I am amused by the new Bud Light™ commercial. “Chill like you’re retired,” it proclaims just in time for summer. Sure thing. My husband and I are retired, but it’s 103º here in San Antonio and even our pool is at 92º! Now we like beer as much as the next Texan, but who are we kidding… Chill, really???

     When I first heard the commercial, it was sort of funny, but then the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what kind of stereotype was at work. Okay, so I get the gist of the chill claim that a “cold one” always helps to cool someone off  in the heat (though actually a non-alcoholic drink is far preferable for hydration). I also get the subliminal image of relaxing around a pool or on a beach in permanent-vacation mode (though I personally don’t know any retirees, including us, who are totally carefree and spend their lives on a permanent vacation — even if that is what the realtor promised them about that place Florida). 

     Then I thought that perhaps this slogan was a sort of double entendre alluding to the recent boycott of Bud Light™ by anti-trans groups that began back in April when a transgender woman and TicTok influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, promoted the brand on her Instagram account during March Madness. Now I seriously doubt that this meaning was the original intent of the ad, but “chill” seems to be especially good advice for everyone in these hot-headed days of hyper sensitivity and “woke” indignation.

     But I digress… Maybe I’m just being too analytical about a beer ad. After all, the whole notion of “retirement” does have a valid aspirational connotation, an element of hope and a dream of an easier existence, especially among those who are younger and struggling to get a leg up, to pay their bills and raise their kids. Most people who are under fifty seriously doubt that there will be any social security left by the time they are in their “golden years,” and we all know that defined-benefit employee pension plans have pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird.  According to the Survey of Consumer Finances (usafacts.org) about half of American households had no retirement savings accounts at all as of 2019.

     The more I think about this ad slogan, the more I realize that it is the stereotype of the retired person that I’m really questioning. Even though we Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generational cohort alive today, we aren’t all wearing plaid pants and riding around in golf carts. Come to think of it, none of my friends fit that image and only a few of them even play golf at all. We were the activist generation, after all; golf (and golf carts) are too slow and too much the “Mad Men” era.

     No, retired Boomers are much more likely to be found walking their neighborhoods for exercise and/or purpose, or out canvassing opinions for their HOAs, or running for local office. Some are still working, though probably not for pay, as artists, writers, educators, librarians, musicians, counselors, consultants or executive board members dedicated to philanthropic organizations. Since three-quarters of all prime-age women (ages 25-54) are in the paid workforce today, with 84 percent of them working full-time, all those activities in the community that used to be done by women at home and available during the day — at garden clubs, at church, in civic organizations, in hospitals, in soup kitchens, as  literacy volunteers and school tutors, and anywhere else free labor was necessary — are now shouldered almost exclusively by retired women. Volunteer activities can easily turn into more work and more stress than any full-time job, especially if you’re good in those roles. Believe me, I know.

     Some of my retired friends are grandparents, of course, and  every one of them has expressed, at one time or another, genuine worry about the future quality of life for their grandchildren. Their worries are rooted not in the current culture wars, but in very real fears about the economy, the climate, the international tensions, and the political disfunction and stability of our country.  Today’s retirees, especially the Baby Boomers, far from being worry-free and totally chill, seem especially concerned about their adult children and committed to helping them and their families.  Over seven million grandparents live in households with their grandchildren, and another 2.3 million grandparents are totally responsible for raising their grandchildren, often legally adopting them. These are senior citizens who are taking care of kids, driving carpools, cooking meals, doing household chores and contributing financially to their well-being. They are hardly retired.

    Every time I use “We’ve been busy” as a reason for why we haven’t done something or been available, our son responds, “You two are the busiest retired people I ever heard of.” Now I don’t know about the busiest — not a title I really want to pursue —  but I do admit that we aren’t sedentary, aren’t low-key and certainly not “chill” about ceasing to learn and grow and being committed to the things and people we care about.  Sometimes, in fact, like this week while trying to get this blog written and up on a posting schedule I impose on myself, I get downright stressed out!

     I need to go have a beer and chill.