There Are a Whole Lot of Numbers Left in My Life

In the 1950s, there were three things that a woman would never be caught doing: 1) smoking in public, 2) wearing long pants, and 3) coloring her hair.

Where her hair was concerned, she was instructed to pull each gray strand by its root, rather than risk association with those who bleached, or worse, dyed their hair (actresses and "loose" women). That is ... until Clairol entered the scene with their revolutionary new product, making the act of coloring your hair an acceptable practice. Women went to the store in droves to purchase Clairol, recognizing the new product for what it was ... a way to defy age.

Years ago, it was considered uncouth to ask a woman her age and the presence of just a few strands of gray hair was looked at with disdain, even horror. Yikes! As a young girl, I remember women being stalled at 39 years of age for years on end. If someone commented on her being 39 for three years running, she would merely smile and say, "A lady never tells her age."

She didn't talk about menopause or depression or having a hysterectomy either. She lived in a world where she was expected to know her place and to be happy in it; a place where her husband was king and she was meant to be the perfect wife, the most gracious hostess, and a June Cleaver type mom to their perfectly turned out, well-behaved children.

Of course, life wasn't really like that inside the privacy of their home; but, the media certainly portrayed a woman's life in the 50s and 60s as a living, breathing Pleasantville, of sorts.

Lord, am I happy those days are gone.

Being 50+ today is a celebration! It's a time to take stock of all you have accomplished in the first several decades of your life, to redisover love, to form a friendship with your adult children, to find time to sit and enjoy a cup of tea while reading a wonderful romance novel.

There are other more subtle benefits to being a touch older, too.

I find that I am no longer comfortable being a well-worn welcome mat - I can say no and not feel as guilty about it.

I don't care as much about what people think of me these days - I just do what's right for me and the people I care about.

I can actually shop by myself, for myself, taking time to wonder around a bookstore or to carefully select produce at a farmer's market.

Instead of jet-setting to track meets, dance recitals, and school plays, I have rediscovered the love and companionship of my best friend ... my husband.

I spend time with my girlfriends, talking about our children, yes, but also cheering on the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field or planning exotic vacations over a glass of wine.

Life is full of richness and wonder for me these days. I'm in a great place at work - a place where i can use my wisdom to make an indelible impact. I have a wonderful relationship with my grown children and am thrilled they still enjoy spending time with their parents. I am rediscovering quieter, more intimate times with my husband, as we go on weekly dinner dates. I love who I am and what I've become.

As Mark Twain once said, "Age is an issue of mind over matter; if you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

To my way of thinking, age is just a number and there are a whole lot more numbers left in my life.

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I am trying to blog my way to the AARP Orlando@50 conference. This blog post is an entry in their competition to find the official blogger to travel to and cover the event. Find out more about the conference here.

What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

What do you want to be when you grow up? That's the question asked of all little children.

I want to be a fireman!
I want to be a hula dancer!
I want to be an artist!
I want to be a princess!
I want to be a train driver!
I want to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz!

In this YouTube video, the dreams go on and on.

But, somewhere along the line we stop dreaming. We figure out where our life is headed, hunker down, and follow the path that has presented itself to us ... usually, the path of least resistance.

Some of us may have had doubts along life's path. An even smaller number of us may have had the courage to switch careers mid-stream, with the hope of finding our true passion in life.

Who ever said that we had to stop dreaming anyway? Why can't we change our direction from time to time? It sure would make life a whole lot more interesting.

With amazing insight into the new aging consumer, AARP nails what so many aging Baby Boomers feel - it's never too late to learn. Their two new commercials (#1 and #2) are absolutely charming, with vignettes of older individuals talking about .... When I grow up ...

I want to be a volunteer firefighter
I want to run a marathon
I want to write a novel
I'm going to start a band
I want to fix up old houses
I want to fall in love again

Thank you to AARP for shattering the paradigms of aging. How incredibly refreshing!

#MediaPost

CBS News Continues Misleading Reporting of a Backlash Against AARP

First Fox, Now CBS

Recently, Fox News reported that AARP was experiencing a backlash from members due to the organization's "support" (this is contested) of proposed healthcare reform. The Fox News item extensively quotes Stuart Barton, president of the American Seniors Association. Barton offers deep criticism of AARP, and says that his group has received many torn-up AARP membership cards.

The Fox report, however, fails to mention that ASA is a "conservative group" and that Barton opposes Democrat-sponsored healthcare reform - referring to it as "Obamacare." Nevertheless, Fox presents the organization's views as indicative of the views of senior organizations other than AARP.

But that was not Fox's worst omission. The report also fails to disclose that ASA is sponsoring a drive which gives 2 years of membership for the price of 1 year to individuals who mail in their torn up AARP cards. Both groups offer their members advocacy on important issues for seniors, as well as discounts and promotions with corporate partners.

It does not take much brain power to figure out that many of the individuals are simply taking advantage of a good deal, rather than expressing hatred of or disagreement with AARP. Furthermore, with major news media like Fox (and now CBS) giving ASA attention, the organization's membership drive is probably enjoying a tremendous amount of success. Finally, because it is probably impossible for ASA to confirm that new members have actually canceled their AARP memberships, people could send their torn-up cards to ASA, get a discounted membership with ASA, order a replacement card from AARP, and retain memberships in both organizations.

CBS News has joined Fox's abysmal reporting on this issue. A report by Sharyl Attkisson (see embedded video following this article) discloses the conservative nature of ASA, but Attkisson never mentions the organization's marketing strategy that offers a 50% discount to new members who mail in torn up AARP cards. That a competing organization is offering AARP members a financial incentive to mail in their torn membership cards is indisputably relevant to this story.

To make matters worse, Attkisson's report contains ample footage of ASA staff sorting through envelopes and removing torn AARP cards, which suggests a massive backlash. Instead, many of the individuals are likely taking advantage of ASA's competitive membership drive. Thanks to Fox and CBS, this group is receiving effective -- but deceptive -- marketing.

At the very end of the report, Attkisson finally decides to mention that AARP has over 40 million members, registers hundreds of thousands of new members per month, and that the organization considers a loss of "up to" 60,000 members as a "drop in the bucket." It is unclear whether AARP has even suffered a net loss of members. [Note: It has not -- see below: UPDATE II]

UPDATE: James Joyner raises a good point on the blog Outside the Beltway. Joyner describes the irony (edit: "complete hypocrisy") of conservative seniors and ASA leading the charge against AARP for supporting a plan that seeks to reduce the costs associated with Medicare. Conservatives often point to Medicare as representing the perils of public-sponsored healthcare. Also, it is the largest public plan in the country, but conservatives bash public plans as a step towards "socialized medicine." This "protest" does not reflect conservative values.

UPDATE II: According to an Associated Press article (that also fails to mention ASA's card-cutting membership drive), the loss of 60, 000 members is indeed a drop in the bucket for AARP. A spokesperson for AARP says that 60,000 members specifically cited AARP's stance on healthcare reform as they canceled their memberships (which means these particular individuals do not retain memberships in AARP and ASA). The spokesperson also said that AARP typically loses 300,000 members a month, and that during the same period that it lost 60,000 members (July 1 - mid-August) over healthcare reform, it gained 400,000 new members, and 1.5 million individuals renewed their memberships.

UPDATE III:Media Matters has done some digging on the personalities featured in the CBS report. Apparently, one of the ex-AARP'ers, Elaine Guardiani, is very conservative and anti-Obama even outside of the healthcare debates. Accordingly, she is a prime candidate to take part in an AARP smear campaign -- or ASA membership drive. Assuming this is the same Guardiani, here are her comments regarding healthcare reform:

Couple this with this headlong rush into control over every aspect of our lives by the current administration and the attack on our right to have "privacy" of our medical records and be able to choose our medical coverage without the government attacking our benefits and our right to care under penalty of law even if we can afford procedures they don't intend to provide or want to eliminate from our care if a government plana goes through. Since when is it illegal for me to be able to pay for something I can afford like medical procedures? This country is heading into Socialism at breakneck speed and it is being masked under the glib language of our president.

At age 64, Guardian will probably soon enroll in Medicare. It does not appear, however, that she has renounced Medicare -- the nation's largest public plan. Neither have the many conservative bloggers who view this story as an honest portrayal of reality. Conservatives, however, usually despise Medicare, and since it is a public plan, they should consider it one step closer to "socialized medicine." Instead, they are praising the alleged AARP protestors, even though a principal part of their protest surrounds Obama's pledge to lower costs associated with Medicare.

UPDATE IV: Poor CBS. Check out these links, which explain that CBS was either duped or the network voluntarily acted as ASA's marketing machine:

CBS News: Breathless Stenography

Are Senior Citizens Really Quitting AARP And Rushing To The Conservative American Seniors Association?

CBS Video

Do Seniors Really Oppose Healthcare Reform: Fox News Article Omits Several Crucial Details

Fox News reports that AARP is experiencing a membership backlash because the organization supports some aspects of Democrat-sponsored healthcare reform. According to the article, some seniors have slashed their AARP cards, and critical audience members forced AARP to end a healthcare townhall meeting in Dallas. The Fox article, however, fails to elaborate on some interesting and important details.

Missing Links
According to Fox's own opinion data, 56 percent of "seniors" (not defined) do not want a public plan option for "all Americans." Although the proposed healthcare legislation contains a public plan option, the plan would not be available to "all Americans."

Furthermore, Fox's data indicates that 93% of seniors rated their own coverage as "good" or "excellent." Most of these individuals, however, are probably covered by Medicare -- the nation's largest public plan. This statistic undermines the common conservative trope about the horrors of Medicare and "socialized medicine" for patients. It also calls into question the seniors' own opposition to expanding government-sponsored healthcare.

More importantly, the Fox article also reports that "[o]ther groups representing seniors say they aren't surprised by the recent backlash." In support of this claim, the article reports the views of only one other membership organization -- the American Seniors Association. The article, however, fails to disclose that ASA represents the views of conservative seniors.

The article quotes Stuart Barton, ASA's president, who says that his group receives "letters every single day from people that [sic] are very upset about this bill and about the AARP supporting it. . . ." Barton also says that he does not "blame [people] for coming back and saying they are going to tear up their AARP cards." Stunningly, the Fox article fails to report that ASA is running an open campaign on its website that encourages individuals to "tear up their AARP cards." If the individual mails in the torn-up card, he or she would become eligible for a two-year membership in ASA for the price of a one-year membership. Naturally, Barton has received some torn-up AARP cards. But this does not prove a wave of opposition to healthcare reform among seniors -- even conservative seniors.

Moreover, ASA, as an organization, openly opposes Democrat-sponsored healthcare reform. Barton has floated the utterly false notion that the proposed legislation will force people to " go to counseling every five years to basically learn how to die. . . ." Instead, the legislation would cover the costs associated with providing counseling related to living wills, medical directives, and other end-of-life issues that seniors (and others) face.

After the Terry Schiavo incident, many Americans raced to obtain living wills. This did not mean that they wanted to or expected to die. Instead, the surge demonstrated that people wanted to exercise greater control over their destinies. Providing this type of counseling is good medicine.

Often this type of advice only becomes available when, as in the Schiavo case, it is too late for the patient to participate actively in the decision making process and when friends and family members are distraught over the situation. It is difficult to understand how this component of the legislation could become a lightening rod -- absent any gross distortion of its meaning.

Additional Points
Perhaps seniors should have real concerns about healthcare reform, but I find it odd - and even hypocritical - that so many of them could oppose a public plan, given their own satisfaction with Medicare. Perhaps their real concern is with the government's planned effort to reduce the costs of Medicare to help finance healthcare reform. But saying "spend more on us, not them" is certainly not a principled conservative (or liberal) position on government-sponsored health insurance.

Finally, in the interest of full disclosure Fox should have reported the political views of ASA and its president. Even though many people have nonpartisan objections to healthcare reform, this organization is clearly hostile to the proposed reforms and to AARP for supporting them. Furthermore, Fox only presented the views of this one group, even though the article states that other "groups" disagree with AARP. After digging (for just a few minutes) about ASA, I wonder how large this "backlash" against AARP really is.

Tough Talk on Social Security

The elderly vote faithfully. When pollsters survey "registered elderly voters," they may as well call them "likely elderly voters." Because of their high electoral participation, candidates from both parties court older voters. They also try to attract younger voters, but this group has a very poor track record of showing up to the polls.

Because they do not ordinarily work, older workers pay close attention to health care, social security, and other issues that impact their class more substantially than others. For this reason, social security remains a sacred cow. You cannot touch it. Getting rid of social security is not a reality. Privatizing it remains unpopular. Increasing taxes to pay for it, gets some attention, but remains unpopular. Obama has said he would increases taxes on workers making $250,000 to help subsidize social security, but this probably will not do much to solve the problem. McCain strikes back with typical Republican anti-tax rhetoric, but provides no solution himself.

A recent article by Robert J. Samuelson, a writer for Newsweek and the Washington Post, offers a sober perspective on social security and the presidential election: due to the need to attract older voters, neither candidate will offer an honest take on the state of social security. The article is definitely worth a read. Here are some highlights:

* The basic ways to fund social security for the increasingly large population of beneficiaries is to reduce payments, limit the ages of eligibility, or
increase medicare co-payments or deductibles, but Obama rejected all three
options, while McCain has remained silent;

* It is unfair for today's workers making over $250,000 to pay higher taxes to subsidize the retirement income of elderly people making over $250,000;

* Calls on young people to protest the candidates seeking their votes, but ignoring their interests.

The analysis sounds interesting, but theoretically a tax increase could help maintain benefit levels. Samuelson says that would be too draconian. I also wonder what percentage of retirees have incomes of $250,000 or above, but still receive social security, and how substantial the amount is that they receive. I assume this does not represent the largest chunk of beneficiaries. Nevertheless, the article provides some interesting insight -- something that is a rare find in the morass of reporting today.