The Travel Chica

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Buenos Aires Odd Jobs: Old Lady Walkers

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Today I am turning over my blog to Rease of Travelated fame. Rease is an expat living in Buenos Aires, a fellow travel writer, and my cheap wine drinking buddy.  This is actually the first guest post I’ve ever had on The Travel Chica, and I’m thrilled to feature one of my favorite bloggers that I can always count on for a good laugh.

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I was honored when Stephanie asked me to do a guest post for her Odd Jobs in Buenos Aires series, especially because I had just the job in mind:

Old Lady Walkers

You might have read Stephanie´s post on Dog Walkers, and I´ll admit, the dog walkers in BA are pretty weird, but it is nothing compared to walking a fragile old biddy.

Now, you may be asking yourself, Just what is an Old Lady Walker?

Well, it may surprise you to know that it is exactly what it sounds like – a person who holds an old lady’s arm and takes her for a walk.

I am going to get this out in the open right now – I do not like old people.  Some blame it on my lack of grandparents, but the fact remains, I hate old people and I avoid them like the plague.  Perhaps that is why I was so quick to notice this odd job – the thought of it absolutely mortifies me.  I feel a strong mix of dread and pity whenever I see an Old Lady Walker.

If you have ever tried to walk on the sidewalks of Buenos Aires, you will know that it is a battle field.  The pedestrians are as bad as the drivers; everyone is aggressive and thinks they have the right of way.  You have to learn to weave in and out of fellow pedestrians, pass slow walkers, and avoid collisions around every turn. It’s like a messed up game of Frogger with dog poop replacing the treacherous water.  These old ladies and their walkers are like a permanent road block, taking over the entire sidewalk and moving for no one.

The walker is always a young girl who looks painfully bored. Their eyes wander, their exasperated sighs audible as she and her oblivious cargo shuffle along.  If the girl is especially ballsy (and the old lady especially clueless), the Old Lady Walker might even be furiously one-handed texting.  I say one-handed because part of the Old Lady Walking gig is that you must allow the old lady to hold onto your arm at all times.  I don’t know if the grandma grip of death is so that nana doesn’t fall over or simply to make sure the Old Lady Walker doesn’t desert the geezer right there in the streets.  Old people have stories, people, and they need to make sure their audience doesn’t wander off.

I am not sure how much these poor girls get paid or how this job even came to be.  I imagine it started out as a cleaning lady that got sucked into staying in the house for hours after the cleaning was done, trapped in a web of endless stories of the olden days. This story listening duty probably morphed into helping her go buy butterscotch candies and thus the Old Lady Walking position was born.

I’d take dog walking any day, their pace is a lot less painful to maintain and they wouldn’t scold me for working too much and not finding myself a man.

Be sure to check out Rease’s Blog on Travelated.  She has an amusing series going right now on horrible dating experiences in Buenos Aires.

Comments

  1. First of all, I don’t intend to offend anyone, but I guess this job is a boring and tiring job because of the nature of the work. I don’t know if those individuals who are doing this job for a living are happy about it. I just wish the payment is good. Not to discourage anyone who are planning to do this job, but it is advisable that one should really have lots of patience when doing it.
    Candice Michelle recently posted..gun holsters

    • Believe it, Christy. I really, really don’t like them. Like I said, a lot of people blame it on the fact that I don’t have grandparents. Only one of them is alive she is so crazy mean and weird that even my parents didn’t like us near her. I have no sweet grandma memories to channel when old ladies drive me crazy.
      Rease recently posted..A Guy So Memorable I Forgot His Name Twice

  5. I don’t hate old women. I really don’t. The problem is there’s way too many of them in Buenos Aires. More so than any other place I’ve ever lived in. Too many of them, slowing the whole city down, curled frames, ridiculously sized eyeglasses, the indignant air of entitlement. The number has increased exponentially in the last couple of years– rushing down a street is no longer an option. They crowd the buses, too. Just a couple days ago I was sitting near the back of the bus and one old lady with enormous shopping bags walked in, right past the seats near the front that were reserved for the elderly or otherwise challenged, past a row of empty seats, and right next to me, looming in my periphery, expecting me to get up and give her my spot. And when I would’t, she just decided to keep standing there, staring at me, out of spite. It was a standoff. After about 15 or 20 minutes, she sighed in exasperation (loud enough for me to hear it) and walked back to the empty seats near the front. I got up and rang for the stop, victorious.

    Because of the standoff, I ended up getting off about 8 or 7 stops after I actually needed to, so as a result I was pretty lost. But it was worth it. The old lady regime must be overthrown. I actually don’t know whether there’s less old ladies in Colombia or if we just keep them locked up, where they belong.

    Wow. This post was almost Rease-level meanspirited.
    Jorge recently posted..Six Songs I Wouldn’t Mind Dying To

  6. I love my Nana despite the fact that she has a morbid fear of escalators and probably still thinks that if you sit next to the TV to closely something terrible may happen to you. She was very kind to me when I was very little and for that I will always be thankful. But that’s where the Nana love starts and ends.

    Anybody’s else’s Nana and it’s a very different story. I think the whole Old Lady Walker think constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in my book. Maybe the walkers could appeal to the UN Rapporteur on Torture. I’m sure the retelling of stories hundreds of times and the forever repeated words “back in my day…” are just the same as Chinese water torture.

    • Agree with you on loving my own (and maybe a few others I have encountered in my life).

      The problem in Buenos Aires is that the sidewalks are deathtraps due to construction, dog poo, and crumbling concrete. You’re always in a hurry. Most people here already don’t know the “stay to the right and pass on the left” rule. Then you encounter granny and her poor housekeeper who somehow manage to block the entire line of people trying to get somewhere.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..A Foreigner’s Perspective on Argentina Elections

  9. Your title really caught my eyes….Old Lady Walker XD. usually old ladies in Asia just stay home or have servants/nurses pushing then around in wheel chairs.

    I actually was a volunteer at a senior center for a year, scooping ice creams to the old people there. I definitely had the boring times, and the joy hanging around old people. I think I would be bored too if I have to walk around all day with an old lady, unless she is an interesting and talkative old lady XD. And yes I agree, they better pay those girls well.
    Annie recently posted..Whats in My Bag? (City Travel Edition)

    • One time I had to help an old lady push her even older husband in a wheelchair. You have to understand what a serious battle this was in my head. I saw the fragile old biddy trying to push her wrinkled husband and I of course thought “gross. must avoid. must get out of the way and forget I saw this” but of course, the tiny lady could not steer away from a deathly dip in the street and got stuck. I stood there for a moment and knew I had to help, no matter how much I hated the thought of it. I didn’t speak to her at all, I just pushed the chair across the road and then shivered when her clammy hand touched mine. I then ran away. It was awful.
      Rease recently posted..Police Reports & FBI Agents: A Tuesday in Buenos Aires

  14. OMG. I cannot believe that’s actually a real job!

    I don’t hate old people…but I do hate when they act like the world revolves around them. It’s one thing to be stuck behind an old lady walking slow when that’s the only place for her to walk. Not her fault. But it’s quite another when it’s an old person pushing a huge cart down the middle of the grocery store aisle so no one can get through…and then she rolls her eyes at you when say excuse me and ask if she can move over so you can pass…
    Kyle recently posted..The Back and Forth

  17. Dear Steph & All who wrote on your Web Site. What is the age you are talking about? Old? You are only as old as you feel, they say. some young (14-30 Yrs. of age) act like they are old as Methuselah. I am 77 and proud of it. My Grandmother took me and my sister to raise. Of course.my si ster was 2 Mos. old and I was almost 8 yrs.Grandma was 66 and Granddad was 70. They were very kind, hard working people. I was privileged to live on a Farm. A lot of hard work that we did. But I used to think where would my sister and I be, if they hadn’t took us. I Walk on the track 1 mile and do 12 machines. About 40 Lbs. Some 145/160. Three times a week. Plus run a Company, Etc. So don’t say old say elderly. You all will get there if that is the plan for your life. Enjoy, that you have a job. Times are rough for some people. Some have lost jobs, cars, homes, and etc.mBe Thankful. Thurs. Nov. 24 is our Thanksgiving Day. made possible by others in 1620. Praise the Lord. Love Grandma

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