The Zoomer

About ten years ago a colleague of mine suggested that I sign up for CARP membership which is a senior citizens group. I did so but shortly afterwards the CARP magazine was taken over by Moses Znaimer. Last night I was actually thinking about Zoomer as a failed vehicle for the interests of seniors. The articles are boring, long winded and not always relevant to a senior’s life.

 In my view a senior’s magazine ought to have interactive activities in it such as crosswords, Sudoku puzzles and so forth (yes, they have ONE of each).  I would suggest at least 10 pages of puzzles. Also, I think there should be a regular feature of DIY projects which are affordable and meaningful to seniors. I think there should be a regular list of the top 10 bestsellers of books, movies and music. An innovative regular feature would be planned menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner geared to one or two people (remembering that many seniors are alone). In conjunction there should be recommendations on activities and exercises to go with the seasons.

All of the above would be very stimulating to the average reader who doesn’t want to know what Ann Margaret is doing as a senior. Be realistic, who wants to know what millionaires are doing? We want to know what average Canadians are doing, how they manage their budgets and of course how we can get all the seniors’ benefits that are available federally and provincially.