Last Wednesday’s mail brought my annual Tasmanian National Parks Pass renewal notice. The full fee’s $A66. But for me it’s A$53 – because since my 60th birthday I’ve been a Tasmanian Seniors Card holder. There’s no set age when a person becomes a senior citizen (aka a ‘senior’). Usually it’s either age 50 or 60 or 65. So if I’m not a bona fide senior now, I’ll be one soon. Yep – I’m an old guy. Funny thing is, I don’t feel like one even though I look like one. Ageing’s inevitable for everyone on Earth. I often say that each of us is getting older by one year every year. I don’t love getting older. But it’s inevitable. And I intend to go with the flow. No cosmetic surgery, botox or hair transplant for me. The number of seniors – however defined – is rising fast. The UN predicts the number of people in the world aged 60 and over is likely to triple from 672 million in 2005 to 1.9 billion in 2050. Seniors should be a powerful, wise and experienced force on the planet. But we aren’t. Because we’re not organised. Former High Court Justice Michael Kirby (pictured) agrees. He said seniors have been ignored for too long because they’re too polite. Indeed seniors are so disorganized that Seniors Week is different in each Australian State. Maybe it’s a plot to quell emergent grey power. Anyway, here in Tasmania it’s this week: 1-7 October. Cheers, brother and sister seniors.
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