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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

BOOMER MEN

Dear Savvy Reader,

They come in three varieties and are easy to spot - but why is their appearance so jarring? After all, they are all elder members of the family Homo Sapiens but just how “sapiens” are they? You be the judge.

The smallest group are indeed as fit and handsome as they were at 25 - or at least appear to be so. They are slender, with not an ounce of fat to be seen, pressed jeans and a T-shirt tucked in, barely hiding a firm abdominal wall. Hair neatly groomed and well styled - perhaps a minor touch-up of excess gray but never ostentatiously dyed. They walk with an erect posture exuding an almost palpable sense of confidence and well-being. These are the so-called “Prize Specimens”.

Then there is the largest cluster, the “Gone to Seed" lot - looking and acting their age while seeming not to give a damn about their appearance. Bellies bulging, pants barely held up, shirts - usually short sleeved in an anemic shade - perhaps once blue or pink. Their hair a total bird's nest, as if they have just woken up from a late afternoon nap, never styled or groomed - ears hirsute and brows bushy enough to support an acre of potatoes. They are always walking the obligatory four feet behind their “savvy” women - perhaps they cannot keep up, perhaps she insists he keep back a little - it can be embarrassing you know!

Then come the “well tended" group - certainly looking their age, whatever that timeworn phrase means, but with dignity. Fine attention to sartorial matters - a look that is at once stylish yet appropriate - not too young - not too old, just right! Their hair groomed, brows neatly waxed and shaped-nails perhaps tended to by a Vietnamese manicurist. Unlike our “Prize Specimens” or the “Gone to Seed” lot, the “Well Tended" lot walk alongside their Savvy women, often holding hands and appearing comfortable, content and….well SAPIENS - ready to stand with their women as equals - neither lagging five feet behind nor sprinting three feet ahead with the cockiness of a rooster in the hen house!

The three groups described are indeed very disparate, and while looks may facilitate stereotyping, they can very misleading. Naturally one doesn't want to make any judgments about a man on the basis of appearance alone. After all, they may be just as SAPIENS as their SAVVY women…or are they?

Sapiently yours,

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Labels: Boomer Men

posted by stillsavvy.com  # 6:37 AM

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