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Pre-boomers have the good fortune to learn from the Greatest Generation and used this knowledge to help guide the nation through the ‘80s, ‘90s and the beginning of this century.  I am aware of what Pre-boomers have done and what they are prepared to do, because I’m one of them.  These New Seniors, as we now call them, are all 65+ as of  2010; and the cutting-edge Boomers will start joining our ranks next year.

Since this has been proclaimed “The Year of the New Seniors,” it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get involved in taking care of today’s problems before things get completely out of hand.  But we’re not going to wait for someone to ask for our help.  The mistake made over the years was assuming that trailing generations were on the same page with us regarding basic values, work ethics and a sense of personal responsibility.  We believed they shared the American dream as passed on by those before us and were willing to do whatever it took to realize this vision.

While we were busy achieving our goals and raising our families, those in the Boomer, Gen X and Gen Y (often referred to as Millennials) groups grew up under the illusion that everything they were entitled to whatever they wanted.  This developed their current characteristics and mindsets.  Many pre-boomers believe these generations have a distorted sense of themselves and, therefore, of society.  Like it or not, the foundations have been laid and viewpoints established.  However, if actions can be altered then values may follow.  That’s why the New Seniors are ready to take the necessary actions to get our country back on track.

In the days and weeks ahead, the role of the New Seniors will be to step forward and volunteer to help others by becoming mentors, lay teachers, business advisors, spiritual leaders, better friends and, of course, involved grandparents.  Every little bit of help we provide will affect the lives of many.  These efforts will not go unnoticed, because, I believe, deep down inside other generations are looking for someone or some group to show them the way.  Therefore, our actions will speak infinitely louder than words.

The specifics of the actions New Seniors will engage in are individual choices.  Isn’t that about as American as one can get?  The important thing is to use our life experience,  knowledge, core beliefs and love of country to affect positive change in our communities, schools, governments and families.  Americans need to see that our generation is more than willing to share its gifts for the good of the country.  After all, somebody has to be the grownup, and I guess it’s our turn.            

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Those of us born between 1930 and 1945 are part of a generation that learned how to control our family budgets over the years, and many of us were responsible for business budgets as well.  It never occurred to us to borrow money to run our household or a company knowing we could never pay it back.  Back then, credit cards were just getting started.  American Express was introduced in the ‘60s and those qualifying for the card had to pay the balance at the end of each monthly billing period.  It wasn’t until the ‘70s, when Visa and MasterCard came on the scene and allowed consumers to build a balance and pay finance charges for the unpaid amounts on their accounts.

Making it easy to spend money is never considered an excuse for spending more than a person can afford to pay back.  Yet, we have been educated – maybe propagandized is a more appropriate word – to believe this is the way government works.  That’s why the national debt is $13 trillion.  Image if your personal budget had to pay a third or more of every dollar taken in for interest on the things you bought in the past but had yet to pay for them.  Well, this is how our government handles the monies we entrust to them. 

The proposed budget freeze only slows down the out-of-control spending in selectively, because most of the budget is committed and not discretionary.  It does not address the problem of throwing good money after bad, because once the feds get their hands on our tax dollars they feel compelled to find something to spend it on, or worse yet create new programs requiring more funding.  Government is addicted to spending our money.

If the New Seniors don’t want to pass this debt on to our children and grandchildren, then we must be sure our voices of protest are heard.  We did this in opposition to the government takeover of health care.  Our generation showed concern early on and kept the momentum going throughout the year.  Now we should be looking for candidates in the upcoming elections who understand our needs and are willing to listen to us.   Why, then, can’t we insist on having our elected representatives be fiscally responsible?

Sitting back is not an option.  This country has been good to us.  We believe in what it stands for and want those generations following us to have the opportunities we had.   If that’s not reason enough to get involved, consider the possibility of tax increases, inflation or both.  Those retirement investments we worked so hard for are worth less than before, yet the gains may be taxed at a higher rate.  At the same time, increases in Social Security benefits are on hold and Medicare is slated to be slashed.  If these situations aren’t enough to get you moving, then nothing will.  Come on, join in the fight for what’s right.

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Wasn’t it just last year when the fast food giants were being demonized by well-meaning folks who wanted to tell us what to eat and how much to eat and where to eat?  It seems America’s favorite fare was killing us and before it did, we would be so fat (yes, I said fat, because this is what it was called before the politically correct crowd labeled this word as insensitive) that we would happily die because everyone would abandon us due to our lack of control when it came to food intake.

As a pre-boomer, the generation born between 1930 and 1945, I never thought of restaurants as the place for dieters.  From delis, coffee shops and diners to family restaurants to fine dinning these were always places where you enjoyed eating.  We always consumed more when eating away from home.  And dessert was always part of the meal.  If someone was watching their weight they’d often forego a trip to a restaurant.  That’s the way it was.  But times have changed, and restaurants don’t want to lose out on a single customer.  In fact, promoting low-calorie, low-fat and low-carb meals allows them to give the customer less food for the same amount of money or more.

I can remember when dieting meant salads with really horrible tasting dressing and bland chicken or fish with steamed vegetables at home or at a restaurant.  The fast food chains have items for the diet-conscience, but with the ongoing price wars aimed at attracting the budget-conscience consumer, the emphasis is on the discounted regular menu.  The do-gooders continue to target fast food as bad food, particularly burger and fries. 

Some popular-priced establishments that have jumped on the healthier food band wagon, believing this will give them a competitive edge in this all-too-crowded segment of the marketplace.  With federal nutritional labeling laws posed to become a reality, this move could provide them with a huge advantage.  But what about the food?   Applebee’s, a sit-down restaurant chain of more than 1,900 units, has added 5 items, all 550 calories or less, to the regular menu line up.  While these are said to be regular portion sized dishes, the gooey and decadent desserts are strictly off limits.

Starbuck’s, the over-priced coffee leader, is offering reduced calorie versions of their specialty drinks.  The coffee house is also featuring low-cal sandwiches and snacks. 

It’s too soon to tell if the healthier menus will catch on.  If the patrons do as they did in the past, most will be back to the regular fare, soon.  And the “eat healthier, lousy-tasting food police” will redouble their efforts to make us consume what they believe will make us live longer.  If they succeed, we probably won’t live longer; it’ll just seem that way.   

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As a pre-boomer growing up, I collected all kinds of stuff.  Stones and sea shells were the first items I stored away.  Toy soldiers and emblems from WWII were the fun part of the war.  Later it was coins and stamps.  As I got into sports, my collection of baseball and football cards was a source of pride.  Then I started going to major league games and my collection of player autographs from the various Philadelphia sports team was a big deal.  Throughout my adult life, I have added to my display of advertisements and things from the early to mid-1900s.  I have fond memories about each of these phases of my life, as do all peoples who love to collect things.

Although I lived in the city, there were plenty of woods nearby and rambling through them or walking along the banks of the Pennypack Creek or the Delaware River yielded a lot of different stones.  I saved those that were not right for skipping, especially the ones that had veins of what looked like gold running through them.  Of course it wasn’t gold; but every time I found one, there was a moment of hope that this time would be different.  And trips to the Jersey Shore produced a never-ending supply of shells of all kinds.

With many relatives and family friends servicing in the Second World War, I was able to put together more than a few emblems, insignia, ribbons and pins.  I kept them in a special drawer and regularly laid them out on the dinning room table to admire.  As for the toy lead-soldiers, I simply played with them until they were beyond repair. 

After the US victories abroad, my interest turned to coins because a friend of mine started collecting them.  This soon moved to stamps, which were more attractive and had stories associated with the issuing countries’ history and geographical location.  I have first day covers from when new stamps were issued and a rather spotty collection of American stamps dating back to the early 1900s.  Although my stamps are mounted in albums and stored away, I hope to someday introduce my grandson to the joys of being a Philatelist.

My hometown, Philadelphia, is a big sports city.  Most kids when I grew up saved the cards from bubble gum packages.  We traded them and flipped for them, but no one actually purchased them, because baseball and other sport card collecting had not yet become a business.  Along with the cards, we also collected autographs of local sports heroes; sometimes we were lucky enough to have them sign the cards.  Little did any of us realize how much these would be worth today.

Being an adman, I became interested in the evolution of packaged goods, promotional signs and ads.  Then I started collecting these old icons from all parts of the country until I put together a representative sampling of how marketing in America has changed over the years.  I love my collection and add to it whenever I discover the appropriate items. 

Many pre-boomers have collected many things for many years.  Please write in and share your collecting stories and passions so others may learn about your hobby; because, as you know, it’s never too late to start enjoying the fun of collecting. 

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Having spent my business career in the advertising business, I know the younger consumer is king.  This is predicated on the fact that these folks follow fads, want peer group acceptance and will be in the marketplace for years to come.  Therefore, over the years they will buy more of a particular brand, especially those age 18 to 34, assuming they remain loyal to it.  From an advertising standpoint – this applies to programming, too because audience composition ultimately determines what type of products will be purchasing the TV time – once you reach 50 you’re dead.

So the advertisers interested in those 65+ treat us as if we’re all “over-the-hill.”  The OTC products (over-the-counter: non-prescription medicines, skin creams and denture items) sold on the evening news is an indicator as to what marketers think we need.  The ads for prescription drugs range from erectile dysfunction (E.D.), to bladder and prostate problems, to cholesterol and diabetes control.  Services advertised include reverse mortgages, long-term care insurance and funeral arrangements.  What a deadly line up of advertisers this is.

For pre-boomers (those born between 1930 and 1945), the actors in these commercials are either too young and hip for us to relate to, like the guy who spirits his wife away on a motorcycle to try out his new virility now that he no longer is impotent thanks to an E.D. pill.  Or too old and inactive for our age group, such as the woman of 85 who decides to go with a reverse mortgage in order to make ends meet.  These are examples of the extremes that surround our generation of 30 million vibrant consumers ages 65 to 79. 

We have saved for our retirement.  We spend money on the goods and services we want and need.  And we will continue to be viable consumers for years to come.  Not only have advertisers overlooked the “forgotten generation,” the politicians have too.  Pre-boomers account for 30 percent of the votes cast in off-year elections.  And we’re concerned about the records of our representative when it comes to issues affecting us: taxes, health care, national security and more.  Many of those we trusted have let us down; that’s why incumbents have plenty to worry about in the 2010 elections.

It doesn’t matter what’s being sold, advertisers need to realize that pre-boomers are not old and we represent an important audience to them.  These marketers, including politicians, would do well to accept this and start talking to us in our language about our needs and deliver on the promises they make.  That’s easy enough to understand.   

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Losing weight would be nice and allow me to get into some of the clothes I have hanging in the closet for the day when I shed those extra pounds.  This would also keep my doctor from delivering his lecture every time I visit his office.  At my wife’s suggestion, I did reduce my waistline last year by cutting back on calories, but I certainly could do more.  Maybe adding moderate exercise, such as walking, to my daily routine and making healthier eating selections will produce results without causing me to center my life on food intake and a schedule of physical activities. 

The truth is I don’t really want to apply the discipline or take on the responsibility to do something another person thinks would be good for me.  I like my lifestyle and I like what I eat.  And, since my overall health is good, why should I want to deprive myself of good food and engage in the kind of exercise I once enjoyed but no longer feel compelled to do?  I guess the answer is, at age 73, to take on commitments that are designed to please me while not disturbing the lives of others – actions that make me feel better and allows those I come in contact with to feel better too.  It’s simpler and provides a greater chance of achieving success.  

So here are the resolutions I made for 2010:
1. Spend more time with friends
2. Make new friends and bring them into the circle of friends
3. Attend every school and sporting event involving my grandchildren
4. Let loved ones know they’re loved through words and actions
5. Get together with family members more often
6. Take a more active role in my community
7. Volunteer to help those in need or might benefit from my experience
8. Learn something new every day by reading, watching and doing
9. Laugh more and complain less
10. Consider eating wiser and engaging in an exercise program.

I think I can keep these resolutions.  In fact, these are promises I will make to myself  and do my best not to break.  The only exception is number 10, although I will at least consider it.

Let’s hope this year will be one of individual happiness, good health and prosperity.  And it turns out to be a year in which our nation experiences a resurgence of tried and true traditions, a return to common-sense solutions to our common problems and the re-birth of the American dream.  Happy New Year.    

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The first part of the season started with a traditional turkey dinner, which developed into anticipation about Christmas and the fun of having new stuff to enjoy until going back to school right after New Years.  The next two and a half months were tough – cold, dreary days and colder, overcast nights coupled with lots of school work and not much else.  When I look back to that time, I tend to remember the exciting part and minimize the rest – allowing me to focus on what I liked by letting it overwhelm reality. 

In those days, The Christmas season kicked off with the Gimbel’s Thanksgiving Parade. It was sorta like the big one Macy’s put on in New York only smaller, but it was ours.  In my town the shopping activities were in center city, where there were five major department stores each with their own Santa section.  This meant wild displays of toys and gadgets plus lots of model trains running around a winter wonderland where kids, with their mothers, waited impatiently to tell the jolly fellow what was on their Christmas lists.  With so many stores and so many Santa’s to choose from, it usually took a couple of trips downtown to accomplish this important mission.  It was an exciting time.

As I grew older, the holidays meant more work than fun.  I helped my dad put up the outside lights and paint snow on the windows using Glass Wax so I could clean them later.  Then there was the job of picking out the tree, which in our house had to be a blue spruce.  This was done under the watchful eye of my grandmother.  She had me walk to local library where fresh-cut trees were displayed on the lawn and sold by the American Legion.  After going back and forth between several specimens, she would make a decision.  Then we loaded the tree onto my wagon; or, if it had snowed, onto my sled and I pulled the prize tree home, about a mile away.  It was my job to secure the tree in the stand, and then put the lights on.  Grandma took care of the rest.  Most visitors commented on how beautiful the tree looked, and I was proud too — even though every year I was reluctant to participate in the process.

Of course the smells of the season were memorable, too: cookies, cakes, and pies baking; the aroma of the pine tree, a wreath, and holiday candles.  The sounds: carols singing, bells ringing and children playing.  The tastes: all those delicious baked goods, candies and festive meals.  The sights: school pageants, holiday trimmings, lights and poinsettias everywhere.  The touch of things: cold air biting my nose, the warmth of a roaring fire, and, the most wonderful feeling of all, friends and loved ones giving me a holiday hug. 

Come to think of it, I can enjoy all these sensations now.  And you can too.  We just need to slow down and enjoy this wonderful time of the year.  If we do, the remainder of the winter won’t seem as harsh, as bleak or as long.  Plus the experiences of this Christmas season will be next year’s memories.        

The uniqueness of America is the array of freedoms we have, more than any other country in the world.  Our founding fathers established our government to work for the people.  This caused people from around the globe to want to make the USA their home.  Today, all our citizens have the same rights and the same opportunities to succeed.  All it takes is a dream, hard work and a little luck to improve ones lifestyle. 

We new seniors grew up understanding this.  It was a belief in the American way and a commitment to accomplish our goals that brought us to retirement age with a sense that we were going to be able to spend our remaining years in relative comfort.  The recession put a crimp in our plans, but we’re not ready to throw in the towel.  To the contrary, we’re prepared to hunker down and do what it takes to ride this storm through; because that’s the way we were taught – “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

There is too much proposed spending by the government and an upheaval in the financial fabric that has served our generation from the time the great depression and WWII ended.  The bumps in the road along the way did not discourage pre-boomers from doing what we thought was right.  Now, we’re looking at cuts in Medicare benefits along with added taxes and fees that will affect our quality of life.  We can’t let this happen.  We must connect and the community of new seniors needs to unite.  That’s how to protect our generation and those trailing us from being victims of bureaucratic mismanagement and the political overspending they engage in to reach their self-serving goals at our expense.

Currently there are more than 30 million pre-boomers; there’s also another 10 million from the greatest generation.  Combined, we represent about 13 percent of the population but are projected to account for nearly 30 percent of the electorate in the upcoming mid-term election.  And, unlike so-called special interest groups, we are homogenized by our sense of tradition and the experience we’ve gained as citizens for more than 65 years.  So it’s not a matter of race, religion, sex, geographic location or political party.  We’re part of a “community” that is based on an understanding of life along with a sense of fairness.

We have experienced much over the years, and can continue to help shape the future for us as well as others.  However, nobody is going to look out for us if we don’t look out for ourselves and by doing so we will help the country regain its lost values.  We must do the teaching; otherwise, what’s going to happen when the 76 million baby boomers when they start turning 65 in 2011?

We do not remember the pain of the depression, but most of us have vivid memories of WWII and the years immediately following it.  For the most part, we were too young for Korea and too old for Vietnam.  We did not march in the streets for civil rights, women’s rights or to protest any wars.  What we did was grow up believing America was the greatest land on earth and believed in the opportunities it offered those of us who worked hard to get ahead.  So we were the driving force behind what ultimately became the longest period of peace time prosperity in the nation’s history.  Oh, and don’t forget, we invented rock and rock too. 

Our elders (parents, teachers and the community) taught us to be patriots, believe in one another, and believe in ourselves.  We still cherish these lessons and practice them to the best of our abilities.  It was the pre-boomer who taught the boomers, but some place along the line they didn’t latch on to the American values the way we did.  The “me generation” became the symbol of status and the generation of “more.”  This pleased the marketers of goods and services, and as the boomers came of age there was a huge group of consumers’ eager to buy what others were selling.  I know, because I was one of the admen who targeted the baby boomers and later wrote a book about marketing to them, “The 50+ Boomer: Your Key to 76 Million Consumers.”

After retiring a few years back, I continued to research and write about marketing issues.  In so doing, I realized how people under-valued my generation.  Marketers, advertisers, the media, you name it; they simply forgot about the pre-boomers.  A quick search of Web sites or online articles shows few are directed at my peers.  Yes, there are people writing to “seniors” about investments, real estate, retirement planning, and insurance; but there’s not much in the way of current events or nostalgic interests specifically for pre-boomers.  In fact, most people use pre-boomer and boomer as interchangeable terms — not all but enough to indicate they don’t have an understanding of the audience they’re trying to reach.

There’s a community of pre-boomers waiting, in fact needing, to connect.  We have common problems for which there are common solutions.  My hope is we will come together online to help each other, the trailing generations and the country as a whole.  Are you ready to join in?

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The other day, at a sporting event, the national anthem was played, replete with a color guard and an outstanding tenor belting out the words of the Star Spangled Banner.  It sent a chill up my spine.  I sang the words and stood erect with my right hand over my heart, as I had done countless times before.  My eyes scanned across the crowd, and what I saw disappointed me. 

Few in attendance had their hands over their hearts.  Fewer still were standing in a respectful manner.  And fewer yet were making any attempt to sing the words written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812.  Instead people were running up and down the aisles to get into their seats before the game started.  Those in their seats were drinking and carrying on.  And a number of attendees didn’t even remove their hats for the occasion.  A quick analysis of the crowd indicated that many of them were young — teens, twenties and early thirties.  Nobody reacted to their inappropriate behavior, including me.

I thought about the experience and realized this would never have happened in the America of my youth.  Citizens would have told those being disrespectful to shut up, stand up and sing, as well as to take that damn hat off.  Not anymore.  People are supposed to be able to do their own thing, even when it comes to ignoring the symbols that represent personal freedoms.  I was ashamed for not reacting when I could have and plan to say something the next time this happens, and it surely will.

In the meantime, I need to tell this story to my grown children and solicit their response.  More important, I want to talk with my grandchildren to find out what they have been taught in school about the history of these little celebrations of this nation and learn how the young ones conduct themselves during these occurrences.  If each pre-boomers passes on what they know and how they feel about our beloved country, we might help the trailing generations understand why it’s a blessing to be an American.  For those who believe this, it’s very easy to be respectful.