"Are you excited for your birthday?" "Not one bit."
February 22, 2016 2:26 AM Subscribe
109-year old Flossie Dickey celebrates her upcoming 110th birthday with Good Day Spokane! anchorwoman Nichole Mischke.
Aubrey de Grey needs to see this.
My great-grandmother would have been this age. She died when I was a kid, and I missed her so much. Sometimes I wonder what she'd have made of this world. But finding out wouldn't have been worth this.
I wonder what Flossie was up to in the '20s?
posted by Countess Elena at 3:48 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
My great-grandmother would have been this age. She died when I was a kid, and I missed her so much. Sometimes I wonder what she'd have made of this world. But finding out wouldn't have been worth this.
I wonder what Flossie was up to in the '20s?
posted by Countess Elena at 3:48 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
106-year old Virginia McLaurin met the Obamas a few days ago after a social media campaign (!!).
posted by ChuraChura at 4:43 AM on February 22, 2016 [33 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 4:43 AM on February 22, 2016 [33 favorites]
It is worth it to remember that these women were young adults raising families during the Great Depression. They have seen a lot. Amazing stuff.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:05 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:05 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Nothing makes me laugh harder than faux-cheerful local news reporters. Get 'em, Flossie.
posted by sallybrown at 5:11 AM on February 22, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 5:11 AM on February 22, 2016 [5 favorites]
"She's a jokester."
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:18 AM on February 22, 2016
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:18 AM on February 22, 2016
Was waiting for the busting of the coffee cup upon the anchor's head.
Left disappointed.
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:59 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Left disappointed.
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:59 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Maybe if the anchor made an attempt to speak to her like a woman with 110 years of lived experience rather than approach the interview as if she were meeting a toddler with Benjamin Button Syndrome she might have gotten something out of her.
posted by Evstar at 6:23 AM on February 22, 2016 [32 favorites]
posted by Evstar at 6:23 AM on February 22, 2016 [32 favorites]
Wow, way to condescend and dehumanize, you dystopic news turds. Holding the paper up in front of here as if she's just another prop. Gross.
Ms. Dickey has every right to be pissed. There's still a person in there, Fox 28 News Crew. A actual living, breathing, thinking person, like all of you (maybe) once were.
posted by crumbly at 6:25 AM on February 22, 2016 [9 favorites]
Ms. Dickey has every right to be pissed. There's still a person in there, Fox 28 News Crew. A actual living, breathing, thinking person, like all of you (maybe) once were.
posted by crumbly at 6:25 AM on February 22, 2016 [9 favorites]
So, Flossie reminds me of my husband's grandfather who was dying at the grand old age of 103. My husband was there to spend some time with him and during this visit his grandfather was still able to have a nice time and chat and reminisce a bit, but obviously he was very tired. At one point an annoying, very self-centered relative came to visit and after a few moments his grandfather quietly said, "I'll give her five minutes," and really, I think that's fair, you've only got so many minutes left, you shouldn't have to put up with even a minute of such tomfoolery. Though I agree with crumbly, holding the paper up in front of Ms. Flossie's face was more than tomfoolery, that was some stone-cold dehumanizing. I may have even gasped at that point. Enjoy your nap Ms. Flossie, you have earned it. Heck, naps are sometimes the best part of my day!
posted by dawg-proud at 6:40 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by dawg-proud at 6:40 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
I hate shit like this. One miserable (like, seriously, one of those endlessly grey, sleety days at the end of winter when the entire city is in a shit mood) March day over a decade ago I was walking up to Queen St. in Toronto to catch a streetcar home from the crappy job I had at the time when out of nowhere I was accosted by MuchMusic's Rick The Fucking Temp and a cameraman. Rick shoved a microphone in my face and shouted something about how he was on a mission to cheer up the city while I awkwardly fumbled with the headphones I was wearing and waved a hand at him in the universal "I'd rather not talk right now, thank you" signal. But he wouldn't stop and this went on for an entire city block, until I crossed the road and he moved on to his next victim.
One of the minor regrets of my life is that I wasn't able to overcome my innate Canadian instinct to not make a fuss and yell "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FACE, ASSHOLE" at him on live TV.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:54 AM on February 22, 2016 [8 favorites]
One of the minor regrets of my life is that I wasn't able to overcome my innate Canadian instinct to not make a fuss and yell "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FACE, ASSHOLE" at him on live TV.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:54 AM on February 22, 2016 [8 favorites]
A slightly different take on it, from the reporter's Facebook page. Also, Flossie's grand-daughter seemed happy about the interview.
posted by davidmsc at 7:00 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by davidmsc at 7:00 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
So 364 days a year old people get treated crappily by a society that sees old age as a problem and old people as mentally deficient. And then one day a year they get to perform their age as a novelty act and are paraded about and talked to like they're mentally deficient.
posted by Omnomnom at 7:11 AM on February 22, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Omnomnom at 7:11 AM on February 22, 2016 [8 favorites]
That face of hers couldn't communicate "fuck all of this nonsense" any more clearly.
posted by lock sock and barrel at 7:47 AM on February 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by lock sock and barrel at 7:47 AM on February 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
A slightly different take on it, from the reporter's Facebook page.
"May she get all the whiskey and pie that her little 110-year-old heart desires!"
So basically, "I learned nothing from this experience and I'm gonna keep infantilizing this woman even as I try to save face. Whoopee!"
posted by Itaxpica at 8:24 AM on February 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
"May she get all the whiskey and pie that her little 110-year-old heart desires!"
So basically, "I learned nothing from this experience and I'm gonna keep infantilizing this woman even as I try to save face. Whoopee!"
posted by Itaxpica at 8:24 AM on February 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
Well, I couldn't make it all the way through Flossie Dickey's interview, but watching the video of Virginia McLaurin's visit to the White House was an excellent antidote. Talk about a lesson in how to treat an elderly person with dignity--that FOX reporter could have learned a thing or ten from the Obamas. (And not just about that situation, it goes without saying.)
I'm sure I'm not the only one who got a little teary-eyed at that video. Thank you for posting it, ChuraChura!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:57 AM on February 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm sure I'm not the only one who got a little teary-eyed at that video. Thank you for posting it, ChuraChura!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:57 AM on February 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
Rick The Fucking Temp
Only person I have ever seen with less behind the eyes than Tom Cruise, he seriously creeps me out.
posted by Cosine at 9:07 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Only person I have ever seen with less behind the eyes than Tom Cruise, he seriously creeps me out.
posted by Cosine at 9:07 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
You blithering idiot, taking a nap isn't an activity, it's the exact opposite. In fact, that's the whole point of a nap.
posted by Muddler at 10:06 AM on February 22, 2016
posted by Muddler at 10:06 AM on February 22, 2016
Meh, I think Flossie is amazing, but I also don't think the reporter is the evil incarnate others seem to be seeing. The paper thing was tacky, but mostly I saw someone gamely trying to do her job.
The interview probably just shouldn't have happened. Flossie didn't want to be there. Reading between the lines, it seems like her grand-daughter was the one who set it up, and maybe she should have made sure it was something Grandma wanted to do. Or maybe Flossie said yes but then felt like "fuck it" the morning of. Which is her right as a 110-year-old.
posted by lunasol at 11:20 AM on February 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
The interview probably just shouldn't have happened. Flossie didn't want to be there. Reading between the lines, it seems like her grand-daughter was the one who set it up, and maybe she should have made sure it was something Grandma wanted to do. Or maybe Flossie said yes but then felt like "fuck it" the morning of. Which is her right as a 110-year-old.
posted by lunasol at 11:20 AM on February 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
Dammit, maupuia - I was about to post that same link!
posted by DRoll at 11:59 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by DRoll at 11:59 AM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Amazing how she opens up when people treat her like a peer and not a carnival attraction.
posted by Evstar at 12:18 PM on February 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Evstar at 12:18 PM on February 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
Meh, I think Flossie is amazing, but I also don't think the reporter is the evil incarnate others seem to be seeing. The paper thing was tacky, but mostly I saw someone gamely trying to do her job.
Evil incarnate isn't really accurate. Desperately ignorant and condescending is perhaps more like it.
If your job is to interview someone, maybe actually letting them speak is part of your job.
Amazing how she opens up when people treat her like a peer and not a carnival attraction.
Yeah. The contrast between the two videos couldn't be more stark - pulling the microphone aware every time she went to answer, and then defaulting to "Oh, I'll just ask someone to speak on your behalf!" vs. giving her time to speak at her own pace.
Her follow-up Facebook posts were incredibly infantilizing as well.
This happens to younger people with disabilities all the time, so this isn't surprising behaviour - I'm 99% sure this same morning crew would do the RAISING YOUR VOICE WHEN TALKING TO A BLIND PERSON THING or treating someone with a CP accent as though they also have an intellectual disability.
Evil? Nah. Shitty and ignorant? Oh, yes.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:31 PM on February 22, 2016
Evil incarnate isn't really accurate. Desperately ignorant and condescending is perhaps more like it.
If your job is to interview someone, maybe actually letting them speak is part of your job.
Amazing how she opens up when people treat her like a peer and not a carnival attraction.
Yeah. The contrast between the two videos couldn't be more stark - pulling the microphone aware every time she went to answer, and then defaulting to "Oh, I'll just ask someone to speak on your behalf!" vs. giving her time to speak at her own pace.
Her follow-up Facebook posts were incredibly infantilizing as well.
This happens to younger people with disabilities all the time, so this isn't surprising behaviour - I'm 99% sure this same morning crew would do the RAISING YOUR VOICE WHEN TALKING TO A BLIND PERSON THING or treating someone with a CP accent as though they also have an intellectual disability.
Evil? Nah. Shitty and ignorant? Oh, yes.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:31 PM on February 22, 2016
WaPo has a story today about Ms. McLaurin: Dancing 106-year-old describes the day she charmed the Obamas: ‘I can die smiling now’
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:12 PM on February 22, 2016
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:12 PM on February 22, 2016
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When you pass 100 you should be assigned a grizzled ex-boxer who you can order to punch people whenever you like.
posted by pipeski at 3:27 AM on February 22, 2016 [35 favorites]