I've looked at some great places to live in the past! Clean, a pool, clubhouse, nice streets, decent rent, nice views.....etc. But there was a problem when I went to apply for one of them. I wasn't fifty-five years or older. That's all, nothing else. I am a clean, quiet tenant, believe in privacy, could easily make the rent, and had no other factors that wouldn't cause any place else to accept me with open arms. The only thing was that I wasn't a senior citizen!
This stems from the fact that there are mobile home parks for "seniors only" and then there are "all-ages mobile home parks". But.....aren't we missing something? Where are the "Young-Aged Parks"? Maybe it's just me, but this smacks of age discrimination. Many places contend that the Fair Housing Act allows this. If this is so, then I think that fairness and equality should be extended across the board.
So this community over here doesn't want anyone under age 55 living there. Why you might ask? They say they don't want noise, screaming kids and traffic. According to Dan and Fanny D'Amello of Fremont Heights Senior Park in Yucaipa, CA there's more to it....there's camaraderie! "We look out for one another," she said. Sometimes the women take one another to the beauty parlor, residents collect their neighbors mail and newspapers when they're out of town and check on one another's welfare. "If we lived in a family park, that wouldn't be the case." REALLY??? Are there rules, regulations or restrictions in other places that would prevent that? No. Then there must be something else that would stop them from doing the same thing in a family park, right? Wrong again. It's simply a weak excuse for age discrimination.
Many cite noise and traffic. Ok, I'll go with that. I don't want kids necessarily screaming outside my windows all the time either. Nor do I want music blaring out at all hours of the night. And let's face it.......if they lived around people that were under 55, they would be constantly bombarded with Lynard Skynard, Kanye West or Taylor Swift (no "dissing" allowed here though) at all hours of the night, thousands of people cruising up and down the streets looking for trouble and all other manner of nuisances right? You might be saying that sounds ridiculous! And you'd be right, because it is. Just because people are under 55 years of age and haven't entered their golden years doesn't mean they would be doing all this. In fact, the vast majority of families are also concerned with peace and quiet, traffic and all the other "concerns" that are held as reasons for seniors only parks.
Hey!!!! I've got it!!!! Since it's legal (allegedly) for seniors to discriminate against others just because of age, then let's just make it fair across the board. Let's make "Young Parks" where persons are not allowed to reside unless you are LESS than 55 years of age!!!! Then it would be fair. Then the "younger people" wouldn't have to worry about senior citizens needing so much quiet, could drive down their streets at break-neck speed and could be as raucous as they want. Then their needs would be met too!
This is a great option. Have "Senior Parks", "All Ages Parks" and "Young Parks". Then everyone would have equal opportunity for age discrimination and the ability to have their age-appropriate needs met by each of these parks!!
You'll have to excuse me now while I go off in my "Middle-aged Park" and laugh uproariously about how ludicrous and fragmented our society has become!
Monday, October 12, 2009
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