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Gray Matter
Having One’s Knickers in a Twist
Q.
My husband and I enjoy your columns where you’re peeved. Any new “pet hates?”
A.
Madame, I thought you never would ask! Let me count the ways in which I am upset with the world:
** Hundreds of thousands of skilled and energetic older women and men are idle, or underemployed,
because too few will hire them—and, at fair wages. Rampant age bias shuts elders out! Clearly, the
practice is unlawful. (Comment: our tough luck that anti-discrimination laws aren’t more readily and
aggressively enforced.)
** Meantime, sedentary older adults who smoke cigarettes, eat unwisely, take no exercise and then
complain about rotten “golden years” give aging a bad name. (Comment: Samuel Butler said it best in
1663: “For as you sow, ye are like to reap.”)
** I hold in high contempt a congress that passed a Medicare prescription law (Part D) they knew was
deeply flawed, confusing at best, and written to make industry still richer. Now, the administration
that knows no shame seeks to right certain shortcomings, those glaringly obvious to most. (Comment:
don’t hold your breath. See New Orleans for references.)
** In time of war—indeed, a war without end---too many programs meant to help Americans, of all
ages, fall into black holes. Consider, health insurance, longterm care, aid to education, and basic
research into disease killers—specifically, cancer.
American Cancer Society senior vice president Dan Smith tells The New York Times the
administration’s new federal budget “cuts every cancer-specific program.” He adds: “It’s
incomprehensible,” considering one of every two men will contract a cancer in his lifetime, and,
similarly, one of every three women will become a cancer patient, or cancer victim. (Comment: as a
rehabilitated prostate cancer survivor I remain a lifelong champion for medical research, our one
best hope for a cancer-free future for our beloved grandchildren.)
** Further, I weep for those older men who declare themselves too strong to cry. Small wonder then
that an estimated six million senior Americans battle depression and/or loneliness. (Comment:
there’s no shame in admitting we are all vulnerable, and at some point must struggle against social
isolation, loss of friends and family, and thereafter numbing grief. Remember, growing older is akin
to a long march while carrying a heavy pack.)
** Lastly, as an inveterate cheerleader of aging, and aged women and men, I find it disappointing, a
little maddening, that the Chicago-based American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) is
successfully promoting pills, potions, secretions and alleged medicines to thwart aging, which these
practitioners regard as (ital.) a disease. (End ital.) This newest campaign in the centuries old
effort to hold back the calendar boasts their industry (so-called) currently grosses $56 million a
year.
For the most part, this is all cash money since insurance companies aren’t about to climb into this
questionable bed any time soon. (Comment: please do your reading of books, medical journals, and
carry out online research before ever submitting a) your check or credit card, followed by: b) your
body, the only one you’ll have.
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Outrageous Associations
