at least three-fourths of the events advertised in the area for the current month.<<
That sucks.
This spring I tried to look through listings of events. I had the most luck with town-wide rummage sales, those seem to be growing in popularity. We caught a couple of them. I think we've hit a couple of street fairs, and the country fair twice since the weather was temperate for once, although it's a sad shadow of its former glory. People aren't good at using even the resources they have.
>> At some point, it really is TOO MUCH BOTHER to try to join in activities that other people find easy to access, and afford.<<
Yeah. It takes time to search for the listings, and then if you don't find much or anything, that's wasted time and energy.
>> If I could find a "silver-haired gamer" channel on an MMORPG, I would be VERY tempted to pay for that in order to use the time for both fun and socialization.<<
Worth a look. All I found, though, were references to other people looking for the same, or how badly those types of games are unsuited to seniors. :/
I find it ironic that, in the internet age, it is so much harder to locate some resources. And that's killing people.
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dancing_serpent
Re: disabled transport
Date: 2024-08-15 07:16 am (UTC)Sensible.
>> The success rate so far is abysmal, <<
Sadly, not a surprise.
>> but I can clearly see what many of the barriers are: inaccessible times or locations (either not when bus service is accessible because the call center closes before the busses stop running, or because the location itself is a building with many ste4ps and no ramp access),<<
Yeah. We have a car, but barriers for me include:
* crowds, as I don't like being around too many people
* noise
* just plain a lack of activities in my interests
>> prohibitive cover fees (frex, museum entrance fees range from $25 per adult to $85 per adult), <<
Museums are supposed to be free. They're public places of learning, like libraries. Otherwise they're just toys for the rich.
>> or events located outside the bus routes, so that I'd have to sign up for a ride service JUST to attend the event.<<
Bummer.
>> That winnows out a LOT of events, or charities that I would love to support, before getting down to sorting through things like clubs that meet in a pub, where one is expected to order a meal when joining in, and so on. If I had prohibitions against alcohol, I could very well avoid any clubs that meet where alcohol is served. <<
It sounds like what's needed is a charity for people who have a hard time getting out, or even for widows in particular to support socializing.
Used to be, churches did a lot of the community maintenance, particularly when it came to ridesharing and visiting people who didn't get out much. There's little of that safety net left. I did find one church that still has descriptions of all its volunteer positions, though, dozens of them, including various types of visitors.
>>But the sieve has already eliminated at least three-fourths of the events advertised in the area for the current month.<<
That sucks.
This spring I tried to look through listings of events. I had the most luck with town-wide rummage sales, those seem to be growing in popularity. We caught a couple of them. I think we've hit a couple of street fairs, and the country fair twice since the weather was temperate for once, although it's a sad shadow of its former glory. People aren't good at using even the resources they have.
>> At some point, it really is TOO MUCH BOTHER to try to join in activities that other people find easy to access, and afford.<<
Yeah. It takes time to search for the listings, and then if you don't find much or anything, that's wasted time and energy.
>> If I could find a "silver-haired gamer" channel on an MMORPG, I would be VERY tempted to pay for that in order to use the time for both fun and socialization.<<
Worth a look. All I found, though, were references to other people looking for the same, or how badly those types of games are unsuited to seniors. :/
I find it ironic that, in the internet age, it is so much harder to locate some resources. And that's killing people.