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General News    H4'ed 8/25/11

Who Are These Old People at My Class Reunion?

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Message Martha Rosenberg
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Nowhere in science is the "survivorship bias" as well demonstrated as the class reunion.

 

Where are the people who failed economically, professionally, socially, romantically and bodily? They don't show up! And that's not counting the people who really can't show up who are listed in the In Memoriam section of class handbook.

 

Remember how they said at the graduation ceremony, in the next decade four of you will be gone? Well, it wasn't you--this year.

 

Of course you don't remember most of your classmates and they don't remember you. Not only was there nothing memorable about them, who looks like they did? Who has the same waistline or hairline? Who has the same last name? No wonder we are wearing name tags with our old yearbook pictures.

 

This must be the "post success" year. So many people were so successful in business or banking or marketing, they are on second careers. Having fed their bank accounts (and the coffers of the colleges they sent their children to) they are now feeding their souls.

Second careers
Second careers
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There are an undue amount of Fibre Artists (not Fiber) and Life Coaches and Dog Whisperers and Clutter Counselors and Crafters. Many people who have become "their own brands," as the books counsel.

 

This leaves those of us still trying to make a living as Group Vice President, Leases or Intermodal Coordinator, Domestic Branch very defensive. Not only have we not cracked the make-a-living code, and in some cases not fully ruled out living in Mom's basement, some of us also forgot to have children.

 

Worse than that, some of us, instead of raising children, raised 18-year-old monkeys on our backs called drugs and alcohol instead. Just as expensive and thankless a job; not as amenable to small talk.

 

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Martha Rosenberg is an award-winning investigative public health reporter who covers the food, drug and gun industries. Her first book, Born With A Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks and Hacks Pimp The Public Health, is distributed by Random (more...)
 

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