E-greetings
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 06:53AM 
Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 8.14833659491194 years old. (You old hound dog, you!) The Birthday Calculator
My grandmother, like Jack Benny, always claimed to be 39 years old. I've decided that's not a bad idea. I think I will remove the year from by DOB on Facebook. As so many have reminded me, today I can celebrate being another year older (and deeper in debt.)
This is the first year I've been "remembered" by so many people on my birthday. While I would like to think my happiness is always foremost in others' thoughts, I'm suspicious that Facebook and other apps have helped most folks track this revered date.
Regardless of the cause and enabling technologies involved in my bump in birthday attention, it leaves me with some questions:
Should I tell each person who send me an e-card a thank-you?
Need I respond to each person who writes on my "wall?"
Will I be seen as uncaring and insensitve if I, in turn, don't send a birthday wish to everyone who sent one to me? (The Christmas card conundrum.)
Should I be admitting I am old enough to know who Jack Benny was?
How do you let people know that funny greetings that involve senility, incontinence, relative-age to trees, etc. now strike too close to home to be truly amusing?
Should I be depressed when I find myself in the last bar of a demographic chart - the 55 and older category? Why don't they add just one more bar labeled "Dead"?
Anyway, thank you to all my well-wishers. If I can figure out the birthday thingie in Facebook, I'll try to return the sentiments.
Reader Comments (5)
8.14 x 7= 57... Happy Birthday, Doug. Last bar in a demographic chart? Hogwash...
'And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.' ~ Abraham Lincoln
Well, Doug, I was just thinking about you today, and I didn't even know it was your natal day. Wishing you the cake of your choice as you celebrate being a generalist (aren't most librarians?) and perusing this article from the Economist which brought you to mind - "Is Google Killing General Knowledge?"
http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/content/brian-cathcart/no-passes
Although it speaks of British television and educational system, it's rather interesting to read that not requiring students to memorize countless facts these days "does suggest that schools are encouraging the idea that knowing stuff is less important than being able to look it up."
The article also mentions learning as a continuous strand through life, not just for school time - I've got to agree with that!
Cheers, Katy
Thanks, Paul. And if a dog lived to be my age, he'd be almost 400 in dog years!
Doug
Thank you, Katy. I look forward to reading the article!
Oh, my birthday cake is usually a pie!
All the best,
Doug
I love birthdays, it has been ages since my school days, but my school friends and I still send each other birthday greetings card and little gifts every year. Just to show that we care and have remembered each others special days. It is getting harder as we have all moved houses, but I think it is so important to try and make a little bit of effort.
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for leaving the comment. Does an e-card mean as much as a paper card???
Doug