I've reached a new low in my life - I've been invited to join the AARP!

[flamingyouth]

I'm 35!!! Is this some kind of sick joke!?!?!?!? :D

Yes, I'm holding in my hand my official letter, informing me that I'm fully eligible for their numerous benefits!

Excuse me, I think I need to go eat chocolate and watch The Princess Bride right now.

[NMDemDist2]

1. hell I wish they'd hurry up and send me one, I'll be eligible in

less than 6 months

can't wait for them "senior discounts" hehehe :smoke:

you young whippersnapper had better wait your turn missy!

[Sporadicus]

7. I Turn 50 in Less Than 6 Months Too

and I got an invitation to join AARP just the other day. I don't have any idea how they found my age, but there it was - in my mailbox - mocking me like a cluster of black balloons. Oh, well, time to hitch my lime-green polyester Sansabelt pants up to my armpits and slip on my white loafers.

[flamingyouth]

15. Don't join them!

There's another, better, more liberal group out there - I'm sure someone can help me remember the name here ... anyway, AARP is evil, and not just because they sent a 35-year-old a letter and traumatized her! :D

[never cry wolf]

44. I turned 50 a month ago

I got the letter but doubt I can forgive them for their stance on the medicare drug bill.

[jpgray]

2. That was just on Bravo today

The role Andre the Giant was born to play. :silly:

[flamingyouth]

16. I've got the DVD

One of my all-time favorite films.

I can't see Wallace Shawn in anything else without cracking up. "Inconceivable!"

[1monster]

3. I beat you! I got my invitation to join AARP when I was twenty-four and

AARP was a force to be reckoned with... They were for the older folks back then, not corporate interests.

Now that I am only two years away from their (lowered) membership age, I'm not interested in joining, period.

[Gothic Sponge]

4. Don't feel so bad Granny!

;)


I get them in the mail too.

[flamingyouth]

17. Hey, I look good for my age!

Just ask GOPisevil, below! :D

[GOPisEvil]

5. Hey!! Take the discounts!!!

Everyone will tell you how great you look for your age. :shrug:

[flamingyouth]

18. Now, this is why I love all of you southern gentlemen!

;)

[havocmom]

6. My dear, you just made this old momma feel SOOOO much better

Just blow them off. They seem to be a GOP front organization the past few years anyway. They are desperate to get new members since so many left after the support AARP gave the malAdministration on the Medicare changes. They will buy address lists from anyone now.

[flamingyouth]

19. I keep wondering, how did they get my name?

Here's what I subscribe to:

The Nation
Yoga Journal
In These Times
Natural Health

Plus, I buy from yoga and Pilates fitness catalogs and from Pottery Barn. Apparently, that all just screams, "I'm 50 years old!!" :D

[havocmom]

27. My guess is Yoga Journal & Natural Health might have sold their mailing

lists. Many web sites that have you 'register' also sell contact info.

They just make demographic guesses. It's a numbers game.

Now, when a gentleman takes you to the zoo and to tease you asks for one adult ticket and one Senior Citizen ticket... and they give it to him for you, then, dear flamingyouth, start to worry! Happened to me and, no, the gentleman did NOT get lucky that afternoon. ;)

[Blue-Jay]

8. Sign up! You'll get a discount at Bob Evans.

All the biscuits and gravy you'll ever need.

[flamingyouth]

21. But I'll have to show up by 4 pm

Damn it! :evilfrown:

[MrSandman]

9. Because my pharmacist is a good friend...

I get a senior's discount which comes off my insurance copay.

[flamingyouth]

22. I have a 50% insurance "copay"

Geez, maybe I should pretend to be 50 just for that alone! Think of what I could save on my asthma medications! :D

[MrSandman]

28. I thought the ...

$15/$25/$50 was bad.

My pharmacy can't bill directly, so my receipts show(and I am reimbursed) the "allowed price" and I am charged the "senior" price.

[flamingyouth]

29. I pay out of pocket for my own health coverage

It sucks. I pay $210 per month, I have a $750 deductible and 50% copay on my prescriptions. It sucks to be self-employed. :(

[MrSandman]

33. That's worse than my professional liability ins...nt

[eyesroll]

10. My husband got that a few years ago...

Apparently, AARP didn't figure out that he and his dad had the same name. Sure, they live in different states, but that didn't stop AARP, and right around his dad's 50th birthday, he got a free trial membership.

Maybe there's a 50-year-old woman out there with your name?

[flamingyouth]

23. LOL - that's really funny

I know there is another woman in this area with my name; she and I went to the same university and she is older than me, but I don't think she's 50 yet (although at my age, I've lost track of time).:crazy:

[SOteric]

11. *L* - Somewhere in Ballard, there's a 67 year old woman

with your name wondering why she hasn't seen any literature from the AARP yet.

[flamingyouth]

14. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You are so right!!! Is she driving a '74 Dodge Dart, by chance? Really slowly? With her left-turn signal stuck on? :evilgrin:

[DS1]

52. Looking for the farmer's market, naturally

:evilgrin:

[welshTerrier2]

12. Don't ever join AARP ... try the Gray Panthers

i dropped my AARP membership when they came out in favor of the right-wing Medicare bill that was written by lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry ... the Executive Director of the AARP, William Novelli, wrote in the preface to Gingrich's book on health care transformation:

Gingrich is proposing nothing less than dramatically changing one of the largest segments of our economy. His ideas for transforming the system are not academic theories. They are based on real-life examples of entrepreneurial changes people are making across the healthcare system throughout the country, and he offers specific examples to back up his claims and allow people to find out more.


PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ... do not join AARP ... if you really want to help seniors, check out the Gray Panthers' website ==> http://www.grayPanthers.org

[flamingyouth]

24. Don't worry - I'm not joining AARP

Not now, not ever. However, I do see myself at age 80 or so deeply involved in the Gray Panthers, wearing some flamboyant purple dress and generally calling attention to myself. :D

[tigereye]

39. you could join the red hat ladies!

well when you are older... think you have to be 50. You have many years yet. Not quite so many for me. :)

[argyl]

13. Did you get their complimentary bottle of blue hair rinse?

[flamingyouth]

25. Sadly, no!

They've really cheapened their membership appeal, I've gotta tell you!

[Magrittes Pipe]

20. I got my AARP application (and temporary membership card!) at 25.

I had the card laminated.

[flamingyouth]

26. You beat me by 10 years!

I briefly felt old and depressed. Now I just find it funny. :D

[greatauntoftriplets]

30. Somehow I fell through the AARP crack...

...and have reached 55 without being harassed by them. And I am not going to pursue them.

A friend got the regulation invite when she turned 50. Wrote "Return to Sender" on the envelope and asked them to stop bugging her. She wasn't joining!

[BuelahWitch]

31. Flaming Youth, you're not at Cinecon this year?n/t

[flamingyouth]

34. No, I'm actually still in Seattle

But I'm taking a vacation next week. Are you at Cinecon, per chance?:D

[BuelahWitch]

35. No, I was going to go but didn't make it

I think the biggest star supposed to show is Ricardo Montalban...

[flamingyouth]

36. Wow, that'll be an amazing banquet on Monday!

Hopefully they'll all be seated on rich Corinthian leather. :eyes:

[BuelahWitch]

37. I've got nothing against Mr. M

Just that I didn't feel he was worth putting out the bucks for this year. I've met Betty Garrett, and had no idea who Audrey Totter was.
Alot of people wish they'd just 86 the celebrities (unless it's someone like Kevin Brownlow) and put on more OLD RARE films.

Have you ever been to the Syracuse festival?

[flamingyouth]

38. No, I'd love to go to Syracuse and Pordenone but haven't

I'd rather just see some decent silent/early sound films at Cinecon and haven't for a few years now.

Last year they showed the great Olive Thomas documentary, though, at least. :shrug:

The best recent year, IMO, was when they showed Lillian Gish's Annie Laurie.

[BuelahWitch]

41. Yes, I'd rather see some new documentaries there too

I keep telling my friend Andre that he needs to go to the PB mansion to see if Hef throw in some bucks for one based on his book on Ramon Novarro. Novarro would be a good one to get on TCM because they've got all his movies in the vault.

[flamingyouth]

46. I totally agree

And he was a very underrated actor, IMO.

I've snuck around his house in Laurel Canyon, I admit. I'm a huge fan. A friend of mine wrote a good bio on him a few years back. :hi:

[BuelahWitch]

53. Is that Allan?

You should come join our Novarro Yahoo list. Both Allan and Andre are on it, and we're all very friendly. If you like I can send you the link in a PM. We talk about lots of other stars too (but no politics, although we've got lots of lefties on that list ;-)and there are also many Colleen Moore admirers on the list as well.

[Obamarama]

32. I guess that would explain your DU name.....

Your youth is flaming out!

[Tom Kitten]

40. It's just chance...

You must have gotten on a mailing list, I would not even worry about it...I have yet to receive my first bit of junk mail from AARP and that is fine by me! and I'm ten years older!

ps sorry about the pm...

[flamingyouth]

47. No, I'm sorry, I'm very backed up on my PMs

(That's funny sounding - looks like I'm backed up on PMS) :evilgrin:

I'll be writing back tonight; had kind of a shitty week. :hi:

[miss_kitty]

42. they sent me stuff

and i flamed them...yeah I'm old enough but politically they CHEW. hard.
screw those old farts...when they quit shilling for drug companies and start supporting testing for old fogey drivers, instead of opposing it, I'll think about it. meanwhile, they can bite me.

ps...you are 15 years away from the aged, grasping age-spot covered claw of the AARP...someone needs glasses...but I'm sure they got broken when the old dear drove the Caddy through the beauty shop window..:D

[flamingyouth]

48. 15 glorious years!

I promise to spend them well, in the most decadent ways possible! :evilgrin:

[BiggJawn]

43. My ESSO saved some HUGE coin on her car and home-owners insurance

Through AARP.

Almost $600 a year on the house and $500 on her wheels.

The discount at Bob Evans ain't bad, either....:-)

[flamingyouth]

49. BUT I'M ONLY 35!!!

I'm not ready to belong to AARP! I don't think they'd really have me anyway, but emotionally, no, I'm just not ready! :D

[Demonaut]

45. got mine last year, what a fucking insult....lol

[asthmaticeog]

50. There's never a bad time

to eat chocolate OR watch "The Princess Bride." Both at the same time is nothing short of genius. So the AARP sent a mailer to the wrong person. Fuck it. It wouldn't be the first time some scheissey advocacy group sent their generic speil-lit to someone wholly inappropriate.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

51. I got my invitation

when my husband turned 50 (I was 39 and pregnant!).

I guess they just assume married people are the same age.

[sidestreamer]

54. 35? Damn you're old

Might want to consider retiring real soon. Also get regular checkups and check your social security eligibility, and look for a nursing home.

[DemBones DemBones]

55. "flaming youth turns to ashes?"

:evilgrin:

[VOX]

56. DO NOT JOIN AARP!!! Its CEO, Bill Novelli, is a buddy of Newt Gingrich...

One of Gingrich's long-term goals has been the privatization of Medicare. And AARP's Novelli, a good buddy of Newt's, sold out AARP to the Medicare reform bill late last year. It was a total Trojan-horse of a deal, and it's already cost seniors -- Medicare premiums were just jacked up 17%, the day **after** the RNC folded its tent in NYC.

http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/03/11/ana03307.html
November 19, 2003
Seniors and Democrats were stunned when the AARP announced its support of the Trojan Horse Republican Medicare bill.

The AARP message board is burning up with rage against the AARP and its CEO, William D. Novelli, the former public relations whiz kid.
<snip>
Novelli is such a fan of Gingrich that he wrote a preface to Newt's babbling right wing treatise on how to destroy the healthcare safety net for seniors and other Americans: "Saving Lives & Saving Money."
<snip>
Newt liked Novelli's slobbering praise so much that he highlights it on his "transformational" healthcare (to feed business to his consulting firm) website.

Like all Republican positioning, Gingrich uses Orwellian tactics in his crusade to enrich the insurance companies and shaft the average American, calling his site: "Center for Health Transformation: Better Health, Lower Cost."

Who is Gingrich's ally in putting a knife in the back of American seniors?

Why it's William Novelli, CEO of AARP.

[Skittles]

57. F*** THE AARP

they SOLD OUT.

[The Flaming Red Head]

58. after 38 years of eating off the kids menu cause it's cheaper

i'm ready for the senior discount now.