Feb 23, 2005 3 min read

Does it seem like the baby boomer generation is breaking down faster than the previous one? While doing a story on one of our local hospitals, it was noted that we have so many medicines and medical procedures today that are upping the lifespan of many by 4 percent or more.

I see the number of people who are living to age 100 and over and have to agree.

There are a lot of chronic conditions that today are treatable where not that many years ago they proved to be fatal. That’s good.

But that doesn’t make getting older any easier to swallow. Sure, I take several medications, like many of my contemporaries. And I can still keep my ailments (none of which I would call life-threatening but more of a nuisance) to the number of fingers on one hand (I’m talking about a normal 5-fingered hand).

Yet while getting a haircut all I could see dropping on the sheet the barber wrapped around me were clumps of grizzled gray hair flecked with brown and auburn.

When I get up in the morning I cough, I wheeze, I stagger the first few steps until I get my balance. And when I look in the mirror, the face gazing back is sagging; there are bags under his eyes and what looks like the start of a map of the river system of the Amazon basin.

Let’s face it. I’m getting old.

And I’m not the only one to recognize this fact.

For example, you know you have arrived at near-decrepitude when:

– Everybody younger than 30 calls you “ma’am or sir.’

– The clerk automatically gives you the senior discount at your favorite restaurant.

– You find yourself talking about the pretty colors you saw this morning – no, not the sunrise but the variety of pills you swallowed.

– You can remember the name of the little girl or boy who sat next to you in first grade but you can’t remember where you put your glasses (by the way, they are probably on top of your head).

– The talk at the office is about where your latest ache or pain was – not about who gave it to you.

And I won’t even get into how many trips to the bathroom we make each night; how we can fall asleep anywhere during the day but never in our bed at night; and, for the female side of this equation, dressing like it’s summer every day because of the ever threatening hot flash.

My father warned me when I was 30 and again when I reached 40. He said, “Don’t get old. It’s terrible.’

Sure, we can stave off the effects of age with such things as exercise, diet, and the aforementioned drugs. But that doesn’t change the date we were born. Time marches on. Days pass and turn into years. Youth is fleeting.

One of my older friends made this comment. He asked, “Why do they call these the golden years? They aren’t golden at all. I think they should call them the lead years because that’s what I feel like.’

Do you think he has a valid point? Well, if you are 50 or more, I can take an educated guess at your answer.

Oh, and the next time someone says, “I’m not getting older, I’m just getting better,’ check to see what drugs he or she is taking.

Then get some for me.

Have a good day.

Jim Pletcher is the business editor for the Herald-Standard.