I saw one of the dumbest platitudes I’ve ever seen just the other day.
“Ninety is the new 60.”
I’ve seen variations on it, telling me that 80 is the new 50, or 70 the new 40. They’re all dumb enough to make me feel angry, and there aren’t that many things not involving Trump or Republicans that get me worked up these days.
But 90 is the new 60?
Just because some geezers are water skiing or playing pickle ball or — God forbid — using modern medication to remain sexually active?
Nope.
If you’re offended by my use of the word geezer to describe old people, I’m every bit as entitled to use it as African-American rappers are to throw around n-words. And boy, do I hate that euphemism, especially in print.
Maybe I should say g**zer, just as they could write n**ger instead of that euphemism.
As for 90 and 60, I’m closer to the second than the first, although just barely. And no male member of my family has ever made it to 90, although my maternal grandfather came up just five months short.
It is absolutely ridiculous to judge age — and say older people are actually younger now — by recreational pursuits. Because while there are certainly people whose entire goal in life is to be able to stop working and have fun for the rest of their lives, there are plenty of us who define (or defined) ourselves by the work we do or did.
And when it comes to work, 40 is the new 65.
I had planned to work into at least my 60s, but my job was eliminated at 58 as one of a thousand Southern California journalist jobs that disappeared for good in 2008 and I never found another one.
For me, 58 was the new 80.
The fact is, all sorts of things I see on the internet these days show just how much hatred there is toward Baby Boomers from subsequent generations. I suppose part of it is kids in their twenties realizing their lives are a lot more complicated than those of us who grew up watching “Leave it to Beaver.”
And let’s be honest. The oldest boomers will turn 78 this year, so the “90 is the new 60” crowd is actually from an earlier generation. Most of them worked till they were 65 and then retired. To give them credit, they then lived healthy lives and didn’t die.
They’re not old enough to be part of the so-called Greatest Generation. Most of them would be from the half-generation in between, the Silent Generation of the 1950s.
So they can be 90/60 if they want.
Just don’t expect me to agree.