I’m unemployed, but not in dire straits, so cry no tear for me. “Something will turn up.”

The damage of an extended economic downturn will be tough on everyone, but the future enormity really hit me in the gut when I discovered Tuesday is Senior Discount Day at Kroger.

The faces of the truly elderly (I’m only in my 50s) are scared, and sad. In the afternoon, the “on sale” shelves for tuna fish, spaghetti sauce, and beans are empty.

And it’s only now that that I realize their plight. Their retirement savings — those little dribbles they stashed in an IRA or home or 401(K) — have shrunk. Rampant inflation lies slobbering and growling ahead. No one is predicting a vibrant economy for the next ten years.

And MANY CAN’T GO BACK TO WORK. Their jobs are gone. They can’t take retraining classes. And even if they did, their opportunities are limited because old folks aren’t favored hires. They have health problems. They haven’t had to keep up. Blackberries are still what grandma put in pies.

And they know Social Security and Medicare are in the cross-hairs, regardless. The big question for them is “Can I at least die with dignity before they start cutting benefits and just issue ‘the pill?’”

This nightmare is just beginning. And my question is whether America will now do to its elderly what its done to the unborn.