My friend Ann sent me an email the other day describing her sister Patricia’s application for Social Security. I think Patricia’s words on the subject of reaching this milestone, one that few of us ever thought would actually arrive, captured the essence of the baby boom generation. When she completed her on line application she hit the send button and said, “Goodbye youth."
Yes it’s a funny line, certainly uttered tongue-in-check. The reason I’m sure Pat’s words were said tongue-in-cheek is that no respectable boomer is prepared to acknowledge old-age and we probably never will. Never mind that Social Security was specifically designed to assist the elderly in their later years. Remember that Social Security may also be described by the acronym OASDI, as in Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, a term younger people and more than a few baby boomers are probably not familiar with. Not that baby boomers would actually cotton to the alternative definition.
Baby boomers invented the youth culture. We’ve been pushing back the boundaries of age for many years now. Many of our contemporaries are as active as they were in their 30s. Some are probably more active, still brimming with ideas, hopes and dreams. Believe me a simple matter like a monthly check from the Federal Government is hardly enough to make us feel old! Did you know there are now 13 million people under the age of 65 receiving Social Security thanks to the program’s disability provision? Obviously eligibility for Social Security alone isn’t a useful guideline to determine old age.
I don’t know very many boomers who act like senior citizens. As it turns out there is a great deal of truth in the saying, “You are only as old as you feel.” The Pew Research Center surveyed 3,000 people between the ages of 18 and well over 65 to get their views on old age. On average people suggested old age begins at 68. But if you ask people who are 65 and older they will tell you old age begins at 74. The survey also found that only 35% of respondents 75 and older said they felt old.
One of my friends, 63, is spending countless hours trying to land an executive level position in a high tech industry. The obstacles are many but after a full year of searching he soldiers on. Don’t bet against him. He doesn’t see his age in a youth oriented business as a barrier. Why should he? He considers himself youthful.
Another guy, over 70 recently spent a hefty sum for a top of the line electronic Lowrey organ. He takes lessons and occasionally performs. Frank would no more sit on the front porch watching life go by than any hip 40 year old.
I know a 60 year old woman who works long hours managing a medical practice and still has the energy to go ballroom dancing three or four nights a week. I play tennis several times a week and the vast majority of my playing partners are also in their sixties.
I know still others who volunteer their time, like my friend Bob who drives chemotherapy patients to and from their treatment sessions.
Too soon old, too late smart is a proverb, reportedly Dutch, which many people of a certain age fully appreciate. In the case of baby boomers, and perhaps generations to come, some of the sting may be taken out of the old saying. We do have a lot more energy in our later years than our ancestors did and we have many, many more opportunities to do useful, important and even smart things. More than ever the world needs wisdom and willingness to set right what has gone wrong. The fabled ‘60s were an exciting time. How grand would it be to come full circle and make this time our generation’s finest hour? And we’ll know we are groovin’ when someone coins the phrase, “Don’t trust anybody over 80.”
Copyright Len Serafino, 2012. All rights reserved.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Need Extra Cash? Sell Naming Rights
When professional sports teams started offering naming rights as a new profit center or a way to defray the cost of building a new stadium or arena, I thought it was an annoying practice. I was very much afraid that my beloved Yankee Stadium might one day be called Pizza Hut Yankee Stadium or Trump Yankee Stadium. Surely the House that Ruth Built deserves better. The sad fact is that companies don’t always have fetching names, suitable for adorning the arena of your favorite sports team. Take the University of Louisville. A couple of years ago they opened a new basketball arena with the name KFC Yum Center for a moniker. Say it: “I’m going to the Yum center tonight.” It could have been worse. When the Houston Astros opened their park in 2000, the stadium was named Enron Field. It’s Minute Maid Park now. Better for sure but again, I’m very happy that Minute Maid Park is an Astros thing and not a prefix to Yankee Stadium. At least the Coca-Cola Company, which owns Minute Maid, didn’t insist on calling the stadium Minute Maid Grove.
And naming rights aren’t limited to professional sports. High schools are doing it too. Consider the Tennessee Credit Union Academy of Business and Finance, Antioch High School in Nashville (long enough for you?) or the Poland Springs Arena at Toms River High School, North in New Jersey. Shouldn’t a high school in Maine have snapped that one up first?
This is really just the tip of the iceberg. Did you know that respected universities are offering people the opportunity to sponsor bathrooms and even bathroom stalls? Yes, according to a Time magazine article this week, the University of Pennsylvania has a bathroom lined with plaques noting, “This relief you are experiencing is made possible by a gift from Michael Zinman.”
I have no idea why Mr. Zinman would want this type of recognition but I find it even more curious that universities would stoop so low. This country went through the great depression in the 1930s without resorting to bathroom stall naming rights. I wonder how long it would have taken back then for a university board of trustees to dismiss a university president for suggesting such an outrageous idea. An hour I’ll bet.
Regardless, it won’t be long now before the floodgates are open. Everything we see and touch will come with naming rights, individualized too, like urinals. Here are my predictions for future naming rights deals. Remember you heard it first here.
Federal Government buildings. With the deficit crisis seemingly unsolvable, naming rights seems like a natural solution. Picture the Statue of Liberty with a Nilla Wafer instead of a torch. Of course the wafer would light up at night for all to see. Imagine if you will what the Ford Motor company could do with the Lincoln Memorial. Of course they’ll have to get rights secured before Lincoln National Life Insurance gets wind of the opportunity. And then there’s our United States Capitol, home of our Congress. The very thought of the largest lobbying firms bidding for the naming rights to that plum is thrilling. We could cut the deficit in half.
The U.S. Postal Service, another financially troubled agency is certainly a fantastic naming rights opportunity. Think NASCAR without the speed. Postal workers will one day wear uniforms adorned with ads for fried chicken, cereal, and software just to name a few. And postal delivery trucks are another potential boon to advertisers. Considering the steady drop in snail mail, the trucks will soon be smaller. New vehicle designs will be smaller mimicking race cars we see whipping around Talladega, Pocono and Darlington; loaded with ads for everything from M&Ms to GoDaddy.com.
On a more personal level, individuals should be able to get in on the act too. This is America right? Some people already put ads on their cars but once we get more comfortable with the concept and advertisers get even more aggressive than they are now, we are looking at a cradle to grave opportunity. How about offering naming rights for your baby? “Big Mac Jonathan Smolinski” has a ring to it for example. And, when our lives are over, there is plenty of space on our caskets. Imagine being able to defray the cost of your funeral by selling naming rights to your coffin. Don’t expect too much though. People will only view it for a day or two. “Say it with flowers” might be a good choice.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino. All rights reserved.
And naming rights aren’t limited to professional sports. High schools are doing it too. Consider the Tennessee Credit Union Academy of Business and Finance, Antioch High School in Nashville (long enough for you?) or the Poland Springs Arena at Toms River High School, North in New Jersey. Shouldn’t a high school in Maine have snapped that one up first?
This is really just the tip of the iceberg. Did you know that respected universities are offering people the opportunity to sponsor bathrooms and even bathroom stalls? Yes, according to a Time magazine article this week, the University of Pennsylvania has a bathroom lined with plaques noting, “This relief you are experiencing is made possible by a gift from Michael Zinman.”
I have no idea why Mr. Zinman would want this type of recognition but I find it even more curious that universities would stoop so low. This country went through the great depression in the 1930s without resorting to bathroom stall naming rights. I wonder how long it would have taken back then for a university board of trustees to dismiss a university president for suggesting such an outrageous idea. An hour I’ll bet.
Regardless, it won’t be long now before the floodgates are open. Everything we see and touch will come with naming rights, individualized too, like urinals. Here are my predictions for future naming rights deals. Remember you heard it first here.
Federal Government buildings. With the deficit crisis seemingly unsolvable, naming rights seems like a natural solution. Picture the Statue of Liberty with a Nilla Wafer instead of a torch. Of course the wafer would light up at night for all to see. Imagine if you will what the Ford Motor company could do with the Lincoln Memorial. Of course they’ll have to get rights secured before Lincoln National Life Insurance gets wind of the opportunity. And then there’s our United States Capitol, home of our Congress. The very thought of the largest lobbying firms bidding for the naming rights to that plum is thrilling. We could cut the deficit in half.
The U.S. Postal Service, another financially troubled agency is certainly a fantastic naming rights opportunity. Think NASCAR without the speed. Postal workers will one day wear uniforms adorned with ads for fried chicken, cereal, and software just to name a few. And postal delivery trucks are another potential boon to advertisers. Considering the steady drop in snail mail, the trucks will soon be smaller. New vehicle designs will be smaller mimicking race cars we see whipping around Talladega, Pocono and Darlington; loaded with ads for everything from M&Ms to GoDaddy.com.
On a more personal level, individuals should be able to get in on the act too. This is America right? Some people already put ads on their cars but once we get more comfortable with the concept and advertisers get even more aggressive than they are now, we are looking at a cradle to grave opportunity. How about offering naming rights for your baby? “Big Mac Jonathan Smolinski” has a ring to it for example. And, when our lives are over, there is plenty of space on our caskets. Imagine being able to defray the cost of your funeral by selling naming rights to your coffin. Don’t expect too much though. People will only view it for a day or two. “Say it with flowers” might be a good choice.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino. All rights reserved.
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