The Ads….

I've been watching the ads on tv – perforce. I'm sure you understand that I'm not so far gone that I simply sit there and scan for ads and nothing else. Good. Well, there's one that annoys me more than usual. A man with a bald head and prominent nose is advised by his Fidelity retirement fund person, a charming black woman, and he sets off down the road following the green dot which creates a green path. His path to successful retirement, evidently. As he walks along he passes a showroom full of speedy sports cars, pauses, looks longingly — until he sees the black lady giving him 'a look'; whereupon he smiles and continues on his way, slightly splay-footed, slightly obsolete-looking.

Now I know the symbolism is supposed to be 'stay on the path for a successful retirement'. But watching it I see this hapless older gent going down the path to death, passing up any opportunity for fun and hell-raising along the way. It's responsible, yes. But it's barely alive.

Perhaps it's time to stop worrying about our retirement and our investments and the oh-so-fragile future. Perhaps it's time to be here, now.