Assisted Living

There was a fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal this morning about problems in assisted living facilities. As these become more popular for seniors, it is becoming more widely apparent how much the social structure there resembles problems common to high school. There are cliques which exclude those with annoying habits and some of the same sexual interactions teachers in high school have to monitor are also evident in these facilities. Conflict can occur when someone tries to eat lunch or dinner at a table where others have staked out territory. Some facilities have to contact the children of residents who develop romantic involvements to indicate how far the relationship should be allowed to go. This can range to holding hands and kissing to more private time in closed rooms. Interesting.