SENIOR CITIZEN TO JUNIOR CITIZEN

Being a senior citizen is easy.

Wake up every day and thank your parents for decent DNA and a good immune system.

That’s it, except for the other stuff.

The other stuff? What other stuff?

Lucky people get to be a senior citizen; consider the people you know who died young.

Not so lucky. What would they give to be in your shoes today?

There’s a saying about aging: If you live long enough you’ll be the villain in your own story.

Why the villain and not the hero?

Maybe you weren’t as good as you thought?

Or, maybe the people you were good to have had a change of mind.

Either way, if you get the results you want from the effort you expend, keep at it.

Which brings us to parent as senior citizen.

 

In the old days life expectancy was lower than it is today, which means we have more time to find good things to do.

Volunteer, take classes, teach classes, exercise like your life depends on it, cook the food you eat. You know, the basics.

You got this far following a regime, so keep going.

Baby boomers are senior citizens no matter how you look at it.

Some have aged well, some not so well, like every other generation.

The thing about boomers is they, we, are the first generation that talked back to their elders.

And the elders were shocked and stunned to hear some kid tell them, “Hell no, I won’t go.”

Now we’re the elders listening to smart aleck kids talking back and we want to do better than our elders.

How’s that working out?

 

Safety First

Social media has promoted shit talk to high art.

Now it’s not between a husband and wife, a kid and their parents; now the entire world is the audience.

Instead of getting an ass-kicking in real time, the shit talker is immune from their seat in front of a screen.

When things go the other way, the troll screams about their rights.

I’m not a physical beat-down advocate, I’m more of a ‘sticks and stones will break my bones’ kind of blogger.

I keep that in mind as a writer. My influence doesn’t extend to calling out people for their looks, their beliefs, or where they are from.

But I will comment on how you portray yourself, and this is a hard take to express.

 

I saw a post on twitter showing college kids signing up to vote republican. I’m glad they’re getting involved.

There’s nothing sadder than young people feeling like their elders have left them holding the bag.

They want to believe their lives will be better if they find a way to vote republican.

The weird part is how change is communicated.

Dear Boys and Girls,

One lesson I’ve learned as a senior citizen is the rule of balance: If your choice of candidate is 51% favorable to 49% not, that might be your guy, or gal.

The rule of balance also works in marriage; 51% is carrying the upper hand.

If you’re the spouse with the upper hand and you give it freely to your partner, you are a keeper.

However, if you bitch, moan, and complain, you’re still a keeper. You just need some work.

But that’s not how it works when you plan for the future.

The future for college kids shouldn’t include a retreat leader with no clue on how to lead.

Where’s the appeal to younger voters?

 

Start With A ‘To Do’ List

Back in time, Boomer Time, Richard Nixon was the man, the man not to vote for.

The saying was, “Dick Nixon, before he dicks you.”

Turns out it wasn’t an empty threat after Watergate forced Nixon to resign.

Turns out the man who said he wasn’t a crook was wrong.

No one wants a schemer in  chief assuring everyone they are not scheming.

The same goes for a scammer in chief.

Young people don’t have enough experience with schemers and scammers to recognize them when they’re standing in front of them.

Vote how you like, but try and not vote for negative consequences down the road when you are a senior citizen.

Girls, vote for your best results.

God forbid you ever need a health intervention during a pregnancy and you can’t get the help you need because you voted for a particular candidate.

Your health and well being are in their hands?

Take a look at those hands and where they’ve been.

As a boomer with some experience on both sides of healthcare I can reliably say you don’t want medical decisions in the hands of political hacks.

You want a doctor who can aim you toward specialists, experts in their field, not some ‘thoughts and prayers’ hoser who is willing to let you die with their diagnosis of ‘It is what it is.’

Young people today need to know how things play out.

At eighteen I went to college and was stunned to see how many people still smoked cigarettes.

At nineteen I joined the Army and had cigarettes included in field rations with the rule of ‘Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em, and we all had them.

The early 70’s were a time of  cars lining up at gas stations.

With that reference point I figured big cars would be a thing of the past.

I was wrong on cigarettes and gas guzzlers, and more.

What will young college students today be wrong about?

Registering to vote is not wrong.

Voting for a hack who enjoys telling you he’s a hack, the best hack out there, a world class hack might not be the best choice.

One thing about a hack is their voodoo skills at hacking into voters’ feelings.

That a man of low living can appeal to good Christians, the fiscally responsible, and everyday Americans who get up and go to work, in other words your friends and family, neighbors and acquaintances, shows why change is needed.

You don’t need a man well versed in alternative facts, climate denial, and a lifestyle of the rich and famous.

If a man needs to screw off and call it ‘Executive Time’ his non-executive voters go along.

They’ve never been executives, never had ‘Executive Time.

Instead, they get up and go without calling for special time.

They also answer for their actions when they break the law.

Are you above the law? Do you have special immunity? Will you ever?

No, you won’t. Why? Because this is America. No exceptions to the law.

Vote for that, college boys and girls. Now get to class, we need smarter people.