Minneapolis survived one of the most celebratory events ever to occur on its streets this past weekend and even the ten days leading up to it.  I am not a great fan of contests which pit brawn against brute force, so I usually just tune in for the commercials .

Today, the day after, has been declared a holiday by those who have chosen to stay home and sleep off their over-indulgence.  They call it “Super Sick Day.” Some folks are even petitioning that the day after actually become a national holiday.  Our airports are going to be overloaded. It’s expected to be one of the busiest travel days, as they brace for substantial overbooking and disgruntled passengers.

In the aftermath, there will be mounds and mounds of trash to clean up.  Streets will be decluttered, traffic will return to normal (whatever that is) and life will go on.  It’s a game – for Pete’s sake – and yet we’ve managed to delegate it and the carnival like atmosphere to the center of our attention.

Of course it has also become a vehicle for schlepping your wares.  The arena is full of vendors of all kinds.  The networks spill over with commercials.  The special seating areas are clothed with designer labels and lavish lifestyles.  The best of the best – in my opinion – was the E-Trade commercial, “This is Getting Old,” which deals with old fogies like me having to work well into their eighties because they don’t have a retirement fund.

It may seem funny to see a woman from the class of ’43, gliding down her stair lift, sporting a red hair dye job and business suit.  It is quite hilarious to watch an 85 year old fellow trying to control a fire hose or conduct brain surgery.  I had a real laugh at the aging woman working as a disc jockey.

The fact is, this is the truth of the older generation today.  We may have had some luck with a 401K or posses a pension plan, but for most of us, we’re trying to eek out a living using only our measly social security checks – which we and our employers actually invested in during our working years.  Fortunately, many of the Silent and Baby Boomer Generations still possess the good health and energy to continue working longer than their predecessors ever did, but we’re tired of it.  We wanna go home, already.

My sister is a baby boomer and she and a friend often thought it might be a good enterprise to set up wine and cheese bars in nursing homes.  They could easily make a decent living doing that and the residents wouldn’t have to depend on medication.  In fact I think we could’ve made a fortune selling Depends at the Super Bowl.  Oh, well, missed opportunities again!