How about some 鈥�80 under 80鈥� articles?
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, “An Unfinished Love Story,” about her husband Dick’s role in the administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and presidential candidates Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy, among others, was a tale that read a little like Forrest Gump.
Dick Goodwin appeared at and wrote speeches for nearly every political event in the 1960s. He was a wunderkind – a young, remarkably successful, extremely smart guy. That fascination with his youthful prowess captured my attention.
Before I reached 40, I was an up-and-comer, too. My first business recognition award came shortly after my 35th birthday. Three organizations recruited me soon after that. I was kind of a local wunderkind, at least in my own mind.
We regularly see business publications featuring “40 under 40” articles with pictures of smiling, young leaders, and entrepreneurs. They are all still fresh, enthusiastic up-and-comers. They have not yet become war-torn products of sometimes lethal encounters with the public, consumers, or other businesspeople. Life.
Once I turned 40, everything changed. All the groundbreaking, earth-shattering, innovative things for which I had previously received recognition were now just a part of my daily expected tasks. And as time went on my persona became that of a harried warrior who better darn well do his job at maximum level all the time.
Now that my 40s are decades behind me, I am going to propose an entirely different idea about the latest version of this youth phenomenon. I would like to see articles titled “80 under 80.”
Let’s face it, because of some revolutionary developments in science and medicine, there are still 50 million of us between the ages of 70 and 80 in the United States, and about 20% of us are still working at something.
We have already had our kidney stones, stents, gallbladder surgeries, and either had or caused hemorrhoids. Many of us have raised our kids, babysat our grandkids and learned to use the internet. We have earned our merit badges, gotten our retirement checks, and paid off some of our debts. Why not have a feature in newspapers that calls out us boomer codgers for just keepin’ on.
For example, my wife sent me shopping to a grocery store today, and I almost did OK. In fact, I almost bought the things we needed for dinner. OK, the snow peas were snap peas, and we already had a boatload of little carrots, but, except for two cucumbers that didn’t have bar codes, I nearly made it through the self-checkout line without help from a nearby cashier. How about that for an accomplishment?
Later, I was almost successful at using the McDonald’s app to buy a large cup of coffee. I would have been home free if a guy in a big white pick-up truck had not tried to beat me to the exit.
When I did not acquiesce to his intimidating big-wheeled vehicle, he honked his horn at me a half-a-dozen times and gunned his engine for what seemed like a quarter mile. He persisted in expressing his road rage over this meaningless encounter for the entire distance of the mall road. See, that “40 under 40” will be on blood pressure meds soon.
Truthfully, when you are on the upside of 80, you cannot help but wonder how much further you could have pushed the boundaries and still made it this far. I saw in the paper today that one of my mentor’s bosses was almost 95 and thought about an article titled “9 under 95”.
Anyway, I am still working about 20 hours a week, trying to get at least seven hours of sleep, and riding my exercise bike every morning for seven or eight miles. The secret to my longevity, however, is my eight physicians and 78 pills every week. So, that’s almost 80 under 80.
Nick Jacobs is a Windber resident.