How are middle aged and older people supposed to find

[MaryH]

new jobs? These are people my age. Its fine to go back to school and get retrained if you are young and can start over. But someone who has lost their job in their middle 50's going to start over? No one wants to hire someone that age.

And no one seems to ever address that problem

[demnan]

1. A friend in her late 50s just lost her job

so she just retired. She knew she didn't have a choice.

[lilymidnite]

2. I am middle aged, with 3 college degrees ...

I live in *daily* fear of my IT job going to India. * tells me education is the answer to job loss and low wages.

He can f*ck himself.

[HootieMcBoob]

7. You need to go to community college my friend

You blew it with all those highfalutin college degrees. In today's America community college is where it's at.

[Ilsa]

3. Friend of mine, in his late fifties, was laid off from banking

last year. Took him six months to find another job, but only at 60% of his salary. He has a masters degree.

[katmondoo]

4. I'm 75 and still working

Admittedly I am an artisan so I work at home but I am tired of it, I would like to just relax, go to the beach,do some fun things before this life ends. Now I need even more money to keep up with the rising costs of food, insurance etc. Social Security helps but not enough in todays America.

[LiberalEsto]

5. What does B*sh care?

I am a 52-year-old unemployed journalist and worked for a big metro daily in the past. For years while my kids grew up, I worked part time at newspapers and other jobs. No benefits, no pension.

In the fall of 2002 I got laid off from a part-time PR writing job due to lack of clients. I was out of work 13 months, then got hired as a proofreader. They laid me off this past July, claiming I was not a "good fit", though I suspect it had to do with my politics and my working on some sensitive Homeland Security stuff.

No big union paper will hire me because they'd have to pay me top union scale. They can hire 2 or more young reporters at that salary. Smaller papers pay pitifully small salaries. I don't have any other skills and can't afford more college -- not with 2 kids in college.

Companies also don't want to pay health and pension benefits for us older people. I've know several situations where people working for the Gannett newspaper chain got horrible assignments designed to pressure them into quitting before they could retire and collect pensions.

There was a good line in Kurt Vonnegut's book "Player Piano," about a future world in which almost every job is automated and almost all the people do menial or military work.

"What are people FOR?"

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. I have two friends and a relative who lost jobs after age 55

None of them has been able to find a full-time job after three years.

The relative and one friend finally gave up and decided to go on Social Security at age 62. Even though it will reduce their lifetime benefits, it's just enough to keep them from homelessness. They make up the rest with part-time and temporary jobs.

The other friend is surviving entirely on part-time and temporary jobs and handouts from friends and relatives. She is too young for Social Security, and she is currently not homeless only because she has a housesitting job for a couple of months. Every week I hear of her applying for another job (which she is qualified for), and the next week, I hear that she was turned down or had an interview but was rejected.

All three of these people have worked all their lives and have good resumes.

All three of them have reason to believe that age discrimination is involved, especially when all the people doing the hiring seem to be in their thirties.

You're right. No one is addressing this pressing need. If I, as one person, know three people who are older and long-term unemployed, what does this say about the numbers nationwide?

As I grow older, I am SO glad that I am self-employed and working mostly for foreign clients.

ON EDIT: By the way, if any of you thirtysomething DUers are reading this, and if you have the power to hire and fire people, please give some consideration to the next older applicant who walks in the door. You may be their last hope. Don't reject them just because you think they "won't fit in." They may surprise you.

[Tracer]

8. At age 51, I took a huge chance ...

... and left a reasonably secure job to start my own business.

Fortunately for me, it has worked out, and 10 years later, I'm still going strong.

However, I see no retirement for me any time soon, since if I stopped working I'd have to rely on a SS of $900 per month Ñ and that ain't gonna do it. Not even if I combined it with withdrawals from my IRA savings.

[MadHound]

9. As I have aged into my forties, I've increasingly worried about this

Especially the last few years, watching good friends in their fifties and sixties get laid off and cut, most likely because of their age. This is one reason that prompted me to buy a little acreage to go with the house out in the country. I can grow organic foods to sell, and sustain myself, along with growing trees and shrubs for friends in the greenhouse/landscape business. Hopefully within ten years this will be enough, with investment monies, to keep the wolf from the door.

I feel for all of you who have lost your job do to age. AARP sold out long ago, and proved how corrupt it truly was by backing Bush's Medicare plan. Perhaps folks should organize and revitalize the Grey Panthers. Combine assets and bring some lawsuits. You also might look into finding employment at colleges and universitys. From what I've seen they discriminate very little on the basis of age, for one thing most universities I've dealt with are scared shitless of lawsuits.

[lawladyprof]

12. Sadly

the Age Discrimination in Employment Act no longer applies (Supreme Court--Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents (1999) to state employees so state colleges and universities can discriminate on the basis of age(although they may be less likely to do so than private employers) unless they fear a challenge brought under state discrimination law (thank you to the conservative wing of the SCt). And, unfortunately, many state universities and colleges are not hiring, and some are even laying off workers, especially those in non-faculty/support positions. BTW, the Americans with Disabilities Act on longer applies to state workers either. Let's hear it for states' rights.

[Laughing Mirror]

26. Is this Act just for state universities and colleges?

I ask because my sister, age 56, thinks the university (large, private, I think) where she works is trying to get rid of her, and more knowledge about this act might help explain things. Thanks.

[lawladyprof]

51. Private universities would still be

liable under the ADEA.

[sweetheart]

10. Yes, midlife needs are different

I firstly think that the equal opportunity legislation should
punish any company whos employees are way out of demographic stats.
Ageism has to be taken to the mat, and waiting for case by case
civil courts to fix it will take 100 years, when it needs fixing NOW.

As well, the same grants for schooling that 20 years olds can get,
should be available for all ages, so that structurally unemployed
people can find a new start... and i do honestly believe that
education can play a part in re-tooling a career, just the
community college crack was snide and totally missing the deep
insecurity being sewn in the middle age career shifters by
that scumbag's foolish economic squandering of our public good.

Aprenticeships should be accepting middle aged trade workers as well,
as surely the trades, like manufacturing furniture and such, can
sustain middle aged folks in light-manufacturing where the virtual
economy has flopped... just those apprenticeships are geared
entirely for kids, and do not accept mature entrants.

[MaryH]

11. No one wants someone who is older

I think it's true that in some ways it is harder for us to learn new fields. I know that after I turned 50 I found it made a difference in the sharpness of my thinking. And my once incredible memory is not so good anymore, either.

I thought about just going out on an iceflow and sitting there until a polar bear ate me. But by that time there won't be anymore iceflows to go siton. Probably no more polar bears, either.

[BiggJawn]

13. Nobody wants to hire us, nobody wants to take us home...

What the hell use are we, anyway?

Next time I hear some snot-nosed punk pissing about how "we" are gobbling up "his" Social Security.......

So now the Pretzeldent is joining the "Why don't you old fuckers just hurry up and DIE?" chorus....

I'm tired of this "reinvent yourself ever 15 years, it's FUN!" crap.

[Laughing Mirror]

18. You reach a time in your life after you've been slaving away for decades

that seem like centuries, and all you want is a little peace and calm and time to relax.

You never thought you'd be confronted with having to start a new career just at the point when you want to enjoy what life is left to you.

You just don't have the energy to start life all over again, like a youngster. Plus, there's no opportunities, and you are too exhausted and broken down from life to be able to dream up any new opportunities for yourself that might see you through the last part of life on earth. Unless you've got a big pile of money sitting somewhere you can draw on, you're lost. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

[sweetheart]

28. polar bear food

I figured similarly, that when its just not working no more, that
i'll take the boat out to sea and just keep going... just its so dang
depressing to read this stuff.

In your 50's you're at the height of your power, and maybe the
physical body is wearing out, but your wisdom and depth make up
for it 1000 fold... and yes, macdonalds ain't quite it.... but perhaps
a pet shelter or a super-pet friendly kennel.

Increasingly, i figure my old age income will come from growing my
own food, published work, animal care and husbandry, and art crafts.
I've less impetus to go re-tooling again again again, and don't
have the ego-gratification needs that business gives young adults.

Rather the satisfaction of doing well for someone, some animal or
making something grow is so much more fulfilling than fucking people
for money on wall street.

I'm honestly suprised bush din't just come out and say:
"Let them eat cake."

[Cleita]

42. Increasing arthritis which also saps your strength makes

growing your own food, caring for large animals and arts and crafts more difficult. Cataracts and other old age eye diseases don't help. Old people need a pension, medical care, accessible public transportation and home care when the time comes. There is no reason our society can't do this. They do in other countries, even countries that are far poorer than ours.

Instead of raiding other countries to keep our military well supplied with tax-payer's dollars, we should be looking after the young so that they will grow into productive adults and our old, so the young aren't burdened with aging and dependent relatives. Also, I think each society needs to acknowledge the contributions the previous generations made with their work and sacrifices to make a better world for the generations that follow.

Oh, we need to make sure our constitution is brought up to date to ensure these things are done and that fascist corporations never again rule our country, but pay their fair share for the privilege of doing business here.

[sweetheart]

48. So that then with the 45-75's?

I've a friend who's in those 40's and carpel tunnel syndrome has
seriously cut in to the computer work, to the point where jobs and
career are threatened. So what then? Polar bear food?

The workhorses are not supposed to break in their 40's, so what
gives. Your focus seems practically utopian, and nobody wants a
handout, even if they need one, as it helps loose face, when one is
trying so desperately to fake it and pretend that everything is
hunky dory.

Should the state just pay out money to people as they get older,
increasingly, not with some "retirement date" but as the statistics
show that bodies start to break down, eyesight, etc... and that the
grey factor can be burdensome? In that same light, i can't help
but see the incredible benefits in incorporating that elder-sector
in to regular life, as it contains the most wisdom, knowledge and
goodwill of all the ages under it put together.

What then? Changing the constitution is for "next lifetime"..
what about now?

[Cleita]

50. Utopian would be what you suggest. I'm just being practical about

what minimum steps our present society can take to help people in their old age. There is the other approach. Kill them quickly with working them until they die from exhaustion, heart attacks or other degenerative diseases. Or if they are no longer able to work kill them with neglect so that they drop dead from untreated illnesses and the lack of ability to perform basic functions like eating.

I mean my husband is already there. If I didn't bathe him, dress him, feed him, wash his clothes and keep our house clean and made sure he kept his appointments and took his medicine, he would die from neglect like many old people have in the past. Often a neighbor or a family member would find them sometimes weeks after they died. Although my husband retired from his architect's job, because it was getting too hard for him to do the drawings, he still worked at other jobs for another seven years until he was seventy two

Each age has its place, its duties and its rewards. Some societies recognize this. For instance the dancer will eventually become the dance instructor. The teacher will maybe take on a reduced work load in the classroom but her knowledge would still be valuable to other teachers. I really do think seniors should be allowed to contribute as much as they can for as long as they can, but society needs to assure them of their security, that their needs will be met when they come to that point of needing them, whether its an income, medical care, home care or whatever helps them to maintain themselves and ease them into the final moment of death.

[Ezlivin]

14. There are openings in the military (hint, hint)

It's just another one of Bush's subtleties, that sly ol' dog. He can't have a draft, he can't stop outsourcing and he can't get you your old job back, but he's creating a whole new area in which we'll need help: The military.

Pretty soon that'll be the only US organization still hiring.

Make sure you ask about the benefits. The key to the benefit program is surviving.

And they won't rehire disabled vets like me, so I'll have to go back to community college to supplement my Master's degree.

Act now, this country won't last much longer.

[leftofthedial]

15. join the Iraqi security forces

or be a greeter at Wal Mart

or stuff tacos at Taco Bell

the little bushturd has thoughtfully turned the corner and created millions of new jobs just for us

using all that education and experience would just be showing off anyway

come on! get in line! you can beat out your kid for that $8 an hour job!

[porphyrian]

16. Aren't there a lot of you 50+ year olds?

Why can't you all get together and start a business yourselves, rather than trying to get hired by some stupid corporation? You have all the experience and know-how, why can't you guys change the job market? I know it's not easy, but it's got to be easier than clinging on to hateful jobs or pining for ones designed for disposable 20-somethings. Aren't you guys the grown-ups that start businesses?

[Laughing Mirror]

19. It's not easy to start up a business

when the very earth under you seems to be sliding out from under your feet. You find yourself struggling just to survive. It is not so hard, and even fun, to invent and reinvent things to do when you are young, the world is your oyster, and you embrace the decades before you with a confidence and zest that anything you want to do with your life is possible. And then you get through all that and you run out steam. You reach the point in your life when you want the young'uns to take over. You've given all you got and you're simply worn out from the battles in life, and the battles never seem to end.

[porphyrian]

20. I know it's not easy, but neither is unemployment...

...nor is trying to get employed by people that don't want to hire you. You are part of a significant majority. Why aren't any of you pulling together and hiring each other?

[Laughing Mirror]

21. Maybe because it's a fairly recent phenomenon

and people have been caught off guard, and just weren't set up for this kind of situation. But when it becomes a crisis, more people will have pull their broken down selves together to react, of if they don't they die.

Your urging them to pull together and hire each other is a terrific idea, it is not only a morale booster, but it does make perfect sense. I hope a lot of people act on your suggestion. It is very much appreciated.

[porphyrian]

24. No problem. If I had the guts to start my own business...

...I'd hire you first. People over forty tend to be more reliable anyway, and, as this thread illustrates, are less inclined to want to change jobs with any regularity.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

47. I did it, but...

1. I had a skill that was in demand, although more overseas than here. Thanks to the Internet, I can make a reasonable living--most months. If it weren't for the Internet, if I were limited to the work available in the States in my field, I'd be out of luck.

I make only enough for myself to live on, and I could never afford to hire another person.

2. My venture into self-employment was financed by my moonlighting as a textbook editor during my last year of teaching and by the fact that the editing work continued until I was able to earn enough as a translator.

Not everyone can do this. The youngest of the three people I mentioned above has racked her brain trying to think of a business that she could start, but aside from hiring herself out as a free-lance grant writer, no luck, and even that's neither lucrative nor steady.

I've told her that if I win the lottery, she can administer my foundation. (She has a background in non-profit administration.) But neither of us is holding our breath.

[Bridget Burke]

22. Sure--want to loan me a bunch of money?

I'll send you my address if you say yes.

[porphyrian]

25. If I had money to send, I'd start my own business...

Besides, that's what loans are for, and banks are much better at supplying those than I am.

[Oak2004]

37. Have you ever tried to get a small business loan?

Or, for that matter, do you understand that startups lose money for quite a while? That the failure rate for new businesses is very high? That a great many of the new "small businesses" out there that Bush brags about consist of people, often middle aged people, who can't find a job and who are trying instead to scrape up contract work and whatever else they can find just to get by? -- no insurance, no retirement fund, barely even the money to pay the phone bill.

It would be wonderful if small business was thriving for all the right reasons. There's nothing like the freedom of working for yourself. But today's "boom" in small business is more like the 21st century equivalent of selling apples on the streets in the 1930s

[porphyrian]

40. That should be changing next year...

...unless the fix is in on the election.

[amazona]

32. most new businesses fail you know

Most start-ups are gone within five years. A great many people who start their own business end up bankrupt. Sometimes more than once. That's fine for young people, but a middle-aged person can't take the chance of losing everything because they don't have the time to start over. I was self-employed for two decades and the health insurance problem alone makes it impossible for many small businesses or self-employeds to compete with large businesses. If you had asked me ten years ago, I would have given you a different answer, but I would never advise anyone to start their own business in these days. It is a job with no paid vacation, in some states impossible to get health insurance if you're the wrong age, and you're likely to earn less than minimum wage unless you're extremely well-connected. And, let's face it, if you're that well-connected, why not just get a great job and let someone else take the financial risk?

I'm watching another friend go through this right now. She bought some print shops. Instead of earning money, she is losing $1,500 per month and is likely to lose her house if she doesn't get (more) hand-outs from her family. This was not a good option for a woman in her forties.

[porphyrian]

41. Fine, do nothing. Don't try at all. Give up. - n/t

[amazona]

60. i won't give up but i won't throw money away either

Unless you are wealthy and/or well-connected, then starting a business is not usually a wise decision for a middle-aged person. I speak as one with my own business and with many friends who have their own businesses. It is not a solution to the problem of having insufficient income. It is a way to experiment if you have extra income, if you have spousal support, or if you are young enough to have time to start over again if you go bankrupt. Smart people make decisions based on the probabilities, and the probability is that one's self-employment scheme will not generate enough money to live on and there is a good chance that it cause you to actually lose money and become dependent on others.

Ignoring the realities of small business today is not good decision-making. Telling people "oh just start your own business" is no more of an answer than telling them "oh just go to community college." It isn't the answer for most people. It's a shame that life doesn't offer easy answers but it doesn't. Businesses and industries that make money are consolidating. Small businesses that don't make money, such as many artisan businesses, are shockingly often just a form of "spousal welfare." Investigate for yourself, I think you'll be shocked.

There is a reason that a good job is highly desired, and it is because, for most people, a good job with benefits is the best chance at accumulating any savings for retirement. I know small business owners still working into their 70s and 80s -- and these are the ones whose businesses at least make a something of a profit!

I don't think it is fair to tell people to start their own business when I know from my experience and that of many others that, for most people, this will be the biggest mistake they ever make in their financial lives. It can wipe out a lifetime of savings within months.

[shanti]

17. simple answer: they aren't

and * doesn't give a care about it either.

[Bluebear]

23. Bush said you're supposed to go to community college

Make something out of yourself for once in your worthless life and learn a job for the "21st century". (High paying jobs are SO Y2K!)

[Technowitch]

27. Of course not

Here is the standard current-day Republican strategy for dealing with uppity poor folks who have recently or are at risk of losing their jobs:

- Propose 'retraining' of displaced workers, while doing nothing whatsoever to try to prevent those jobs from being lost in the first place
- Pass bills setting up such programs
- Fail to fund them adequately, so that only a fraction of those eligible can actually get in
- Don't bother to measure the efficacy of such programs, and eventually simply leave them unfunded
- Never, ever acknowledge that the average 'retrained' worker ALWAYS earns significantly LESS than they did in their original job

[catmandu57]

29. There comes a time

when a person doesn't want to think what comes next. I don't want to, but I'm just a middle aged cripple, and when they drown all govt. support I'll join you on that ice flow.
On the other hand, I hear there are great opportunities in criminal justice.

[TexasSissy]

30. That's true. Neither of them had an ans. to that.

[amazona]

31. no one wants you on their health insurance plan either

It's a real problem. I honestly don't know if I will ever work again. It's scary.

I do know people who are in college in their 50s and even one man in his 60s. The man in his 60s is studying IT! I just didn't know what to say when I spoke with him. He will never be able to find a job in that field. It's a scam that these community colleges are being allowed to sell job training for jobs that don't exist; it should be a crime.

[serryjw]

52. You HIT IT! This is the real problem

Actually middle age people are more proficient in their field and certainly more reliable BUT most small businesses can't afford to hire a few middle age people because of medical insurance rates would go sky high. Even if you are in good shape the middle age diseases kick in and the small business owners premiums will double.

NOW for all you IT geeks; I don't know why you don't do consulting work for people not businesses. You won't get rich but could certainly pay the bills. I have little knowledge of HOW this sh*t works. I spent a fortune when I got hit by spyware. I wish someone would come over and teach me the basics, install printer that has been on my floor for 2 years! I have an autoresponder for my business that have no idea how to use. There are a bunch of things you could do.DON'T charge $50/hour......charge $20 hour. See how many people would call you!

OHHHH, I forgot.....Hire teens and college students and pay them $15/hour and you can get $5. They would love it and you could have a bunch of young people employeed in something other than Walmart!

[Cleita]

33. They don't care MaryH.

Their whole attitude is that if you don't have kids to take on the burden of your care in your old age, you are dispensable. Period. This is something that I have always tried to hit young people over the head with. If granma and granpa don't get Social Security and Medicare, their parents are going to have to take on the full burden of caring for them in their old age. Then when their parents are too old, they will have to take care of their parents in turn at about the same time they are trying to raise families. Believe me that 7 1/2% deduction from their paychecks is small in comparison to what the full cost of caring for elderly relatives is.

[MaryH]

35. Get to be over 50 and you just become

invisable. And boy is that a shock when it happens.

I read where some older people are all getting together and buying a house and all living there together - as an alternative to staying in retirement housing. That way they are all there to help each other and watch out for each other and they can split the expenses so that they become manageable.

[shanti]

46. sounds like a great idea!

co-op elderly housing.

[medeak]

58. my Dad said it's cheaper to live on Carnival Cruise line

than in rest home...some email he received...but he was game.

[billyskank]

34. Maybe they're working up to

simply killing us once we get "past it" and turning us into green biscuits for poor people to eat?

[MaryH]

36. This is starting to sound like a Twilight Zone thing.

Remember Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House" Where people just turned themselves in and were euthanized at a certain age.

Well, fuck em! I intend to live and to be eccentric as hell!

[ThoughtCriminal]

38. I started my own business

I'm not quite at that age (46), but rather than put up with starting over, my wife and I hired ourselves. Not many people have this option and it will take at least a year to get enough business to get by.

Tough parts:

1. Needed to have a a pretty good reserve of cash. Fortunately, we saw this coming 12/12/00.
2. Health insurance. We managed to get our business into a group plan. More expensive and not as good as previous employer, but better than nothing.

[young_at_heart]

39. The answer is.....they don't

I know!

[Rex_Goodheart]

43. That's easy! Go to a community college....

I'm George W. Bush, and I approved this meshage.

[Rex_Goodheart]

44. I'm in my early 50's, and there are no jobs out there...

No permanent ones, for sure. I have tried just about everything except holding a gun to people's heads. Although I don't think that's entirely or even mostly Bush's fault, his answer to the question of outsourcing was still staggeringly cynical to me.

I'd be OK lifestyle wise if I could live off my investments... but every day the value of those go down, too.

We need a fresh start, if only for some optimism. We can't afford more of the same.

[medeak]

45. great topic Mary

Just gave college graduate son motivational speech to not jump off bridge as he can't find a minimum wage job.

He's dismissed as too qualified or not qualified enough..the kid can't take much more rejection.

You are my peer....can't imagine starting over. As for starting business just counseled two hopeful tenants that their dream was unrealistic....have seen too many failures and know I'm doing people a favor to stop their losses as soon as possible.

Take up golf...there's lot of old guys looking for caretaker...but is it worth it?

[MaryH]

55. That's a good idea -

Find an old man playing golf and start caddying for him. Then we could get married and run off to Aruba together. We'd have to drive as its so unsafe to fly.

Nah - I think I'm still going for the "old stand up comic." At least I would die laughing.

[brook]

63. *caretaker*...

defined by some as "a nurse and a purse".

As a senior still in the work force - by necessity, not design - this thread is illuminating and depressing at the same time. I'm trying to find a different kind of work, due to foot surgery that isn't healing properly because I'm on my feet where I am. Got turned down for a p/t 'clerk' job - didn't meet their qualifications? Jeeze - it amounted to accepting water bill payments. I ran offices for literary agents, writers,and folks like Robert Altman and Paul Newman before I became a Prop Master,which amounted to running my own business for 15+ years.

I'm thinking about finding the finances to take a few more web classes with the idea to design/maintain sites for local non-profits primarily.

I agree with those who said it gets tiresomw reinventing oneself time after time - and there are days I resent having to go off to a not so enjoyable job when I'd rather pull weeds or just go for a walk on the beach.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

49. What happens is

if you are lucky, you find work that pays about half of what you previously made. That is my situation. I did find a job and it has benefits but I make about half of what I did before. In the meantime my small savings could not hold out and my condo went to foreclosure. It's not the end of the world, but it's not exactly how I thought things would turn out.
I take comfort in the fact things could be much worse. I could have had the misfortune of being born in Baghdad.........

[Johnny 99]

53. You know

I'm 26 with a graduate degree and can't get a job. To be honest, I'm really not worried about older people right now.

[Cleita]

54. You shouldn't have to be competing with us for jobs either.

There was no reason to reverse our safety nets and cause this. I hope we get rid of these people and get our country back on track.

[Skittles]

56. you should worry

lots and lots of older people out of work affects EVERYONE

[Bridget Burke]

61. That's really too bad.

But the job market might not be the only reason.

Do you expect to be hired by an older person? They might feel your contempt.

[catmandu57]

57. Soylent Green time?

Remember when Edgar J's character decided he's had enough and went to the euthanasia center? Is that going to be the solution?

[SoCalDem]

59. Ask a guy who is 70 now, but was a steelworker in the late 1970's.

At leat back then , lots of 40-50 somethings had enough time in to get a partial pension..They had defined benefit pensions bank then, so there were some who managed to survive..

Our generation is in a bigger world of hurt, because the pension plans have all but disappeared..

It's survival of the fittest again..and it reeks..

[lawladyprof]

62. Surprisingly, I find this thread comforting

I'm in my late 50's and it helps to hear that I am not alone in finding that some of my get-up-go got-up-and-went, that other people find they don't have the same resilience or psychological stamina they did when they (we) were younger. Thanks.