This past Saturday my family hosted a party to celebrate my grandmother's 75th birthday. My grandmother raised six amazing children, spoils countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren with her unconditional love and crocheted blankets. She worked several jobs to give my mother and her siblings a good life and overcame major obstacles that tried to hinder her. My grandmother has been making the most of her life for over 27,000 days and is still marching on.
Doesn't she deserve a mylar balloon at the very least?
When my mom went to go pick up decorations the night before the party, she was met with limited options. I laughed at the bright primary-color banners and whirling spirals she brought home, asking if we were throwing a party for a toddler. However, these "pick your age" decorations presented themselves as the only option. We picked seven and five out of the library of numbers and started sticking them onto the red, yellow and blue signs.
From my mom's shopping experience we saw that Amazon, Party City and local dollar stores don't carry much of anything above the "60" year old milestone. My aunt had a similar struggle when printing an online photo book for my grandmother- embellishments stopped after 60 as well.
Yes, if you Google "75th birthday decorations," you will turn up with some nice custom banners, t-shirts and Hershey's kisses. But why is it that such an age needs to be "customized" whereas anyone under the age of 21 seems to be able to pick up age-appropriate and tasteful decorations at a moment's notice?
Surely, ageism exists. Paternalistic laws mock senior citizens' freedom of choice and the media stereotypically shows older generations as out of touch, slow and grumpy. But can we leave birthday cakes and balloons out of this discrimination?
The Administration on Aging reports
people 65+ represented 14.1% of the population in the year 2013 but are expected to grow to be 21.7% of the population by 2040. From a business standpoint, it is unprofitable to not offer a wide array of senior citizen specific items such as birthday decorations. A demographic of millions is not being serviced.I turn 21 next year. Arguably, one of the biggest milestone birthdays as reflected in my Party City search (19 different decoration styles versus five custom orders for 75 year olds), yet I don't see the big deal. I can legally drink. So what? When I'm 75 I'd much rather have a bigger and better bash than I will next January. Maybe it's just me, but celebrating three quarters of a century seems like a much more impressive feat than ordering a cranberry vodka without getting your fake ID taken away.
