Back in July, I posted about a woman who didn’t feel she needed Life Alert because she was confident that her 3 year old grandson would be able to call 911 for help. The post is entitled: When not getting a Life Alert is just plain irresponsible and to me, the grandmother in the story seemed a little nuts.
But I’m sure glad I wrote that post, because Shirley from Tennessee read the post too, and totally agreed with me.
Shirley called in after reading my post, and wanted to talk about her own situation. “Hello Randy, I’m 74, I have arthritis, high blood pressure, and I get headaches,” Shirley explained. “I don’t live alone; I have my 5 year old grandson that lives with me.” As I began to ask her how she would get help if something happened now, Shirley laughed and said that she could probably have her 5 year old grandson call for help.
I asked why she was laughing, and she told me she had read a recent post on the blog about how “Some crazy old lady thinks her grandson is going to be able to save her by dialing 911.” I told her I was just a little confused, and Shirley said, “My grandson is pretty smart, and I’m sure he could dial 911, but what about after that?” She told me that she knew if something happened to her, her grandson would probably cry and be very afraid of the situation. “Why would someone put their lives in the hands of a baby like that?” Shirley asked. “Not only would my grandson be too upset to call 911, he’d probably be in therapy for the rest of his life if he had to be responsible for my life.”
I told Shirley she was a smart cookie, and I was very happy to be getting her protected. “I’m happy to protect anyone who needs protection,” I told Shirley. “But it sure is nice to have an intelligent conversation with a person who thinks about their safety in a rational way.” Shirley laughed and told me that after reading my blog, she could tell that I was a young man with a good heart and a good head on my shoulders.
So I collected the emergency information for Shirley, as well as some emergency contacts, and found that Shirley was the matriarch of the family. “There seem to be a lot of people who would want to know if you’re in trouble Shirley,” I said. “I’m glad to see you have such a loving and supportive family.”
Shirley laughed and said, “Yeah, the family likes to have me around, and hopefully with Life Alert, I’ll be around a while longer.”
