We've got a problem, and you can help solve it. And - here's something you don't hear too often - it won't cost you a penny. It won't cost you time. And it just might change a life. Yes, really.

There are a lot more older people about. One day, all of us - if we're lucky - will be among them. But it's a bit of a time bomb, in terms of society providing enough support and health care. A lot of policy papers are being written about this, but sometimes answers are breathtakingly simply.

Here's one.

Just be nice to an older person you find in the supermarket queue, or maybe struggling with their change on the bus or maybe looking a bit lost on the pavement. Instead of coming across as a bit impatient, just smile.

Here's why.

It's obvious that part of the solution to our ageing population is to help people who want to stay in their own homes. That's massively less costly for society, and it's often what people want, with the right support. There's lots to say about the right support (I've been talking to the people at Age UK Norwich, and I'll get on to that in the next column.

The EDP is - rightly - making this a campaigning issue.

But right now I promised you something important that doesn't even take time.

Back to that.

OK, if you're an older person managing at home, but struggling a bit, getting out less often, one of the things that happens is you begin to lose confidence. That's natural enough; mobility and balance may be going and falling is no joke. Hearing is more of a problem. And a big factor here - yes, anyone who's spent time around older people will recognise this - is that you don't want to be a burden. You don't want to be a trouble. You don't want to get in the way.

What we sometimes don't 'get' about that elderly chap struggling with his wallet in the supermarket queue is that he knows very well he's holding other people up. He's not stupid. He's already embarrassed. If you 'tut', or look at your watch, you're just confirming it. If you smile, and say 'Take your time', or 'I get like that sometimes', he (or she) will relax and probably sort it out faster anyway. And their whole day will feel better.

But if they have a bad experience, they'll go home, ponder it, and that might be the day they decide they can't go to the supermarket any more because 'I'm just not up to it'.

I promised you 'life changing'. That's life-changing. It's your call.