Japanese Edition
Latter-stage elderly
Report Card
The Japanese employees continued to pay the insurance premiums proportionate to their salaries, to Shakai Hoken Cho (Social Insurance Agency). After they retired from work, they receive their pensions from the Shakai Hoken Cho. But it was found that the salary data of Shakai Hoken Cho about the people who have pension rights were inaccurate. So the Nihon Nenkin Kiko (Japan Pension Service; former Social Insurance Agency) sent me a sealed letter to confirm the accuracy of their data on my salary by my memory.
I opened the envelope at once. A list of my old monthly all salaries appeared from it. The list was correct. I felt that the total of the salaries was my monetary value. I thought, "This is the Report Card of mine." And I had a wry smile.
At the same time, I remembered that persons in charge of a personnel department had used sometimes an idiom "salary curve." So I plotted the monthly salary against the month. (X-axis: length of service (month); Y-axis: salary) A beautiful sigmoid growth curve appeared.
Because I had gotten seriously ill during an employee, I was not worth my salt. I was surprised that a salary curve had been also prepared for me. Before seeing this curve, I did not know that I had received the benefit of the high economic growth in Japan.
I think now, "I worked for the good company in the good old days."
A report card has unexpectedly changed my mind.
Change in My Life
From the 75 years old, we Japanese are called the latter-stage elderly. When I turned 75-year old, I felt age discrimination and was unpleasant.
From 2 or 3 years ago, I began to suffer from summer heat and stopped the daily routine of a walk in summers. As the result, my walking ability declined extremely.
The heart doctor in charge looked at me and said, "If your difficulty of walking does not depend on the brain, I recommend rehabilitation." He introduced a brain doctor to me.
The brain doctor got a CT scan of my head, and diagnosed that there was not so big brain disorder that could be detected with only one examination.
I began to do rehabilitation again. It was a little effective but not so effective that I had expected. I looked back at this experience and began to think that the separation between 74 years of age and 75 years of age was good idea.
I liked to learn more English at an English conversation class. But at the age of 79, I decided not to go to the conversation class where I commuted during the past 10 or more years. The reasons are that walking between the classroom and the parking lot became hardship to me and the failure of eyesight is urging me to stop driving.
Occasionally, a person in a high position says that decision on whether to resign by oneself is the most important. I was an employee of a company and the company had decided the time of retirement. So I was thinking that such important decision was unnecessary for me.
But now I think that my decision corresponds to the decision of the resignation of a person in a high position. The reason why I was able to smoothly decide it was that I had been named the latter stage elderly earlier than my sensory aging. That is, I had enough time to think about the progress of my aging.
I would like to continue the rehabilitation and to enjoy the rest of my life. It is hard to say "rosy life" but I will try to do my best.
Dementia
After I turn 75, provably I have to undergo the dementia inspection sometimes. When I was 74, the dementia inspection became necessary in advance of the renewal of the driver’s license for the latter stage elderly. But when I renewed the driver's license at 75-year old, I was able to escape from the inspection by the difference of a month. Of course I have to have the dementia inspection at the next renewal.
As I mentioned in "Change in My Life," I saw brain doctor. He inspected my brain disorder with CT scan. After that he smirked and asked me, "What date is it today?" and "What day is it today." It was a dementia inspection to me. Though I am poor at such kinds of questions by nature, I was able to answer correctly because the dates of seeing doctors were my most important schedule. After answering, I think that If I answer randomly, I would be recognized as a dementia and I would be able to live a life of ease. But I cannot do so. I am a serious person.
If I will require nursing care hereafter, I have to get the certification from the municipal government about necessity of nursing care. The nursing care is graded as a several levels. If my family or a care person feels the change of my dementia level, they will report the fact to the municipal government. The reported government will inspect me every time.
But I am just me and can't be anyone else even if I become dementia. So someone else estimates me and I live as I like neglecting someone's judgement. I think this is the best way for me.
uploaded March 1, 2011