You tell me. Here’s what happened.
I gave in to the force. After all the years of quiet hammering.
I’d been a holdout for, what, a couple of decades? Holdout from what? Okay, here’s a hint. What comes in your mailbox regularly since you turn 50? Look out for your changing interests, messages say. Watch out for your fellows, they say. Unite for the fight, they imply.
That’s right, you know who it is. Good, ole AARP, right?
I was one of those, no way, Jose, not going there at any time for any reason. I’ll never give in, I’ll never get old, blah blah blah. Until I thought, hmmm, you know, it’s a powerhouse advocacy organization, hyped up on politics, persuasion and passion. (Wow, I just created the 3 P’s. Or, another 3 P’s.) And I majored in political science and just came off a decades-long career in community journalism. I love politics. I adore persuasion. I dig passion.
And I’m a big believer in advocacy. If we don’t advocate for ourselves, then we’ll turn into turnips. But that’s no way to go out. And I gotta say, in this day of crappy national politics and lots of stupidity running rampant, I’m all for organizing for our common good.
So I signed us up as members of AARP. For a few bucks a year we’re contributing to advocacy on behalf of – gulp – seniors. Well, we’re not 50 anymore. But we still feel young. So, why not suit up to aid the cause of all those other seniors out there? And, okay, us too.