Podcast An old issue: Ep. 3 – SHOES
Hi, my name is Ricardo Crispim and this is my podcast An old issue!
For those who followed thelast episode to the end, the topic I'm going to talk about today won't be a surprise. For those who didn't hear it, just read the title. That alone gives away today's topic, doesn't it?
So, let's talk about shoes. Yes, in a podcast that aims to address issues of aging, old age, and many other related things, there is also room to discuss topics as relevant and divisive as those related to the footwear industry.
We put on shoes to shield and protect our feet from direct contact with the ground. We purchase these items in a specific place, whether from a physical or virtual location. We buy them out of necessity, because we need to replace a pair of shoes that are already worn and torn, or to get a pair that is in line with the latest fashion. We buy them, we pay for them, and then we use them. Depending on the type of shoes we buy, we can use them in our daily lives, on special occasions, for training in the gym, and so on.
All of this seems relatively s
traightforward unless we decide to enter the game of walking in someone else’s shoes. Although I don’t mean this literally, the truth is that we've heard this expression several times. Why? Let me give you an example: I wear a size 43, sometimes a 44, and what is not intended here is for me to wear a size 42 or 45. The idea is that I make an effort to put myself in someone else's shoes: to think as they do and feel as they do, or even as many say, to try to be sympathetic.
The word "sympathy" suggests exactly that: that ability to place ourselves in other people’s position.
This becomes more complex when we are asked to step into the shoes of people we don't know at all, or the shoes of those whose generation is distant from ours, or people who hold political beliefs that are different from ours. Or, in the case of today's reflection, to put ourselves in the shoes of older people. And this is where we have a problem. We can actually say it's a pebble in our shoe. Now, having a pebble in one's show means having an issue that is not resolved or that troubles us, just like when a pebble gets into our shoe, causing discomfort or an uncomfortable walk.
Asking us to put ourselves in the shoes of older people is indeed a challenging exercise. What we typically do is distance ourselves from a rea
lity to which we don't relate and, in some cases, which we even find repulsive because, as a rule, we associate old age with cognitive and relational incompetence, dependence, uselessness, and immaturity. That's why it's so difficult for us to step into older people’s shoes.
In a study by Liliana Sousa, Margarida Cerqueira, and Helena Galante published in Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, regarding the image of Portuguese individuals from different age groups concerning aging and old age, it was concluded that elderly individuals and young people tend to view aging and old age more negatively. Young people have this idea based on the reasons I've already mentioned, but also because of their lack of interest in being with older people, as the role that the elderly play in families is mainly peripheral, among other reasons. As for elderly individuals, they internalize what they've always heard – "Being old is bad" – and because the support for their needs is scarce, it difficult to adapt to circumstances of loss, and so on. The link to access the study is provided in the description of this episode.
Due to the generally negative perception we have about the aging process and old age, some individuals even go so far as “to toss the elderly around like old shoes”. Do you see how I managed to slip in another typically Portuguese expression related to the theme of footwear?!
Well, stepping into the shoes of others, especially (open quotation marks) "stepping into what elderly people wear" (close quotation marks), is an act that requires a very high degree of empathy and respect, but it's also about preparing for our own future.
Now, here's a rather obvious truth: If we don't die young, we'll grow old, and by that time, we might want others to step into our shoes. Hmm...
Well… we're approaching the end of today's episode, but I can't finish without making a recommendation. NOS recently released an advertising campaign entitled "The Switch” (A Troca), which highlights how essential it is to care for the quality of interpersonal connections by putting ourselves in the other person's shoes. It's built around two stories illustrating a lif
e swap between a father and a son, resulting in two distinct films. The central elements are the "shoes" they both wear when leaving home, but they end up switched: the father wears the son's trainers, and the son wears the father's shoes. I'll leave the links in the description of today's episode!
Now, with that, I'll conclude today.
Thank you for being on that side. Also, thanks to InEnglish - Centro de Línguas e Tradução (Leiria - Portugal), who, if you haven't noticed yet, translates all the episodes into English to reach more people.
I'm counting on you in the next episode. Oh, by the way, in the next episode, I'm going to discuss "molds."
Talk soon.
Links
Study by Liliana Sousa, Margarida Cerqueira and Helena Galante: https://bit.ly/46KJqdF
Access to the advertisments by NOS:
