WHERE'S MY RESUME?
“What are the real possibilities for our aging population now? How will we live them; what will we do with them? Who will we become? How will we see ourselves; how will we be seen? What will sustain us — emotionally, economically, physically, spiritually? These, not just whether the old will break the Social Security bank or bankrupt Medicare, are the central questions about aging in our time.” (Lillian Rubin, 2011, age 87)
I came across this quote at the start of Orangeman’s last foray as our President in 2016. I remember thinking that we would not survive his tenure. It was close. Praise be. Can we do it again? There are more barriers today: The Ukraine, Roe v. Wade, Israel, immigration, all the law suits he is pushing into his back pocket, hoping they will rot there. Today he told the world that if he didn’t win, there would be a ‘blood bath”.
But I meander; the quote captured for me the core of the aging conundrum. Who are we? And who are we to become? I don’t need a demographer to tell me I am getting older. I have lots of company. Just check the obituaries, all those 80’s and 90’s with a sizable sprinkle of 100’s. In one of her books, Ms. Ruben pointed out that not only are we living longer, but we also fit into new categories. Before the Industrial Revolution we were pretty much divided into workers and others and if you lived to be old, you were probably around forty. It would take a few centuries to seriously change that number. But it is moving up every year. One statistic I read claimed that half of all children born this year will live into their 90’s.
Now demographers have, besides the Boomers and millennials et al. something they call the oldest old and define as over 80 or 85. Some even start the category at 90 and different countries have taken different markers. Since I am 87, it doesn’t matter, oldest old fits. Not surprisingly, we are more likely to need long term care, but mostly will get it at home, needed by more women than men and while needing care will be in general healthier I already have my toe in that pond..
But there is little discussion about what we do, how the old spend their time. Agism is alive and well: we continue to think in terms of the old as well, old. If we put in perspective the demographic trends including the sharp decline in fertility, we might share the concerns of those who think we should start eating away at social security. And seriously considering opening a job market to serve the elderly both their financial needs and maybe a broader category called self-esteem.
Today, jobs for the elderly proliferate if you want to provide long term care for someone like yourself. The trick is that you can’t get paid to provide it for a relative. We can then envision armies of mostly old but reasonably healthy folks heading out every day to care for other old folks.
The AARP has a job board but lists mostly clerical or supermarket shelving work. That’s not helpful for the majority of elders who have bad backs, need canes, or just can’t last at much of anything more than three, maybe four hours. Oh and don’t forget the hearing aids and the glasses.
We are an innovative people and I can see ways we might extend the productivity and economic power of our elders. Job Jitneys bopping around town. Work with your neighbors not the guy in the next town. Bring the jobs home. Teach each other something new. Build in golf and bridge. Accommodate and don’t get bored. We’ll figure it out.