We Ain't Dead Yet

In the past few months we have seen two acts of heroism and one dream realized. I refer to Captain Sullenberger who landed a jet in the Hudson River with no loss of life, the courage of Richard Phillips who was prepared to give his life for his crew and Susan Boyle who is wowing the world with her audition on "Britain's Got Talent".

What do these people have in common, you might ask. They are all mature, either in their 50's or late 40's. They are not young, hot 20 or 30 somethings. They remind the world that people over 40 do not have one foot in the grave and can, indeed, rise to new heights of courage and determination.

When Susan Boyle comes out on stage, you can hear the snickering. She is not young or hip; in fact, she's downright dowdy. When Simon asks her age and she replies "47", he makes a face (or pulls a face as they say in England. Not to mention that Simon is older than she). Well, she proves that her age is irrelevant as she wows the judges and the crowd.

You know, I was just thinking. We used to call these people "rugged individuals" an expression of which the politically correct police would probably not approve.

But back to my point. 50 is not old anymore. People are living and working longer than ever. However, advertisers, clothes designers and Hollywood (among others) are doing their best to forget about us. Why? Just by sheer numbers alone, the Baby Boom generation tops all others. I don't have the statistics but I would guess that a great majority of us are still alive and thriving.

One would think that this demographic would be very appealing to many different groups such as the ones mentioned above. We are not our parents' generation who were glad to make it to 60. Heck, many of us are starting new careers at 60. Some marketing geniuses think we have too much "brand loyalty" and would never switch so they don't target us. Ha! I switch brands all the time looking for the best bang for the buck. I like trying to new things.

Finally, I will end with clothes of which I have already written. Whatever fashion designer wants to make a bazillion dollars, please start designing for the mature woman. When I was out shopping today, I thought I had taken a trip back in time to the 70's. Surely, you can come up with better than that.

See you at the next Stones concert!