Boomers, Bathrooms and New Business Opportunites

Every day articles appear heralding the news that 2006 is the year that Boomers are turning 60. Every newspaper I pick up profiles a personal tale of coming of (senior) age. Gail Sheehy, author of the seminal Passages which stopped at fifty, has herself caught up with the reality of being in the second half of her life and as a result has written Sex and The Seasoned Woman (Random House). Thus, those over fifty such as the readers and e-mailers of www.FiftyandFurthermore.com are finally being recognized and considered a sexual force to be reckoned with. Since its inception, Fifty and Furthermore has been featuring articles on passion, touching and intercourse for those women and men in the second half of their life. So for this week I will do no more than add our affirmation to Ms. Sheehy’s observations. Sex over fifty no longer is an oxymoron. Our research shows and our Sages relate that they are remaining sensually and sexually alive as long a they have breath. So why talk about bathrooms at a time like this? If my recent experience staying in hotels of various grades-inexpensive to deluxe-is any indication of how well our second half of life practical requirements are being met, we are making greater inroads into the acceptance of passion and sex than we are in the arenas where basic practicality is needed. The world of travel has a way to go before it catches up with our Saging requirements Yes, all hotels now have mandatory handicap user friendly rooms with doors wide enough to accommodate wheel chairs, grip rails to aid getting in and out of tubs (and avoid slipping) and sometimes even shower stools so that one may sit in comfort as the spray does what it should. However, all too few bathrooms have the ever helpful European style hand held shower head that can double as a massager for an aching muscle or replace the original purpose of a bidet. And some forget the non skid strips or mats needed in a tub. (I once helplessly watched my husband land on his back in a hotel tub without a mat.) As we age and are less limber these thoughtful design features matter. The very best and well thought-out accommodations may even have lower shelves for those who are wheel chair bound and need handy surfaces on which to put their stuff. But hotels and especially hotel bathrooms still have a long way to go to respond to my generation’s needs. For the average over-fifty the accommodations we require are not so extreme. My biggest complaints are lighting, especially bathroom lighting and not enough space to put my toiletries and other sundries. So far I am fortunate and need not carry a phalanx of pills, but I have friends who do. Rarely is there enough space to accommodate what they bring. But, it’s the lighting that gets me. I know that the designer or architect can’t be a Boomer. For if he or she was, bathroom lighting designs would be different. I am well past the age when I can put on make up without a well-lighted magnifying mirror. I now understand those women several decades older than myself who walk around town with lipstick applied as a slash across their face, sometimes following their lip line, sometimes not. It isn’t that they are careless or crazy. They simply can’t see well enough to apply cosmetics in a proper complimentary fashion. Or, take the issue of contacts. There is an exact distance that one needs to stand in order to see where one’s eyes in order to get the too tiny fragile disc into one’s eye the first try. Without a magnifying mirror that works, we Sages simply have a harder time. As hotels get sleeker and become more trendily modern, hard edge surfaces hurt over-fifties’ weary bones. Romantic lighting is lovely when one is young, but becomes non functional with age. I love traveling, but I am putting in a plea for hotels to remember my hard won years and to cater to me with more care. I suggest that there are new business opportunities ahead. Hotels may want to consider carrying inexpensive eye glasses such as one can pick up at the dollar store to have available for those of us who loose our readers wherever we go. And bandages for our easily bruised bodies. Denture glue and perhaps flashlights to help us maneuver the many times we voyage to strange bathrooms during the night. And what about providing special carrying cases to hold pills, just as kids in camp carry. New product lines are endless. As we FiftyandFurthermores gratefully sink into the newest version of a hotel’s highly touted heavenly bed, please remember that with age as insomnia creeps up on many or bladders insist on multiple bed leave takings, we welcome all the amenities we can get. We still think young and may still make passionate love-but we do need some new architectural designs to help us get comfortably through the night and day of a hotel stay. My personal request-more light. Nice