Over-50

College: Where Baby Boomers made friends for life (forget building a network)

Those were simpler times.  We Baby Boomers were the first American generation to "go to college." That had been for the elite. So, we just went.  Most of us didn't understand that was to be the platform for building our lifelong network. Instead we just made friends.  Some of those turned out to be friends for life.  What a gift that has been.

At age 68 I share what's new with women (Seton Hill, Greensburg, PA was all-female) who knew me since the age of 18.  They include Lee Hansen, Irene Nunn, Pat Serra, and Charlotte Toal. Since they are proven friends, not enemies, and I have screened them for signs of Machiavellianism they do rejoice in the good things happening.  Recently I received a contract to ghostwrite a book for a a big name.  They have been there when I grieve for my animal companions who had passed over.

And they share those same sorts of things with me.  That supplies me with insight in this thing we call the "human condition."  Without feeling I'm intrusive I can ask them questions about their motivations and how they handle regret.

Now college, because it's so expensive, is framed as a monetary and time investment.  The need to network trumps all.  Professors should be developed as useful contacts.  Angling for the right internship is everything.

There's a lot to be said for being allowed to go off to college without a lot of commercial pressure on a generation. 

Sylvia Plath: We love her wobbly sense of self in this Lean-In era

There is no generational divide on the love for poet Sylvia Plath.  As THE ATLANTIC hammers, she remains iconic to all generations.  Yes, she has endured with us Baby Boomers.

What grabs us by the throat and knocks us emotionally to the ground is her wobbly sense of self. In this Lean-In era we are being immersed in the rhetoric about supreme confidence.  Every woman must be a professional tiger.

In contrast, Plath was a mess.  Her talent was all she had. And she had that to the day she checked out.  We cherish that ability to produce, despite not having a clue how to Lean In.

Leonard Marsh aka "Mr. Snapple" - Another late bloomer

Leonard Marsh, who created the off-beat beverage Snapple, struggled for the big time for decades.  In 1992, he got there through bringing his company public. Then in 1994, he sold it to Quaker for $1.7 billion, reports Stephen Miller in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.  Marsh died on May 21st, at age 80.  He could become an iconic role model for all of the rest of us late bloomers. 

In his book "Old Masters and Young Geniuses," University of Chicago researcher David W. Galenson documents that there is such a phenomenon as the late bloomer. Unlike the Mozarts of the world, they don't find a way to express their talent until late in life.  Until then they keep experimenting. An example is Frank Lloyd Wright who didn't start Falling Waters until he was 60 years old.

Now that the economy is improving, more of us Baby Boomers can go for what for us will be the big time.  During the worst of times during The Great Recession we learned plenty.  For example, I finally nailed down that was standing in my way of success was me.  In the next few years the media could be reporting on how we Baby Boomers are bursting into bloom.

iGate Fires CEO over Office Romance: Baby Boomers always knew perils of finding love at work

Some of our colleagues and best friends had found their mates at work.  But, our overall experience was to avoid looking for love where and how we earned our living. That has included what we did as entrepreneurs.  Sure we had crushes but paying the bills and sleeping soundly trumped matters of the heart.

Again, office romance has blown up. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that iGate Corporation has fired its Chief Executive Officer Phaneesh Murthy for having an affair with a subordinate and not reporting it.  That is company policy.  He contends he did not violate the rules of the road at iGate.  It's odd that those in high place would still take the risk of looking for love on the job.  Too much is at stake.

Suicide: Aging Baby Boomer seemed to be doing okay

In our age bracket, suicide is becoming a common cause of death.  Last night our 12-step group in North Haven, Connecticut was rocked by the news that one of us had checked out.  Let's call him Pete.  He was a regular "in the rooms" for two years.  He had developed a diverse network of fellow members to help him over the rough spots. The day of his divorce, he spent the time after court at his sponsor's house.  We thought he was doing okay.

He wasn't.  When it comes to males, it is difficult to read what is really going on inside of them.  Since he had held on to a good job, the tendency is to assume that he is functioning. 

Now, we ask if there were signs that he was planning to leave us?  Maybe I'm obtuse but I didn't see them. In fact, I envied the way he seemed to bounce back from life's surprises.  May this Baby Boomer, who worked so hard his life to support his children, rest in peace.

Suicide - Simon Critchley at New School deconstructs them

As we get older, research and experience show, it could be harder to conjure up hope.  Last night a man in my senior citizen complex called me.   He was at a bottom but not quite suicidal. I have a hunch that if he can just bring in some additional revenue from operating entrepreneurial businesses he will be okay.  There will be the money. And there will be the satisfaction of being busy, for a change.

Some of the suicides I have encountered have been passive.  There was no suicide note.  A relative in the family simply left on the kitchen table an unfilled prescription for blood-pressure.  She died during the night of a massive heart attack. Then there are the ones who leave notes. In an unusual course at the New School, Simon Critchley has students look at those.  They range from ordinary people to Hitler.

Suicide ideation is common.  Thinking about exiting life provides relief from current pain.  Fortunately, many of us Baby Boomers don't take action.

Michael Musto: Makes headlines for being classy, after getting boot from VILLAGE VOICE

Getting the boot is always a disaster - emotionally, financially, and inpossibly also in unwanted media attention.  With the availability of e-tools, ranging from Twitter to simple email, some of those who've been canned lash out against their former employer in a public and ugly way.  That seemed to have some positive impacts for comic Conan O'Brien. But in general burning that bridge doesn't seem to get anyone much.

Former gossip columnist for the VILLAGE VOICE Michael Musto may have made a smart move speaking well about the powers-that-be there.  On his Facebook page, reports Adam Martin at NEW YORK Magazine, Musto praises the VILLAGE VOICE for making possible so many opportunities to cover what he wanted and how we wanted as well as to meet with compelling personalities, celebrities among them.

In an era in which the default has become anger, not being angry can provide a wonderous personal brand.

Everything Changes: What we had chased crumbles

As NEW YORK Magazine sadly reports, the iconic alternate weekly THE VILLAGE VOICE has laid off some heavy hitters such as gossip columnist Michael Musto.  Times are hard in journalism.  And it was for a career on the side in journalism that I chased.  I wanted the big bylines.  I wanted the excitement. I wanted the power of walking into a news event and the crowds parting like the Red Sea.  I craved that even though I had a thriving career as a ghostwriter/speechwriter.

Now that dream, of course, has crumbled. There are still journalists who are thriving. But most are caught playing a scary game of musical chairs.  Those who lose those good jobs may never land comparable ones. Meanwhile, after some hard times for it, the field of executive communications has bounced back.  I even have a waiting list. 

When we will learn to value what we have?  Is the lack of satisfaction the curse on mankind?

Baby Boomer Bullies on Facebook

We Baby Boomers might assume that the rest of us have mellowed with time - and suffering.  Don't bet on it. 

This week was one from hell because of a fellow Baby Boomer on Facebook.  Since we had had some things in common such as both working in public relations and both being from the same town, we developed one of those casual Facebook relationships.  One day, on my communications blog, I posted a funny commentary about my experiences growing up in that town. I mentioned her and raised the question if she had shared some of those experiences.  My allusions to her were neutral, not comic.

After I posted, I sent a link to her via Facebook.  At the time she seemed to enjoy it.  There was no request to take it down.  Had there been I would have.  Then this week I received a number of notes from her via Facebook how the post has attracted "unwanted attention."  I took it down.  Then I was vilfied by Ms. High-Handed for the original post since I had not asked her permission.  Hey, did you ever hear of the First Amendment and that increasingly courts are ruling that bloggers have the same protections as journalists?  There was no need for me to get permission from her for mentioning her on my blog. 

She only stopped laying into me, ever so WASPY cool-like, when I informed her of the legalities and that lawyers and public relations folks were planning to turn this chamber of horrors into a case study.  A media property is also interested in covering this Facebook grim experience. Then she was all sugar and spice and everything nice.  I informed her that if she ever contacted me again I would file harassment charges.

Not all Baby Boomers are decent human beings. 

 

Scandal Scandal Scandal: Will Millennials get their own Watergate?

Benghanzi, IRS' targeting conservatives, and Deportment of Justice's peeking into reporters' phone records.  The Obama Administration is shaken by the scandals and some or all of this could morph into the 2013 version of Watergate.  Millennials will be glued to their screens of their smartphones the way we were to the television when the players in the Nixon Administration were grilled.

Watergates are game-changers.  In addition to the rascals being sent off to jail, power is re-distributed.  Democrat Hillary Clinton could be sent out into the political wilderness.  Another Bush could win the White House in 2016.  If Sarah Palin can prove the IRS was looking at her tax returns with bias, she could be back on top.