Thursday, July 28, 2005

AARPing Up My Tree

I received an e-mail today. It asked me: "Are you 50 or older?"

I looked at who sent this e-mail to me. It was AARP. AARP, in case you didn't know, stands for "Association for the Advancement of Retired People"--I think. I'm not sure what's being advanced other than years in age.

One things that hasn't advanced is the age at which you are invited to join retirees, whether or not you actually are, indeed, retired! I remember when you actually had to be retired (at least 62 years old) to become a member of AARP. Then it was 60. My father joined when he turned 55, as did my mother.

Now the threshold is lowered again to 50. They must be in dire need of more members. Or fresh blood.

I'm 42. I don't meet that minimum requirement.

But I'm not worried. At the rate AARP is going, when I turn 45 that will be the new age one can join AARP and reap its benefits before the Grim Reaper comes. Who knows, my son might be able to join right out of college!

Will it still be called AARP, though? Or will the letter just stand for an amorphous entity with no meaning--sort of like KFC. Or STP. Just what does "STP" stand for, anyway?

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