OLDER AMERICANS MONTH
The Old Rusty Nail
AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE
Russell Burton, an Old Person
I didn’t know there was a month for us old people but President John F. Kennedy declared the month of May as such. And, this year 2013 is the 50th anniversary of when it happened. Back then there was something like 17 million Americans over the age of 65. Now I do not believe that the age of 65 is by any stretch of the imagination old. In my first article on this subject I designated the age of 80 as the beginning of being old. And, I suppose there are some on you in your 80s that would move old age to 90.
Back to the age of 65, now there are 40 million of us which is more than twice as many people as when President Kennedy decided to get the attention of younger people that we existed. And, we do exist with a rate of growth that is higher than our population as a whole.
I learned about this month from the June 2013 AARP article which was published announcing the unfortunate fact that old people are being ripped off my crooks at the rate of just about $100 per person. If you do the math that sum amounts to $2.9 billion each year. Hey that’s not peanuts.
This article went on to describe some of the methods used to steal money from us old people. Of course, there is the one that you have won a big lottery in a foreign country but we need some money to pay the fees and taxes for you so you can get the several million waiting just for you. How lucky can I be? You know you are not that lucky besides do you remember buying your lottery ticket in South Africa? It sounds dumb and it is dumb but some people still fall for it.
Of course, if you remember buying that ticket you just might have won. On the other hand, if you did not buy a ticket you are trying to get money that you know is not yours. Aha, trying a scam of your own. Remember ‘you can’t cheat an honest man’. That adage also goes for women.
Another scam is identity theft. Of course this scam is ever growing and affects all ages. There is no sure way of defeating this scam for sure but certainly by spreading all of your documents with your name, social security and bank numbers will help. These scam artists can be very creative. For instance, simply applying for a magazine subscription by one of these guys (and girls) in your name can be the beginning of identity theft.
In the dedication of an Older Americans Month, President Kennedy noted, “Our national record in providing for our aged is a proud and hopeful one. But it can and must improve.” I’m sure we all agree to that especially if you are an aged one for now it gets personal.
Now over these 50 years I have not witnessed any great improvement. In fact, I see the government attempting to take away from us what we have earned. The most recent attempt is to lower the rate of inflation used by Social Security to calculate our monthly check. Oh, let’s not forget the Medicare voucher scam that popped up its ugly head during the last presidential campaign. I don’t think that bad idea would fall in the category of ‘a proud and hopeful one’.
Another article on aging I recently ran across was in my local newspaper the San Antonio Express News (June 2, 2013) by Steven Austad. He noted that living to be 100 is rare but rapidly growing. Now, about 1 in 6,000 people accomplish that goal. That is if it is everyone’s goal. He noted Texas is near the bottom of the list of those people who do accomplish the century mark.
Of course, for us living in Texas this should be no surprise for we are near the bottom of the list in health care, education, etc. I expect not providing health care for poor people might explain why we are not doing so well with this statistic.
He considered these numbers in greater detail as he noted that only 1 in 6 centenarians are men. Oh boy that’s a downer for me considering I am a man. Aha, but looking more closely we find that those men who do beat the odds are healthier than their lady counterparts. That is, they are less likely to be in a nursing home, demented, or disabled. Well, that is good news. I surely don’t want to be part of those three categories in order to live to be 100.
This article noted that two comedians Bob Hope and George Burns made the century mark. And, George Burns made the now famous remark upon doing so, “If you live to be a hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age.”
On TV the other day, they showed a picture of a woman who was 110 and looked no older than I would say 75! She was talking to her sister of 98. How amazing!!!
Hey, being alive at any age is the necessary ingredient to make it to 100. So, all of you who are reading this article has hope. Hey a few of us will do it. Why not me?
I close reminding you all that I love to get emails from my many readers at burton.russell@att.net
