Newsweek's My Turn

I was reading Newsweek today and ran across the section entitled "My Turn." I rarely read this section as such editorials tend to bore me and often relate to a topic in which I have little or no interest. But the past two Newseek "My Turn" sections have been thoroughly entertaining and, in some ways, downright funny.

A past My Turn was entitled "I'm Old -- and I'm Just Fine With That." It was written by a charming old lady, Mary Immel. Without paraphrasing the whole darn article, Mary mentions how a clerk in a store referring to her as "young lady" sort of ticked her off. Mary is hip enough to know she isn't young anymore, but so what? Two great lines from the article. "It must have seemed a miracle to him that I had been able to locate the store and hobble inside," and "In spite of my outward signs of aging, I manage to tie my own shoes and eat my oatmeal without assistance." The article is just great.

This week's My Turn is entitled "My Declaration of ... Well, Dependence." Written by Angelo DeVitis, the article talks about assisted living homes. His style cracks me up. The guy is sharp enough to read through words like "luxury" and "classic" and "independent living" to understand the place is a home for old folks who need some help. But again, who cares? He takes this pun to its extreme when he deadpans the name of his retirement home, "Life-Care Senior Citizen Independent Living Classic Luxury Residence." I was laughing out loud in my chair. Stringing all those false descriptors together is just funny to me. It demonstrates the extent to which people will disguise something that everyone else understands perfectly for what it is.

Hope you enjoy both articles. I had to share them.