I'm here to say I'm so tired of the features I'm seeing all over, about old people climbing mountains, swimming oceans and centenarians jumping out of planes, as if this is something great to aspire to.
I suspect a lot of the features are generated one way or another by the travel and sports equipment people. I reserve the right to get annoyed when they quote statistics then ignore them in their own conclusions.
I just read one piece which said retirees are keenly traveling to make up for over working at desk jobs. Then says its about 40% of them. The majority who are not running about supporting the travel lobby? Crickets.
My current favorite is the seniors keenly looking for partners. All those seniors. Fewer than 20%. But that's the important group, I guess. Then the happily single daringly planning on solo travel (always the travel), are about 10% of their cohort. About the 90% ruining the narrative by liking home? Dream on. These are conclusions they're drawing from their own numbers. Maybe they expect people won't notice.
Anyway, ranting and media literacy aside, it's really dull reading about happy octos who love being home and sitting out reading and watching butterflies, walking the neighborhood, greeting everyone as their paths cross, sharing baked treats with friends, making things by hand, and writing snarky blog posts. They're not really feature fodder.
So don't expect relief from the pictures of silver haired privileged white het people water skiing, laughing happily, any time soon!
I can't help wondering if the ancient folk jumping out of airplanes have led a dismal existence up to now and will do anything for a thrill. Or if they're secretly hoping the parachute won't open. I always wondered about Barbara Bush's motives, enthusiastically applauding Bush the First as he jumped out on every birthday..
Cynical me. I'm guessing the yarn and book lobbies are less powerful. Also sitting reading and knitting isn't very dynamic in pictures. And laughing at yourself is pretty much unknown to feature writers, though it's one of the pleasures of any age.
Here's the nondynamic activity I was involved in last evening while I listened to a Mrs Jefferson mystery
And there was spurtzleuring up yarn for future nondynamic purposes
And, home again on Labor Day there was a lot of tracking down and listening to pro Labor songs, well, anthems, Look for the Union Label, the ILGWU Anthem, Paul Robeson singing Joe Hill to Welsh miners at work, and at a concert in Edinburgh for Scottish miners, packing the Usher Hall. And If I Had a Hammer.
Observed with respect by this one-time Union member, daughter and mother of Union members, my dad in the Steelworkers, I in AFSCME, Handsome Son in Amalgamated Meatcutters.
Happy day everyone, do your thing, honor all year the workers feeding us and keeping us safe. And remember the writers of the features I featured are only trying to make a living, not to make sense.
