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The quicker picker-upper

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Rosie Clifton

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2009

Although I walk regularly, I don't do any other form of exercise. I do clean the house, garage and lanai; trim small palms; wash the car; cook meals; do the laundry; tend my garden; help friends with a few chores; and run errands. Shouldn't that be enough to keep me limber? Evidently not! As one senior friend put it, "When I drop something on the floor, I need to plan how I'm going to pick it up." Boy, does he have a point!

One of the advantages of attending rehab with my late husband was discovering lots of devices for the disabled. There are many wonderful, useful ones to make life a little more bearable for the handicapped. After my husband died, most of the gadgets he used daily were donated.

This article's title doesn't refer to Bounty's super-absorbent paper towels; it refers to my favorite of Ron's gadgets, one I would never think of getting rid of - the "grabber." I'm not sure of its official name, but every senior should have one! I was reminded of this item today when a small potato fell out of its bag and rolled to the back corner of my pantry. Sure, I could have gotten the broom out, swept it out of hiding, and then bent over to pick it up; and that would have been good for my waistline. Instead, I just picked up the grabber and had the potato in no time, without moving anything out of the way or bending over.

If you're not familiar with this device, it's about 30 inches long with a trigger handle that opens and closes a large claw at the end of it. If the claw won't pick up something, the other side might help - it has a protruding inch-long screw, which can be used to snag things. If I had designed it, I would have made the end magnetic (maybe some are) for picking up small metal objects like pins, paperclips, etc. Ron and I wore one out, and I used the new one so often that Ron asked me to buy my own! Now I'm thinking of having one in every room. No, that's way too lazy! Maybe I'll start giving a grabber as the perfect gift for my senior friends.

Rosie Clifton is a humor columnist and author living in Sun City Center.

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