My Retirement - Ain't Necessarily So

Third month and I'm doing OK

Snakeoil

As much information that we have now at our fingertips, how much of it is real?   P/R execs, commentators with their innuendos, overblown advertising, and even lighting and airbrushing have taken (a small) part of the truth and made us believe that what we are hearing and seeing is absolute. Everything is targeted at specific audiences and then expounded upon thru the media.  The truth is no longer black or white, but multicolored with many layers. 

Years ago TV advertising mostly consisted of soap products, cars, kitchen appliances and over-the-counter drugs like Alka Seltzer.  We all used soap, homeowners like shiny new appliances, cars were everyone's dream and we all had gas once in a while.  Now, cars are still a big draw, soap products are not promoted as much, the amount of refrigerators advertised has gone way down, but the corporations can still count on us all having gas.  The products marketed  have changed so much in the past ten years, especially with all the new technology offered and the speed of which they have evolved.  High tech is marketed to the very young and the very hip.  That leaves me and the millions upon millions of other boomers out.  The only thing hip about us are our titanium ones.  This brings me to what seems as the #1 product advertised, prescription drugs.  Half of the diseases I have never heard of but after seeing them over and over, I am not quite sure I don't have them.  TV ads can be very convincing.  A few years ago they were airing a commercial about having shaky legs and it seemed ominous.  It was called RLS.  It became a topic of conversation in the workplace and among my friends.  At least half of us were sure we had this frightening ailment.  Doctor's offices must have been flooded with patients inquiring about this syndrome.  I always shake my legs, but I thought it was because I am annoyed at something or anxious (my middle name). My mother always did this also and my siblings and I knew that when her leg started moving, we should all run for the hills. Now we are told it is RLS, the disease du jour in 2008. I looked it up and although it is somewhat real, it is uncommon and usually associated with severe kidney disease.  It is rarely listed as a diagnosis. It is not so much an ailment as it is a symptom.  How could this be when a drug company was spending millions to advertise their medicine and scaring thousands of gullible people.   Maybe this drug helped some but I am sure the ads caused more heart palpitations when people noticed that they were swinging their legs around and became convinced that it was a sign of impending death.  I have not noticed this ad in a few years, so maybe it didn't sell.  I am sure though that in some board room there are a bunch of executives going through the alphabet thinking up a new acronym for a new disorder to sell to us boomers.

BTW, we no longer have gas, it is SAR or acid reflux - so much more acceptable.