"The only outrage here is that a man who has lived a long life had to have his child consulted about whether he can 'have' contraception."

"Well, that and the urge to 'dry heave' simply because you've learned he's sexually active. There is a reason the elderly are fed up with the way they are treated. This was disturbing on multiple levels. None of them the ones the author intended."

That's the top-rated comment (among lots of other similar comments) on the NYT column "Having ‘The Talk’ With My 80-Something Dad/I was not prepared for the phone call from my father’s skilled nursing facility asking for permission to provide him contraceptives" by Stacey Zapalac.

"Contraceptives" is the wrong word. We're talking about condoms to protect from STDs.

The headline is also confusing for using the term "the talk" — especially with an illustration indicating that the father is black. I'm used to seeing the term "the talk" referring to black parents explaining to their child how to interact with the police.

Anyway, I don't think I've ever read a NYT column that got such a severe takedown in the comments. I read the column and went to the comments looking for this attack and was satisfied to see it.

From the column: "I always knew my dad was a needy man.... ... I informed the social worker my father was not to be given protection or conjugal visit privileges until I had an opportunity to discuss this matter with him.... [I]t is... cringeworthy to hear your father wants to be sexually active and that I need to have a conversation with him about safe sex."

What a terrible attitude! How ignorant it is about the feelings of older people. And what an invasion of privacy to tell this story in the NYT. I can't understand why the NYT published it — to see it lambasted?