No bus for old men (or women)

Source: Ananova

A nursing home in Germany has created a fake bus stop to the old folks from wandering off. Outside the Benrath Senior Centre in Dusseldorf, there is an exact replica of a bus stop sans bus.

It reminds me of a movie in which an old lady goes and waits at the bus stop every day for a bus that never comes. People in nursing homes always want to go home, and this would stop them from getting lost or actually going home. The oldies get to star in their own real-life version of Waiting for Godot; they can wait at the stop, but the bus will never come. The old folks in question have hardly any short-term memory, so the staff just invite them in for a coffee while they wait for the bus.

It's quite a good trick and has been very successful. Other nursing homes across Germany have now started to employ the same tactic.