Boomer Blog

Dancing with the Un-Stars

This past Friday was the Holiday Party at my over-55 active adult apartment complex. I had no idea what to expect, and boy, was I surprised!  Shocked, is more like it.

We have 156 apartments, so somewhere upward of 225 people.  I'd say about 50 to 75 people came to this affair, most dressed festively.  I think the average age of the residents is somewhere around 68 or 70, if I recall what the architect said a few months ago.  It tends to be the younger, more spry folks that get out and about more, go to the fitness center, attend the events, go on tours, etc.  I go to a lot of the activities, mostly because I want to get to know people in my new town and there are some really wonderful people here that are friendly, fun-loving, and incredibly generous with their time and caring.  For example, a brand new resident, one of the younger ones, got carted away to the hospital earlier in the week (turned out to be pneumonia), and people jumped in to take care of her little dog Charlie, walk him, pet him, feed him, etc.  But I digress....

The event drew the usual suspects plus a lot of people I hadn't ever seen.  Everybody was in a good mood, and why not, because it was a Friday evening and the food and drink (BYOB) were on the house.  People were socializing in little groups and eating -- the desserts were the best -- and things were relatively sedate, until...

...the D.J. showed up.  Even then, he started off with music from the 1940s, which I wished he'd get past -- made it seem like an old folks' home.  Fortunately, he did.  He worked his way up to the 1980s and at that point, people started dancing.  You'd think the first one on the dance floor would be the youngest, most active.  But nooooooo!  I looked up and the D.J. was dancing with, what! Could it be??? The lady in his arms was one of the ones who has a hard time walking.  But there she was, light on her feet, smiling radiantly and dancing like she was 30 years younger.  Go Raquel! 

A few minutes later, a wonderful formerly quite athletic man who'd had a stroke and went everywhere on a motorized carrier was out there dancing with his wife.  No kidding!  Go Nat!

Then, a little lady who walks stooped over shuffled over to the D.J. and when I looked over a couple of minutes later, she had one arm up around his neck and the other on his shoulder and was dancing just like everyone else. Way to go, Mary!

Go figure.  Is this like people who stutter when they talk but sing without hesitation?  Whatever it is, it was heartwarming to see these people, these un-stars, dancing.  They're stars to me -- I'll never look at them the same way again.

How Old Are We, Anyway?

For as long as I can remember, the most desirable age group in the minds of marketers has been 18-49. initially, my good boomer expert friend Priscilla Wallace tells me, because of the sheer numbers of people in that group.  In other words, as the huge rabbit moved through the snake's belly (the rabbit being the immense numbers of baby boomers, the snake being the world), we boomers were the group to market to and to win over. But even though now that knot of baby boomers ranges in age from 43 to nearly 62, the 18-49 age group remains the coveted group for marketers.

If that isn't due to the great numbers of us, it must be because "young" is still perceived as equal to trendsetting.  But the truth is that there's no greater group of trendsetters than baby boomers. We've plowed new ground at every age we've been and every stage of life we've gone through. That certainly isn't going to stop now that we're over 40. In fact, there's so much to change for over-40-year-olds in terms of lifestyle, healthcare, transportation, homes, food, shopping, housing, etc., that it'll take our great numbers to make a dent in those areas for ourselves and our progeny.

The whole age thing is such an antiquated way of looking at people.  How old are we, anyway?  There's the "real age" Web site, which supposedly tallies up how our habits and lifestyle choices plus our health affect our body's age.  Then there's the way we look.  When I attended my 30th high school reunion a few years ago, the last thing you'd think we all had in common was our age. Some of us looked a decade older or younger than those who "looked their age."

I found it fascinating in an article in Advertising Age that talked about how people lie about their age, among other things, on their social network pages. Gee, what a shock. About halfway down in the story, it says this about MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson: "On his MySpace page, he says he's 32, but it seems he's somewhere between 36 and 40. That might not sound like a big deal, but, to put it in the rather vulgar terms of ad targeting, it puts him into a different demographic range."

Focusing on a "demographic range" based solely on age is incredibly arcane, yet it is still the standard these days. It ignores a person's lifestyle, place in their own life cycle, health and habits. Is a 32-year-old who smokes, is 50 pounds overweight, never exercises and has no children the same as a 32-year-old who is slender, eats healthy, exercises regularly, has a husband and three small children?  Or a 32-year-old who is single and dating like a teenager?  Is a 32-year-old who doesn't work more desirable than a 55-year-old who does?  Are three 32-year olds equally as desirable to marketers if they all make the same amount of money each year but one is single with few other expenses, one is married with four children and an infirm parent to care for and one is married to a spouse whose salary adds twice the family income to the household? No way!

So go ahead, marketers, keep aiming for the 18-49-year-olds and ignore or diminish the importance of lifestyles and buying power.  One of your competitors is sure to figure it out before you do.  I just hope I own their stock and not yours.   

A Boomer in a Seniors World

I am a Baby Boomer.  I qualify for some seniors' discounts, as I'm between 50 and 60.  AARP discounts do add up if you keep an eye out for them.  United Airlines had a program for people 55+ called Silver Wings Plus, with special discounts, etc., but just discontinued it. Village Inns and Denny's also give senior discounts for 55+.  I've never asked for a 55+ meal at either place and don't plan to any time soon.  It's the principal of the thing.  I am not a senior, thank you very much.  I'm a Boomer.

Ironic, then, isn't it, that I just moved into a 55+ apartment community -- one building only but a community nonetheless -- in the Baltimore suburbs?  The greatest thing happened when I first walked into the leasing office.  The 20-something leasing agent (or maybe 30 -- I've never been good at guessing ages) approached me and said regretfully, "You have to be 55 or older to live here...."  I could have bear-hugged her.  "I am!" I exclaimed, and her jaw dropped.  "I would never guess that!  You don't look it at all," she said. 

Well, I don't think I look particularly young for my age, certainly when you get close enough to me to see the "character lines" (aka wrinkles) that I've earned.  I think this is what 57 looks like these days.  Or there's my mother's theory:  "People who are heavy look younger."  I prefer "BBW" for "big beautiful woman" or "full-figured," which doesn't just refer to the bosom, or even "large" over "heavy."  Heavy just sounds so boring and dour.   But I digress.

So why did I move into a place for people they euphemistically call "55 and better" if I don't relate to being a senior?  It's simple: Of the places I considered, this one had the most features I was looking for, was the nicest and newest place, had the best view, was the best managed and maintained, and was located where I wanted to live.  In other words, it was the best product of the products I compared and I just happened to qualify to live there.

There was a huge clue to getting Baby Boomers' business in the above paragraph.  Focus on the product, make it something that people want and they will come.  How's that for a revolutionary idea?  No?  Well, then why do so few companies do that?  They paint a smile on a pig and expect people to buy it.  But I digress.

With my interest in the Baby-Boomers-Turning-Into-Aging-Baby-Boomers (I can't bring myself to call them/us seniors) market, living in this place will offer me a priceless opportunity to research my subject first-hand.  I'll keep you informed.  So far (in the whole week and a half that I've lived there), I see some "old" people, a handful, but mostly I see people in their 60s, I'd say.  That makes sense.  The newer an "active adult" living community is, the younger the residents are.  They stay and age with the buildings. Right now I think staying for awhile is a great idea -- I have a zillion boxes still to unpack and I don't want to go through that moving thing again for a looooong time.