Recently, I rejoined AARP, but their tactics still bother me a bit.
- They are fighting against Ageism and people being mistreated as they age, however, all they do is call everyone “Older People”. They are doing exactly what they are preaching not to do and that is stereotyping and labeling. A person may have more years on them but why not call them Seasoned Citizens, the Knowledge-Filled Population or Life’s Up and Comers? It just feels demeaning every time I pick up the AARP magazine and see 50 years and up being called “Older”. Then they are hitting me up at every turn to donate to assist “Older” citizens. I wonder where they make the age cut-off or the economic cut-off of thinking (or knowing) I have money to donate.
- Next, I love the information AARP provides but honestly it is down-right depressing. I feel like I have one foot in the grave, at the age of 60, when I read the articles. Now, giving them credit, they do share uplifting stories about people that are taking the world by storm. Yet, the multitude of other articles create a fear factor for everyone gaining ground in the age category. I am proud to be a healthy, hard-working, fun-loving human and I don’t want to be labeled or treated as though my next breath might be my last. Of course, I am aware of this fact but reminding me of it is a bit redundant.
- Lastly, in this rant of mine, I want to bring up something AARP does and is the reason I ceased my membership several years ago. It is how they handle subscriptions. As soon as you pay your dues, they are sending a reminder notice that it is time to Renew. Or they send notifications that your membership is about to expire. This is not a problem for me because I keep a spreadsheet of all my subscriptions and memberships but what about the 85-year-old person that has no idea how to build a spreadsheet and possibly does not keep up with payments as they should? Statistically, I have always wondered how many pay their dues again, not realizing they just paid them a month ago.
Things that make you go HMMMM!