Fear The Aging Boomer

There are over 70 million baby boomers in the US at the moment. And yes, we are starting to drop like flies but still...

I am on the very leading edge of the gang, having been born the month before official 1946 "boomer status" kicks in.

Aging boomer (yours truly) contemplates
computer keyboard and next smart-ass, 
vitriolic, sage, humorous, dark, prophetic, 
sarcastic (can never get enough sarcastic) 
post to blog, Facebook and Twitter. 

I also don't exactly know where I am going with this point other than to sort of qualify the observations that follow here:

Over most of the past twenty years I have been fortunate to serve as a consultant to well over half the nation's four dozen (give or take) health care Quality Improvement Organizations.

For those who don't know, these are typically non-profit companies that for the past 30 to 35 years have served as government designated watchdogs over the quality of Medicare in one or more states. They have also taken on a lot of Medicaid contracts and typically have a variety of functions like fielding complaints, patient and provider education, outcomes measurement, promoting adoption of electronic health care records, utilization review and a bunch more.

For those who don't care, I am going to move on by pointing out that I have had ample professional and personal reasons to reflect on the evolving characteristics of the average Medicare recipient, in addition to just flat getting sicker as they age that is.  Here are two of the biggest reasons why we are getting more annoying to the general population:

• The adoption of computers and the internet.  Boomers have been following right along with this, often at the encouragement (read teasing) of their savvy children.  The results?...more demand for medical information, for internet access to providers and complaint avenues and the ability to organize groups with common goals.  All this means more input from patients and the general population... all at risk for more and more infirmities as they age.
• Google - yep, Google knows everything, including a lot of things that are dead wrong. Nevertheless, boomers love to Google stuff...right from their cell phones, during parties when a subject comes up that needs an answer and, at any moment.

I'm not going to beat this horse until its dead... I'm just pointing this out so the millions who follow this blog (okay, one or two who follow - you know who you are) will better understand the photo here and its accompanying caption.

Now there you have it...along with this note of caution: There are more than 70 million boomers (yes, I am repeating myself, its something we do you know) right behind me, ready to wield their "mightier than sword" pens and wreak havoc among those who would overlook an important point about democracy, or about race, or about gender, or about religion, or about health care needs (yes we like run-on sentences too). Stay tuned America.  We are just getting started. 

   

Beware The Velcro Shoes

I was slipping on my sneakers to head the gym this morning.
I keep them tied loosely so they will slide on and off just like a pair of loafers.  I learned this from watching my kids do it (no idea where they learned it) some years ago and it works great, especially if your work involves a lot of air travel. You can just pop those puppies on and off in seconds at both ends of that old airport security line while others are mostly looking for places to sit and tie their laces.

Anyway, I was slipping them on and my pitiful mind briefly flashed on sneakers that close using velcro straps. When I have seen these on others over the years I have felt sorry for those wearing them.  Sort of like; "OK, I am getting so old now I will just buy these things so I won't have to spend all that time bent over trying to tie a damn lace that doesn't want to cooperate with my arthritic (enter "knees, fingers, back" or whatever here)."  I suspect other infirmities of aging apply as well.

So, if you feel this coming on, be advised you can take a pair of regular shoes or sneakers and tie them in your lap, leaving them loose enough to slip on your foot.  You might want to try a few different levels of tightness to get it just right but then you are set. You can just leave the knot in place to slide them off or on anytime you please.  That way, you won't have to wear that velcro badge that says you have some limiting infirmity.  After all, we aging boomers have enough to deal with without that too right?!

I'm sneaky that way and you can be too.