Aging well

I suppose that I should be inspired. It's aimed at people over 50, people like me. To have a strategy for wrinklies must be a Good Thing. And they probably mean well - or at least they don't mean any harm (which is not quite the same thing).

But all I can think of is that some poor sod of a civil servant had to spend weeks and months, writing guff like this:

For this strategy we will focus mainly, though not exclusively, on the over-50 age-group; while recognising the importance of the full life course. This age is chosen not because it marks the start of "old age" or because we think all people over this age are somehow similar, but because for many it is a point at which life circumstances start to change in ways that have implications for the future. For example, many people start to change their working patterns, some leaving the labour market completely. Grown-up children may leave home, and parents have more time and possibly more money. People take on caring responsibilities perhaps for the first time, for example for elderly relatives. People also gradually become more likely to develop long term health conditions, such as diabetes and arthritis, which they may have to live with for many years.

There is loads of it here: over 3 megabytes in total (not including the press release). I imagine our civil servant coming home from work and his children asking "What did you do today, daddy?" He answers: "I finished another chapter of the sodding meisterwork 'All our Futures: Planning for a Scotland with an Ageing Population'. Now shut up and get me a stiff G&T."