Lost Reservation

It’s been quite a while since I have done a celebrity interview. I think it was Leo Davinci. Sometimes you can’t ignore a coincidence. Case in point, I ran into Tony Bourdain as I was leaving my local dumpling carry-out place. Coincidence or karma? Who knows? Or doesn’t know?

Tony? Is that you? I bet you miss the biz.

Regret is something you’ve got to just live with, you can’t drink it away. You can’t run away from it. You can’t trick yourself out of it. You’ve just got to own it.

That sounds like classic Tony Bourdain. Everyone misses your take on travel.

As you move through this life…you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you.

Well, you covered a lot of ground with the Parts Unknown show.

If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.

You wouldn’t believe how many imitators are out there trying to do what you did.

Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don’t have.

There are so many cooking shows on TV now.

Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.

What do you look for when choosing where to eat?

I’m excited by any food that’s prepared by someone who’s proud of what they’re doing, who puts a personal imprint on food.

Where you off to next?

It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.

Very cool. Any parting advice for us foodies?

Drink heavily with locals whenever possible. 

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

In the Soup

There’s a line in the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup when Groucho (appearing as a dictator of Fredonia named Rufus T. Firefly) says:

Why a four-year-old child could understand this report. Run out and find me a four-year-old child. I can’t make head nor tail out of it.

That can sum up how many of us feel about the current state of technology. I say this as someone who has just come off spending way too much time trying to install a new printer for my computer (many, many tries finally yielded result but there was a lot swearing along the way).

It’s often noted that technology is changing too fast. Just when you adjust and adapt to a new interface or peripheral, they change it. Along comes verification codes followed by two-factor authentication. We adapt as fast as we can, but as many boomers have pointed out, it shouldn’t be this hard to complete what used to be simple tasks. We are rapidly losing proprietary control over our affairs because we are getting technologically inept.

I share the same frustration as Rufus, only now what I would really like to have is a twelve-year old tech guru to help me navigate the daily barrage of technical hurdles. Of course, I want her/him to be bonded in order to protect the nest egg. If that sounds like an extreme step, you have not peeked around the bend to see the next level of encrypted paperless online transactions that will be coming to a computer near you.

The irony here is that most of us naively thought that technology would help us simplify our lives and make them less complex. The true effect has been just the opposite. From banking to borrowing a book, the technology gatekeepers demand more of us every day. If you have not experienced a technical melt-down trying to complete what was once a simple task, you are the rare exception indeed.

Change is inevitable. I accept that. Just wish that it would not come at us at terminal velocity. No such luck. Tech acceleration is here to stay. And don’t even think of trying lure away my 12-year old guru.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Richie Rich

Feel like you’re a baby boomer with a target on your back? It’s real. The blame game is alive and well and boomers are once again (or should I say still) a target for the critics. The knives have come out along with the OpEds that declare we’ve effed the whole thing up…again.

The current argument is that boomers hold all the wealth in the U.S. and we won’t give it up yet. Forget for a moment the accusation that we won’t part with our spondulicks, and let’s explore the accusation that we’re rich.

If you’re a baby boomer, the question is simple but uncomfortable: are you “rich,” or are you just average? The answer depends on how you stack up against your peers—and the numbers show there’s a massive gap between the middle class and the elite.

In the aptly named Wealth Ladder, what rung are we on? According to an analysis of Federal Reserve data, the top 10% of boomers has a net worth just under $3 million. Experts say that’s the line between comfortable and rich. Meanwhile, the median net worth for boomers is far lower. Think somewhere between $364k and $410k. Or what you could call not rich. Also known as middle class.

Are we holding on to homes as our primary asset. Guilty. But can average baby boomers really be called rich? Don’t think so. You need at least $3 million to be in that class, and retiring with assets like that is far different than retiring when you’re worth $350k.

Don’t forget there’s a fairly large number of boomers who for a variety of reasons/setbacks have not managed to save more than $30,000 towards retirement, and are falsely hoping that social security will rescue if not sustain them.

To summarize, younger generations shouldn’t picture the vast majority of baby boomers pulling up the ladder to shortchange younger gens. We’ve got our own retirement issues to deal with and will eventually be passing along whatever assets remain.

When it comes to the battle of the gens, I wish everyone would appreciate my favorite fortune cookie saying: It’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Going for Broke

If you are one of those baby boomers who thought they had enough savings to retire on but now are scared of going broke….join the club. Boomers who considered themselves wealthy because they are sitting on six figures in savings are now thinking they may not have enough.

There was a time when retirees could spend 4 percent of their savings per annum without the risk of running out in the last 30 years of their lives. The new number according to the latest research – is down to 2.1 percent.

What happened? For one thing, we may live to upwards of 95 years old. Put that factor on top of rising housing, health and food costs and you have the perfect storm scenario that makes retirees resort to strategies that used to be reserved for not so rich boomers. Instead of enjoying their retirement funds, they are still squirreling away savings.

The general perception that boomers, who own half the nation’s wealth, are kicking back and having a ball, is not really the case. Federal Reserve data indicates fewer than half of all boomers have enough savings for retirement and 43 percent of 55 to 64-year olds had no savings at all in 2022.

Now you can understand why the new retirement plan is the no retirement plan. It also explains why so many boomers are coming out of retirement to go back to earning money to live on. Around 20 percent of Americans over 65 are employed. That’s about 11 million people, and they pull in about 7 percent of all wages and salaries paid by U.S. employers. Back in 1987, they made up only 2 percent.

Spending below your means may be the new lifestyle of the “I thought we were wealthy” crowd. If you’re feeling sorry for yourself, spare some sympathy for Gen Xers who are worrying about financial insecurity right now, never mind worrying about retirement woes ahead.

But, as Buddha advised, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Or as many fathers said to their sons, “Get a job!”

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

The Signs

Here’s a new game. You know you’re old when ______ (fill in the blank…you know, the blank).

When asked what was something about aging that no one warned you about (or maybe they did and you forgot) baby boomers have a lot to say.

“The slow loss of everything, your abilities, your health, your friends, relatives, places you loved, etc. Just the eroding away of everything.”

Ouch.

“The invisibility.”

Ouch again.

“Aches and pains don’t go away in a day. Sometimes it takes a week.”

Ouch. Ouch. Really, that hurts.

” …eventually you will end up in that CVS aisle you always skipped because it didn’t pertain to you.”

“How fast time goes by. I was 21 yesterday. Now I’m 69. Time went by way too quickly.”

“All the napping! I’ve never needed so many naps…”

“When you hear a song or band from your youth that you absolutely hated because they were so cheesy and god-awful bad, but now when you hear it.. it brings back smiles and memories…. that’s the cleansing power of nostalgia!”

“How precious time will feel. Every moment matters to me now and I have no patience for squandering it. I consider myself very laid back but if there is anything that will trigger me, it’s someone wasting my time. Feels like they’re stealing my most precious resource.”

“As a male. The crazy ear and nose hairs that grow.”

“I wish they had warned me that it’s OKAY ‘not to do anything’ when you retire. My husband and I have been retired about two years now, and it’s been wonderful. But we’re not jetting around the world. We are just relaxing, enjoying being home. And that’s okay, it doesn’t mean we have a worse life now.”

“That I would feel this great. And content. And so much more in love with my SO, decade after decade…that for all the travail I’ve had a wonderful life.”

It might be a useful exercise for boomers to sit down and write a brief declaration of what’s right about this time in their life. Be it closeness to a mate, a sense of having lived a productive life, or the ability to look back on your good works. It may also be helpful to shelve the complaints and focus on what turned out right.

That being said, not every boomer is in a happy place right now, and no amount of buffing is going to make their lot any better.

Count yourself lucky if that’s not you.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Anna Log

It’s just a little disturbing to realize that baby boomers are the last living generation to know a world without social media. There was no way for us to leave the house and have someone be able to contact us. The notion that someone could call us on a small communication instrument was not even in our minds. Following each other on Facebook or TikTok as seemingly everyone does now was not on our radar in 1965. We were still using landlines and if you called someone and the line was busy (just the term sounds so old school), you had to try again later. Try explaining this experience to a GenZer and you get the blankest of blank looks. Answering machines were the height of our technology and did not come into popular use until the mid-eighties.

If we did get into trouble while out and about, it was important to know your home phone number because that was the only way we were going to get help. It also meant we had to knock on someone’s door or go into a place of business to ask if we might use their phone. We were not low-tech – we were no-tech!

And yet…we survived. Some would say we thrived. It’s safe to assume that every generation looks back on their youth with a fondness and nostalgia for those simpler times. But when you tell Gen Xers and Millennials about making mix tapes or Sadie Hawkins dances, they think our simpler times were some very sweet times.

And they were, but not totally devoid of angst. Teen years in particular could be brutal but compared to the way adolescents are tortured on social media now, we escaped with minimal psychic damage. Our mistakes were not posted online for all to see (and live on forever). We were not obsessed about who was following us on social media. We had actual friends. We did things together. In person. Sometimes we did stupid things but we survived. In fact, we made it to the point where we’ve dived into the technology that younger generations take for granted. I could have used Microsoft Copilot to write this BoomSpeak post, but I’m saving AI for a day when I’ve lost all reasoning. Hope I’m still sentient.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

 

Driveway Moment

I’m sitting in the car that is parked in my driveway because I don’t want to go inside my house – at least not yet. Because when I walk through that door I have to be an adult who worries about my spouse (who thinks I take our marriage for granted), about my grown children (who won’t leave home), and about my parents (who may soon need to go into a home), and about planning for retirement (a train that has long since left the station).

Driving home from work I was able to find respite from all these wonderful topics, but now that I’m in the driveway, the only thing between me and the boogey man is the sanctity of my car. It may be old and have over 150,000 miles on it, but the seats still smell leathery and I am comfortable behind the wheel. I know everything about this car. The new tires on the back, each of the disc brake rotors I’ve had replaced, the new radiator hoses, it’s all documented in my mind. Really, when I think about it, I realize I have replaced 50-60% of the car by now. But the sound system is still A-1 so I can listen to some soothing classical music while working up the courage to leave the comfort of my “cabin.” Might as well put the seat in the reclining position to see if that will lessen the throbbing sensation in my frontal lobe. That’s working. I can already feel my heart rate slowing down, my hands have stopped clenching, and the damp brow is drying off.

I feel transported to a better place – a place where no demands are made of me. When I’m hungry, food appears. When I’m drowsy, a soft bed is there for me. Everyone speaks softly and we are gentle with one another. The sense is that everyone is solicitous without verging on obsequious. This is good – very good.

A loud rapping noise on my window shatters the reverie into a thousand tiny pieces. My son is staring at me through the fogged up window and mouthing some words. I’m confused – I don’t know what he’s trying to tell me. He makes a motion that I should lower the window, and I comply.

“Can you move your car so I can get mine out?”

No hello. No how are you. Doesn’t ask if I’m okay. Just stands there looking idiotic wearing a backward ballcap, waiting for me to move on, so that he can move on.

Fine. Until tomorrow then. This driveway moment is over.

(From the Best of BoomSpeak, 2017)

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.