Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

It's Sandwich Time

I'm glad the mystery has been cleared up; I know what's in store for me as I get older and retire thanks to the Pew Research Center. I can sleep more comfortably tonight since the statistics are in. Knowing that there are 75 million Americans who are roughly my cohort gives me a little security. We won't all go down at the same time so we have leverage. I am speaking about the so-called "baby boomer" generation, born between 1946 and 1964. According to the aforementioned study, 90% of us are very satisfied with where we are in our lives...no mention of whether or not a sports car or a motorcycle is part of the equation. More than 55% of us expect to live comfortably for the rest of our lives (or at least until we are totally unaware of who and where we are). Our median income is more than $60,000 which is $20k more than other adults in other age categories. Hooray for us. All is not completely rosy, however; the sandwich years tend to be expensive.
If you've never heard of the sandwich years, you are not alone. Thanks to the Pew Group for giving me that one. Apparently, this generation now has parents AND children still depending on it. Statistically, we have at least one elderly parent and at least one adult child who depend on us for financial assistance, hence, the sandwich moniker. I've got news for them: we were a sandwich family long ago.
When the kids were little, piling into bed with parents seemed like a regular ritual, and not just when the thunder was loud or the monsters under the bed got unruly; we had regular family meetings in bed...we called them "family sandwiches." The group hug featured everyone selecting something to put between bread, and we all shouted out what we were: I was almost always peanut butter, even if there was mustard or bologna or pizza as an ingredient. Sometimes, I was the bread because nobody else wanted to be something so mundane. It was always fun, and I think all our kids share fond memories of the sandwich days.
Now it's an offical title, I guess. We do have some financial responsibilities for an elderly parent and, from time to time, one or another of the kids. It doesn't seem like such a burden though a sports car or a motorcycle (again) would be nice. No, the Pew Research Center didn't ask me to be a part of their survey, but I AM very satisfied with where I am in life; while I don't know if I'll live "comfortably" until I'm drooling on mysellf in the home (overlooking the park, Ryun), nobody could have asked for a more fulfilling or challenging life than I've had.
Bring on the future.

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