I saw an article (it’s literally all over the web now) about a fake bus stop outside a senior’s home that acts like a honey pot and “traps” wayward seniors who wander outside and try to go home. The bus stop looks real, but the bus doesn’t stop there. The seniors don’t know that, and wait patiently. This gives the staff the opportunity to go out and gently lead them back inside. The beauty of Alzheimer’s is that trick will probably work again tomorrow.
I must say that on one side that sounds kind of mean, but then again it probably saves the lives of these people, otherwise wandering away into the winter night.
I can only hope somebody does the same for me when I am older. Maybe a fake beer keg on the sidewalk, luring me over, trying to pump some 50 out of it. Or probably even an arcade might work, retro gaming machines beckoning to my newly adolescent-again mind. The staff could wait until I was out of quarters and then lead me back to my room with the surety that I would almost certainly attempt to escape again in the morning. All they need to do is make sure I have a pocket full of quarters when I wake up. Another probable successful trap would be a few shiny gadgets, and laptops sitting on a bench by the door.
Perfect security.
It could be set as a bear trap,all humane and such…with a lay-Z-guy type chair,big screen,munchies and a keg….who would you want to leave that?
Kyle, your point is well taken. I can’t believe I overlooked the TV and chair aspect, that would trap me well and happily today, forget later on in my years.
This is so funny – funny and true; folks in nursing homes are always waiting for a bus or a train. I used to work as a health care aid in nursing homes and I swear I constantly heard brittle voices requesting bus schedules and train departure times. They were often distressed at the thought of arriving late for imaginary appointments. A mock bus stop is a great idea – I’d go one step further and have an actual bus ride simulator complete with fictional stops, a witty transit operator, and an intercom system piping in big band music.
During my stint as a nurse’s aid I had occasion to work at a Catholic nursing home. For the unacquainted I’m sure this brings to mind the image of sweet little old ladies whispering hail Marys and shuffling down dim corridors. And I did find lots of rosary bead-toting bitties. But I also found a plethora of perverted old men eagerly anticipating bath time with the 19-year-old nurse’s aid. One old geezer in particular was always a little too excited when I told him I would be giving him a bath. I recall cringing as his withered sack of a body was lowered into the tub via an interesting set of levers and pulleys and lifting contraptions. The order to “rub harder†is both regrettably and permanently etched in my memory. I also remember being brought to tears while scrambling on a cement bathroom floor in search of a pair of broken glasses that I knew full well never existed in the first place. Old senile people. Gotta love ‘em.