When I went to an early-voting site in Fairfax County, I saw an elderly woman with tears streaming down her face as she waited for a volunteer to bring a ballot to her car. The volunteers were overwhelmed, and her car was blocking traffic in the crowded lot. She rolled her window down and asked, “Can you help me?” She was talking to me.
She said she was recovering from a bad fall, and her husband was in the hospital. Yet she was determined to participate in the election, and she was willing to ask for help from a stranger.
After directing the woman to slowly drive her car to a better position, I offered to help her go inside. Election volunteers provided a chair while she waited, and another volunteer made sure she was both properly registered and aware of how to mark the ballot.
Before we began the journey back to her car, she took a moment to affix an “I Voted” sticker on her sweater. The woman was smiling, I was smiling and the volunteers were smiling back. This was democracy in action, and a team effort. The woman said, “We don’t even know how each other voted.” I responded that the only thing that mattered was that we both voted freely as citizens.
As I drove home, I thought about the members of our military, especially those who were wounded and who died so that we could cast our ballots. Dear reader, is there anyone you know, or a stranger you may meet briefly, who needs help to cast their vote?
Catherine Stebbins, Alexandria
Combat cancel culture
The Oct. 30 front-page article “Purge of DEI programs takes a major toll on Black workers” reminded me of how, during what many now call “Woke 1.0,” countless people were deemed irredeemable for merely aligning with unpopular ideas, making mistakes or committing what some perceived as mistakes. Now, it seems, right-wing organizations such as the American Accountability Foundation have taken a page from the culture-war playbook with its DEI Watchlist, in which former diversity, equity and inclusion professionals are tallied and, one assumes, blacklisted. The organization calls it an effort to “restore integrity and common sense to our government.”
Integrity and common sense are good things to preserve, but one need not destroy people’s livelihoods indefinitely to do so. I saw this happen often as a result of “woke” initiatives seeking to radically transform the institutions. Now I am seeing it in anti-woke initiatives. Same nonsensical intolerance, different end of the spectrum.
Even if these diversity administrators were involved in discriminatory programs, they should not be subjected to a lifelong punishment. They could join diversity efforts consistent with meritocracy and true equality.
We can challenge ideas and policies without reducing individual human beings to ideological labels. We can criticize DEI policies without treating individuals as political enemies. Defending individual dignity, promoting agency and acknowledging the nuances that make up every human life should be values we all share.
Erec Smith, Washington
The writer is a research fellow at the Cato Institute.
Elder care should involve this
I echo Leana S. Wen’s Oct. 28 column, “What a fascinating new study reveals about frailty with age,” which challenged the notion that older adults must accept declining strength, mobility or balance as a standard part of aging. Her column offers an encouraging reminder that frailty can be improved through targeted exercise.
Fall-prevention exercises, which encourage an active lifestyle, must be made a routine part of care. Caretakers should not wait to implement them until an older adult has suffered an injury that threatens their independence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that every single second, an older adult in the United States falls. In fact, each year, falling leads to 3.6 million emergency room visits and roughly $80 billion in costs, much of which is shouldered by Medicare. Given the serious physical harm and financial burdens associated with broken bones and hospitalizations, falls must be prevented.
Just as walking can reverse physical decline, physical therapy can stop falls before they occur. Physical therapists like me are trained to assess people’s musculoskeletal health, identify fall risks and develop personalized interventions to keep seniors active and independent.
By identifying and addressing risks early, more people can have the opportunity to age safely, maintain their independence and continue doing the things they love.
Nikesh Patel, Washington
The writer is executive director of the Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation.
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