It's my birthday. It's Fred McMurray's too, and Cameron Diaz's, and (I learned today) Guy Kawasaki's -- but unlike those folks, mine has a zero on the end.
Fifty makes you think. But luckily, if you're a jury blogger, you've got material to think about. I have a whole category of collected and unused news reports that shed light on what getting older really means. No better time than today to review some of those.
Here are some things you might not have predicted about older people:
- They're the group most likely to believe the Iraq war was a mistake. It's "one of the more surprising findings" in a May 2007 Gallup survey about the war. It might be because war is part of their life experience, the Gallup folks think. "Americans who are now in their 50s and early 60s were most likely to have been affected by the Vietnam War, and those who are now in their 70s and 80s were most likely to have been affected by World War II and the Korean War."
- They're sexually active, according to a widely reported (you could hear the reporters' relief) study that came out last week. "More than a quarter in survey up to age 85 reported having sex in previous year," CNN proclaimed.
- They're increasingly on line. Even in 2004, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported that "22% of Americans 65 and older use the Internet," a 47% jump over 2000. Today, my dad has a blog.
- They might be raising children. "Almost 400,000 grandparents aged 65 or more had the primary responsibility for their grandchildren who lived with them," says the U.S. Administration on Aging's comprehensive report, "A Profile Of Older Americans: 2002." On the other hand, the same report tells us they might be isolated: about 30% of noninstitutionalized older people, including half of all noninstitutionalized women over 75, lived alone in 2002.
- They want medical marijuana legalized. In a 2005 AARP survey of adults 45 and older (back when I was in my 40s, I rolled my eyes at the AARP welcoming 45-year-olds), 72% of respondents agreed that "I think that adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it" -- even though, in the same survey, 74% of respondents believed marijuana was addictive.
I might need to change some of my preconceptions. As I get older, I mean.
(Photo from the U.S. Administration on Aging via Ping News, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pingnews/417034112/; license details there)
