Rep. Murtha
U.S. Representative John Murtha passed away today. Of course the primary reaction to this news was sadness and sympathy for his family. My secondary reaction, however, was a bit less charitable.
Murtha was 77 years old. And still serving in Congress. In a seat he has held since 1974 (the year after I, dear readers, was BORN). Are those big wooden chairs in the House of Representatives that comfy? I mean, last time I checked this was a democracy... not the friggin' House of Peers.
Murtha's antiquity made me curious, so I did a little research. (OK, totally superficial research... I clicked on a handful of websites and then grew bored with the idea of scientific accuracy.) Turns out, a whole lot of the people in Congress are old. And I mean really, really OLD.
And it's not just the public sector either. Check out the CEO's of prominent corporations. For that matter, check out the middle managers and even half of the peons that you, dear reader, work with today. Baby boomers are the plaque that is clogging the arteries of progress in this country.
Last time I checked, Social Security kicked in around 67. (65 if you were born before 1960, as the majority of our Congressmen were.) So, let me ask as nicely as I can:
Will. You. People. Please. RETIRE?!?
I know the stock market keeps messing with your savings, but unless you're prepared to work another 20 years (please, God, no); you might as well cut your losses and enjoy your remaining decade of full mobility.
Listen, I have great respect for my elders. I hope to be a vibrant, wise, active old lady one day. But in the meantime I have a career that's in neutral, a family to support on a mid-level salary that I'm quickly out-growing, and a retirement of my own to plan for.
We Gen Xers have gotten sort of a bad rap from the beginning. But if you really want to see a bunch of unmotivated, beligerent slackers, just park your asses smack dab in the middle of our future for another decade.
I have been saying this since we all graduated college and tried to find gainful employment only to be forced into retail and horrible entry level jobs. The Baby Boomers are screwing with us. It made me so mad when they said we were unmotivated. When my Dad graduated from the UW companies were actively and vigorously recruiting. We had to know how to market ourselves and then scheme and plan and ass kiss to keep our jobs or move up the ladder because god forbid some middle manager reward our intelligence and hard work at the expense of their own cushy position which they have held for the past forty years!!!!
ReplyDeleteTestify, sistah Mary.
ReplyDeleteHere, here! What is with these people. I mean, if I could retire now - I WOULD. What the F*&^ are they holding onto? Yes, yes the economy screwed their retirement funds...boo hoo - it screwed ours too. I say retire and just deal. In fact, if you do the math and add up the years - there's no way in hell they'd be able to work long enough to make up for it when you factor in inflation. Cut your losses and get out of our way!
ReplyDelete