The Fool is currently sitting in a hotel room in San Francisco watching the Favre-led Minnesota Vikings beat up on the Favre-less Green Bay Packers. The "announcers" are overflowing with enthusiasm because Favre keeps throwing "1997-like laser beam passes" and "My gosh can you believe this guy is going to be 40 this year?". WTF?
Is the average American existence over by 35? Do we suddenly become useless at age 40? What happened to reverence for experience?
OK, I know. 40 *is* old for a sports league where the average age is 28 or so and reasonable credit should go to Mr. Indecision 2009 for his longevity in a tough job. But the hysteria these MNF guys are belching all over the airwaves has a darker edge, it seems to the Fool.
There was a story in the Fool's local paper just this week about how "Seniors were staying active with aqua-robics" or some such nonsense. it had a photo of old ladies in mountainous one-piece suits swimming la vida loca at the senior center pool. Come on! The Fool found the article not only poorly written, but insufferably insulting.
We diminish each other with such drivel. With our low expectations, we relegate each other to the margins of society. At 40 you're doing great; at 50 you're looking well; at 60, you're looking good for your age; and at 70, you're spry. Why shouldn't we expect the right half of our societal bell curve to remain active and to contribute as long as they want to? More importantly, what can we learn from a 40-year-old quarterback and a 65-year-old swimmer? And what do we lose when we write them off because our TVs and newspapers tell us to?
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