Writing in the Washington Post this morning some kid named Marc Freedman - Freedman heads up some sort of think tank, which ought to give you a clue right there - goes all retro-Aquarius on retirement: "But what work will boomers do? How will the largest, healthiest, best-educated and longest-living generation in American history...."
Whoa, bunky. Slow down there. Longest-living? Ya think?
Freedman, "a late boomer on the verge of turning 50," (OMG!) proposes re-educating geezers who are...well, let him explain it:
Just as the GI Bill helped millions of soldiers go from military life to civilian life 60 years ago, we now need an education-focused GI Bill: Boomers who pledge significant second careers in areas such as teaching and nursing...
Significant, that is, as opposed to, well, you know, the "retail sector," by which he means saying "Welcome to Wal-Mart," or "Would you like fries with that?" Don't need no GI Bill for that (nor think tank neither).
Meanwhile there are plenty of people where I work - more every day, it seems - who are verging on 50 and need jobs now. Some of them are displaced teachers and nurses. Oh well.
It's not that I disagree with everything this Freedman guy has to say. There are a lot of old guys around who still have something to contribute, and some of them actually are. Or are trying to, at least. And hey, I've been thinking about starting a think tank myself. (I should live so long.)
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