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We all have parents, some of us have children–and all of us are getting older. My own mother is now 91. The Golden Age of Retirement has turned out to be more brass than anything else.

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Once upon a time a billionaire learned he was soon to die from cancer. He became determined to make a statement with his death, and for society to recognize he was useful (beyond generating wealth for himself). Without a care for the economic consequences–he had not become a billionaire by being sensitive to the needs of others–he began to liquidate his holdings, turning his hotels and factories and farms and stocks into gold bars. The sudden massive sales caused markets to plummet, leading to a severe Depression.

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Saved From The Streets

I was headed for juvie
a few break and enters
some stolen cars, one armed robbery.
The Army was my best way out
before I ended on the street for good

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On 9/11 I was in a nearby office building
I did not see the planes hit
but sure heard and felt them
everything trembled
I trembled

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No Free Lunch

A stock broker was sitting on a park bench one afternoon when a mosquito lit upon his arm and asked for lunch. The stock broker replied, “I need my blood for myself. But I am always open to a deal.”
The mosquito contemplated. “I happen to have many viruses. I will share them with you. Perhaps one of them will evolve into penicillin and make you richer than you already are.”
Being richer than he already was—was fundamental to his life goals–so the stockbroker allowed the tiny insect to suck out a few drops of his blood. She nodded her thanks and flew away.
A few days later, her daughter returned, with a few hundred relatives. The stock broker gladly rolled up his sleeves, even though he knew it was a high risk transaction. “The bigger the deal, the bigger the profit,” he chortled.
“The insect sisterhood appreciates the many new lives we can create with your blood,” they said as they ate their fill.
Day by day he traded his blood for the possibility of receiving a beneficial virus. Three weeks later, he sat on the bench suffering from malaria, West Nile Virus, anemia and other dreadful conditions. Thousands of mosquitoes descended on him, all descendants of the original insect, all from his own blood.
As the insects drank the remainder of his blood, the stock broker moaned, “This deal did not work out. I’m in a major correction—my ticker is almost run out.”
One of the great great great great granddaughters of the original mosquito nodded. “You should have sold short,” she said, and finished him off.

Making A Statement

Once upon a time a billionaire learned he was soon to die from cancer. He became determined to make a statement with his death, and for society to recognize he was useful (beyond generating wealth for himself). Without a care for the economic consequences–he had not become a billionaire by being sensitive to the needs of others–he began to liquidate his holdings, turning his hotels and factories and farms and stocks into gold bars. The sudden massive sales caused markets to plummet, leading to a severe Depression.
Meanwhile he constructed a huge crypt made from gold and stored the gold bars inside. Gazing upon the completed glittering crypt, he was filled with both disease and confidence. He would soon die but his statement about wealth would live forever, and his use to society would be recognized.
While the billionaire gloried in his crypt, a citizen walked by who had lost his life’s savings in the Depression. Recognizing the billionaire, he became enraged. The billionaire backed away from him, slipped on the sidewalk, fell, cracked his skull, and died.
The Foundation looking after his crypt implemented his wish to make a statement with his death by having him cremated and, on every anniversary of his death, sprinkled his ashes on the sidewalk where he had slipped, until he ran out. It was many years before anyone slipped on that spot again.
Society had finally recognized a use for him.

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My mother, 90, had a mild heart attack that no one noticed.

Home Care Services, a Provincial Government Agency, supplies mom with medical care in her ‘retirement’ suite in a ‘retirement community’. A week ago, one of its nurses phoned and that mom had grown very weak. Now mom’s been in the hospital for a week, and will probably be there another three weeks, while she heals and is being assessed.

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I met Bonnie at a peace conference in B.C. last July. The Globe said this about Shameless, which will be aired on Bravo, on Sunday, May 13, 5 pm Pacific Time, 8 pm Eastern time.

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