I recently read something on social media that lingered with me. A young mother posted the following: “What’s the one thing that makes your husband into a hero in your eyes? When he resolutely tells his parents who came to visit us that we are going away for a few days on R&R while they take care of our baby.” I get it. This was an opportunity for tired young parents to get away for a few days to pamper themselves and potentially rekindle their marriage. I wouldn’t begrudge them such joy. However, I couldn’t help noticing that the underlying sentiment that made this post so popular was that the elderly parents should pay for the privilege of social contact with their son’s family by serving as their child care provider. There was a certain spiteful and miserly tone to allowing family time with loves ones, which has become a privilege to be earned by being productive. A value add. No wonder we are living in a world of increasing loneliness. God save you if you are old, poor, mentally ill or otherwise disabled or vulnerable by the vagaries of life. Industrialized societies ha