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Our Bloggers -
Nancie Clare
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I can understand why the American Association of Retired Persons is the biggest lobbying organization in the US – they are relentless in their efforts to lasso every citizen (and I’ll bet non-citizens get solicitations too) over the age of 50 into joining.
Yep, the barrage starts in the twilight of your 40s. You’ve just reconciled yourself to entering middle-age, for heaven’s sake, when that blasted envelope inviting you to join your fellow geezers-in-training lands in the mailbox. |
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Our Bloggers -
Nancie Clare
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Because we are barraged by marketing messages to spend, spend, spend, everyday we do things – or plan to do things – that sabotage our economic well being.
Everyone wants new stuff – that’s human nature. And marketing people know we want new stuff so it’s up to them to find ways to get us to give ourselves permission to buy new stuff by appealing to any number of emotions.
“Oh no, not me!,” you think. Well, how about this scenario: You have an older car that’s in fine mechanical condition, completely paid off and gets 20 MPG. You trade in old faithful for a new Prius that will get 30MPG. You did a smart thing? Only for Toyota. The car company’s advertising tricked you into thinking you would save money by spending money.
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Our Bloggers -
Nancie Clare
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I saw the future over the weekend, or at least I hope I did.
My husband and I attended the Los Angeles Times Book Festival at UCLA over the weekend – along with about 150,000 of our fellow book lovers. And what I saw as both a writer (hey, I’m not above looking out for my livelihood) and a citizen of the world warmed my heart. 
Image Source: Los Angeles Times Book Festival |
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Our Bloggers -
Nancie Clare
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Wednesday was an unusual day – I actually traveled from Orange County (the OC) back to my office in West LA in the early afternoon at the decent clip of 70 MPH. (For those of you who have endured the north/south torture that is the 405, you can pick your jaws up off the floor now.) But as remarkable as that may have been, what really caught my attention was driving neck and neck with one of the new Smart Cars. And boy, are they tiny. 
Image Source: SmartCarUSA.com
I mean, I have purses bigger than that car. |
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Our Bloggers -
Nancie Clare
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Now I really feel like an old fogey. This morning at the gym I was treated to (held captive to?) MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16,” and such an excess of bad behavior on the parts of everyone involved – parents, kids, friends, caterers and florists – I have never beheld. Never – and that’s saying something considering my mom’s over-the-top antics when she’s had a few too many.
Yeah, I know there isn’t much “real” in reality TV and the whole sorry lot of them were mugging for the camera, but it’s easy to see why much of the rest of the world recoils from us as well as why cultural stereotypes within our country are so hard to shake.
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