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Thoughts on maturing
Now, in some areas this classifies me as a “senior citizen,” although if I choose to place myself in denial of that fact I can seek out those establishments who do not recognize you as a “senior citizen” until you reach 65. A “Google search” (Every time I say that I think I’m talking to a baby or about a candy bar) produced some interesting information as to how “we old folks” nearing the end of the human life cycle are perceived. For instance, the following euphemisms for older people include senior or senior citizen, advanced adult, elderly, golden-ager, pensioner and how about “old geezer.” In his book “Listening to America,” Stuart Berg Flexner wrote “‘Senior citizen’ has been a popular euphemism since the 1950s, when the number of older people suddenly seemed to have multiplied. … In the 1950s, for the first time, millions were reaching the age and had pensions to become ‘retirees,’ a new American group, and a new word to most. People began talking about the new ‘retirement houses’ in ‘retirement villages’ and ‘apartments for seniors’ where the elderly, according to the ads, could most happily spend their ‘golden years.’” Growing old in America can be a daunting task, but in Japan they have an interesting program for their senior citizens. Hureai kippu! Hurry what’d you say? Now the Japanese have come up with an idea, I think, deserves consideration. Hureai kippu is a Japanese phrase roughly meaning in English: Caring Relationship Tickets. It is a Japanese community currency created in 1995 by the Japanese Welfare Institute so that people could earn credits helping seniors in their community. You know, that has other possibilities if you think about it. Anyway, the basic unit of account is an hour of service performed for an elderly person. For example, let’s say you have an elderly woman on your block who no longer has a driver’s license. If you shop for her, you get credit for it based on the kind of service and the number of hours. Those credits accumulate in an account. Users may keep them for when they become sick or elderly themselves, then use the credits in exchange for services. Alternatively, the users may transfer credits to someone else. China, too, is starting to implement the hureai kippu concept. Then there is Plyushkin! No, it’s not a new children’s doll. Plyushkin might be deemed Russia’s euphemism for the elderly. The name apparently is semi-humorously applied to people, generally “old people” in Russia who collect and amass various useless, broken, thrown-away things. My wife, who considers my penchant for amassing things, would probably add a hardy “Amen!” Nyet, I won’t go there! Older people, we are told, have limited regenerative abilities and are more prone to disease, syndromes and sickness than other adults. However, in the late 20th century and early 21st century, advances in nutrition and health care have extended the period of good health, as well as extending the overall life expectancy of us “old geezers!” Adolph Zukor, (Jan. 7, 1873-June 10, 1976) a Hungarian-born American film producer and executive and founder of Paramount Pictures Studios in 1913, on approaching his hundredth birthday, said, “if I’d known how old I was going to be I’d have taken better care of myself.” Actually though I have rather looked forward to reaching “old age” status. I mean, doesn’t everybody treat you with more respect? I will have to admit what someone once said is probably accurate: “At 20, we worry about what others think of us; at 40, we don’t care about what others think of us; at 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking about us at all.” Hmmmm – where did I put my cane?
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