CARING about the elderly is a responsibility that should be taken seriously. There are certain situations where they need to be accommodated and in some cases helped out. In my entire life, I have seen only this at two institutions. The first was a local bank’s branch in Karachi.

During the 1990s, whenever I went to pay my utility bills, I had to stand in the queue inside the bank (sometimes even outside) and wait for my turn. However, there were several instances where the bank manager would approach me and others, take our bills and process them for us out of turn.

The other place was the office of a mobile network operator on University Road. For years whenever I entered, a protocol officer immediately welcomed me, inquired about what I needed and gave me a token for a separate counter which exclusively dealt with senior citizens.

My last visit to Karachi, however was quite disheartening as this courtesy was missing everywhere.

During my three months in the city, I went to the bank quite frequently but no one even approached me to offer some help or guidance.

The same thing happened at the mobile network operator’s office. When I asked the protocol officer what had happened, and why they had changed these etiquettes which made regular customers feel welcomed, he told me that things had changed overtime as many customers complained that all customers should be treated equally — no special treatment for anyone.

Muhammad Javed
Bahrain

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2018