The Way We Get By

Even though it's finals week, I still find time to take an occasional break. Recently, I watched The Way We Get By, a 2009 documentary about three troop greeters in Bangor, Maine. (I'm a big fan of documentaries and have Netflix, which is a little dangerous because there are so many great documentaries, like this one, on there.)

This was an incredible documentary, although be prepared to cry about eight separate times if you watch it. The documentary provides a window into the lives of three elderly people who multiple times a week, often in the middle of the night, go to the Bangor International Airport to greet US troops either going to or returning from Iraq or Afghanistan. Although these three people greet the troops for a variety of reasons, one profound reason is that it helps create a sense of meaning and purposefulness for their lives.

I couldn't help viewing this film from a public health prospective. What I mean by that is that since this film documents the lives of three elderly people, it illustrates some unique issues that affect them. Each have their own health problems, including some more serious conditions like severe depression and heart problems, and cancer. I thought about the Health Communication class I took last summer (especially the lecture about health literacy) as I watched one of the main characters try to describe the treatment he receives for his prostate cancer or as another main character explained the pills she takes daily. In addition to health problems, one of the main characters also had a substantial amount of debt and struggled with loneliness and isolation. It definitely provides some perspective on many of the struggles elderly people face today.