Except for the 58-year-old with them, the 4 seniors in the group brought out their senior cards after a hearty, delicious meal at a restaurant. They all laughed aloud after someone cracked a joke that, because of their discount privilege, they may have to pay only for the bottled mineral water ordered during the reunion!
Is it more fun to be senior in the Philippines?
At a grocery store, a returning senior citizen excitedly asked the cashier if they honored senior cards. Hearing a yes answer, this senior citizen excitedly showed the card but was puzzled to hear the cashier ask for the senior’s booklet.
Apparently, upon issuance of the senior card, there should have been booklets as well given with the card.
The grocery, after some discussion with the sales manager called by the cashier, kindly honored the senior card but with the advice that next time, no card will be honored without the senior booklet as well.
Immediately after that incident, this senior citizen applied and obtained the so-called senior booklet that she happily showed off to the cashier of the same grocery store during her next shopping visit. This time, the cashier took the senior card and booklet and again surprised the senior citizen with the next comment, “ Sorry, ma’am, but this booklet is not for grocery, but for drugstores!”
What, there is not just 1 but 2 booklets that should have been given together with the senior card? Why, oh why, is it not SOP (standard operating procedure) at the Cebu City Hall to give, together, at one time, the card and the 2 booklets and any other information or needed documents to make life easier for senior citizens as the senior citizen law in this country proudly banners?
“What are the booklets for?” asked the already bewildered, unbelieving senior citizen. Did she correctly hear that the booklets seem to have been required by the Department of Trade and Industry to monitor and regulate the sales transacted by the senior citizens to avoid possible abuses by senior customers and possible losses in profits for business establishments by abusive senior customers?
Why cannot the business establishments and/or DTI, with their powerful resources and data bases, not carry the burden of preventing abuses of the purchase privilege given to senior citizens rather than require the senior citizens to remember to bring all the proofs that they are honest and not abusive?
Can DTI also monitor whether all the businesses honor senior cards? Is it SOP, as well, for all grocery stores to put a P1300 purchase ceiling privilege?
The same senior citizen, next time around, goes to a drug store and with a 2008 prescription for a heart medicine asks to buy 1 bottle of that medicine that her cardiologist has continued to prescribe for maintenance. Note please that the same 2008 prescription has been shown to the same drug store from 2008 to this year and purchase and sale went off smoothly.
After learning about the price, the senior citizen, with the right booklet, remembers to ask if the drug store honored senior citizens’ cards. Then suddenly, the whole service atmosphere changed!
Before the senior citizen card was brought up, the drugstore staff was ready to allow this senior citizen to buy the heart medicines even with the 2008 prescription. However, when the senior citizen card was invoked, the senior citizen was told that the prescription was too dated and hence, permission had to be obtained from higher authorities to allow the purchase of the medicines with the senior card. IF the senior paid in cash, however, no question- the drug store would not have raised any problem at all in selling the heart medicine to this senior citizen. But if the medicines were bought WITH THE SENIOR CARD, why did the same 2008 prescription form suddenly become too dated?
Goodness, is it more fun to be senior in the Philippines? Or is it more correct to say seniors get old quicker and more prematurely in this country because of too much distrust placed on the use of the senior card supposed to be given as a gift and privilege to the elderly?
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Email: cherry_thefreeman@yahoo.com