I'm Not Waiting on Washington . . .

I'm so tired of hearing everyone talk about what the politicians in Washington DC need to do or need to stop. The representatives we send to Washington DC cannot take care of themselves, that's why there's a lobby, and Washington has no sense of accountability or bottom line resolution. The part I don't understand, is why we all keep acting like we don't know that! As a member of the Other 1 Percent, I've learned the best way to make things happen is for John Q. Public or Jane Z. Doe to implement them and share the idea. Here's what I thought of this month . . .

I now get senior discounts! I don't get them everywhere yet, but now that I'm 55, I do get them some places and rather than refuse it, like I thought I would, I got a better idea. Senior discounts offend me, and not because I have grey hair. Senior discounts offend me, because for the most part, senior citizens are the most focused upon group in America. They get more medical attention, they have guaranteed income, and let's face it, they have all the free time they want. To be honest, I don't know too many seniors that are my senior that haven't done things the way they want since I've known them. My parents, who are now in their 70's, have been making their own choices for well over 55 years, now. We all do what we want, some long before the official age of majority. My concern is for the young people who are trying to raise a family and don't have the financial choices that were available a generation ago and certainly not the financial choices available two generations ago.

Anyway, rather than gripe about Washington and wonder why the senior generation can just throw money all around themselves without a second thought, I've realized there is something I can do. I've watched, as the younger generation complains about the cost and the debt they are inheriting most of them are pretty much into their instant gratification and not exactly building any inheritance for their kids, but there are a few . . . There are young couples who are determined to live simpler and raise their children to appreciate value rather than price.

Here is the plan. Every time I receive a senior discount, I take it and I stash it in a little container. I keep an approximate running total and when I run across someone I see actually working toward self-sufficiency or teaching their children something I believe in, I can just randomly hand them what I've stashed. When the opportunity arises and I am actually in the store near a young couple with children, in the check out line who aren't on WIC and EBT, I can give them my discount to apply toward their grocery bill.

So now that I am officially a senior citizen in some genres, I'd like to share the benefits of age and wisdom with the next generations. The benefits amount to about $20.00 a month probably, no more than I buy at the store, but the wisdom is very fundamental . . .
It may not seem like much, but it's one of those things that if most of the seniors considered the next generations, and most young couples abandoned their instant opulant lifestyle, it would make a big difference.