Our society is being
transformed. Sure, we have had the civil
rights movement that ended Jim Crow laws and other forms of
discrimination. The Women’s Movement and
Title IX opened the doors in the professions and sports for women. The LGBT movement (even with its excesses)
resulted in marriage equality and other accommodations for gays and transgender
people.
But last week, there were a few
news items that signaled that there is a new movement afoot. When considered together, these anecdotes say
something about our society, culture and demographics.
The Gray Movement is bursting
forth.
First, NBC news reported on
Shawnee Service Center in Wilmette where two men in their 80’s have been
working together for 60 years…. and have no intention of retiring. (https://www.nbcchicago.com/on-air/as-seen-on/senior-mechanics-lifelong-friends-565559342.html). This story caught my attention as I have been
noticing more and more people working well past the usual retirement age. Chicago attorney Fred Lane (who I have had
the pleasure of getting to know and occasionally playing golf with) still does
mediations and arbitrations and teaches a clinic in the same. He is north of 90, still vibrant and engaging
and a deadly accurate golfer, especially around the green. Film maker Clint Eastwood shows no signs of
slowing down, with his latest film to be released this month and the prolific
Eastwood is 89. Many musicians are still
touring. Mick Jagger is 75 and the
Rolling Stones still put on a good show.
I saw Alice Cooper a couple of years ago, and he hasn’t lost a step. It is not surprising that our political class
is aging out as well. Donald Trump is 73
and two of his rivals, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are 77 and 78,
respectively. I predict that within a
decade, this nation will be led by an octogenarian. We are seeing more people continue to
practice their trade into their September, October, and November years.
In another news item last week, an
intruder broke into the home of an 82 year old woman in Rochester, New York (https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/24/us/82-year-old-bodybuilder-grandma-intruder-trnd/index.html). The poor sot made a bad life decision. It turned out that the woman, Willie Murphy
was a trained powerlifter, and she literally turned the tables on the 28 year
old intruder, grabbing a table and
beating him with it until the table broke.
She jumped up and down on him and squirted shampoo in his eyes and
dragged him out of her house. “Don’t
mess with Willie,” one of her friends said.
More and more people in the later stages of life are staying physically
fit and are fully capable of defending themselves. I couldn’t help but giggle while I watched
the news clips of the incident and was in awe as they showed some clips of
Willie weight training.
And finally, there was the story
of 83 year old Hattie Wiener of Hell’s Kitchen, NY. “Tinder Granny” as she is known, has led a
very active and colorful life, to say the least—a life that would have made Mae
West blush. She apparently had a long
history of hooking up with young men on Tinder and having a series of one night
stands. But, alas, Hattie has announced
that she’s finally tired of the cougar mill and is finally ready to settle down
with one man (https://nypost.com/2019/11/27/83-year-old-tinder-granny-ready-for-love-after-decades-of-one-night-stands/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow). One can only hope that she was practicing her
catting around safely. While I don’t advocate
Weiner’s lifestyle, she is demonstrating that she is very much alive, and it
shows that our sexual lives don’t necessarily have to turn off at age 65
either. In Japan, the sex industry is
changing, too. The Wall Street Journal
reports that older men are hiring young women, not necessarily to have sex with
them, but just to lay next to them and keep them company.
These stories all splashed across
the media this week. Western and Asian
societies are aging and our demographics are changing. It is also the case that lifespans are
increasing (except in the U.S. for middle aged white men). These anecdotes are illustrative of the
reality of those changes. Many of us are
making different life choices--- to live fuller lives in every respect as we
age—professionally, physically, and yes, sexually. These people are showing us how to run
through the tape.
The Gray Age is here.
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