Please Be More Talkative

 

 

Some say I talk too much,

Too much for my good

But I came across a recent note

Advising at my age I should.

 

You see, I am a senior citizen

And it is important that I talk

And I don’t intend to let anyone

Bring my talking to a halt.

 

So senior citizens be more talkative

And I will stress, “Please!”

Talking is very beneficial to us

And it brings much ease.

 

It is natural for seniors to talk,

After all, they have much to say,

And they deserve to be heard

The more in their later years.

 

They have worked very hard

And they have given us very much

So, why should they be confined

To being dummies now as such?

 

Therefore, let us talk all we want

Whether we make sense or not,

You don’t know what you will become,

We don’t choose our lot.

 

 

And besides, doctors say it’s good,

That it brings us many benefits

So, having reached my seventieth,

I will not break this habit.

 

In fact, I will talk even more,

And I will lucidly express myself,

I will not be putting my mouthpiece

On any forgotten shelf.

 

Talking activates our brain

And enhances our memory,

It releases the burdensome stress

In the absence of agility.

 

It activates our facial muscles

And makes us look younger longer

And even if we are not, in reality,

It makes us feel much stronger.

 

Talking exercises our throat

And increases our lung capacity,

It staves off the dreaded Alzheimer’s

Once known as senility.

 

So, let the old people talk

And that includes yours truly,

It makes for good quality old age

Before we are dead and buried.

 

Isn’t it any wonder

The ones that are usually gagged?

The very young and the old

Are the ones that are flagged.

 

In the former

Their brains are accelerating

While in the latter

Our minds are degenerating.

 

Both are considered as risks,

They may say the wrong thing

So, stop them in their prattling tracks

Before they begin to sing.

 

 

So, my dear senior citizens,

Please be more talkative

For in so doing, doctors assure us,

Old age would be less oppressive.

 

Stewart Russell © January 29, 2023

 

Inflation and Shrinkflation

 

 

Can you believe it?

Shrinkflation is a word,

Not only a word but a practice,

By now you’ve probably heard.

 

Surely, you’ve heard of inflation

No doubt you feel its pinch,

As for me, I can tell you,

I feel like we’ve been lynched.

 

Prices are on the upward trend

And not by just a few cents,

Fleece them of all their money

Is the merchants’ bent.

 

When a tax relief is promised

It appears they up their prices

And the move is counter-productive

Thus, exacerbating our crisis.

 

I’m still waiting for the reduction

Promised some weeks ago

But I won’t dare hold my breath

For the outcome you’d know.

 

You would read of my obit

And no doubt you’d be sad

But when you hear the reason why,

I’m sure you won’t feel so bad.

 

Inflation is the norm

But shrinkflation? What is that?

I will take some time to explain

But for a while it’s been a fact.

 

You see, while the prices go up

The product quantity takes a pitch,

New designs on their containers

And the fluid ounces take a dip.

 

 

 

 

A narrower neck or waist

As in the coke-bottle shape,

It’s now easier to hold the container

But this reason is not great.

 

Or, the product yields a little less,

It takes more to do the job

And if one is not easily fooled,

He knows he has been robbed.

 

Quantity as well as quality deflates

Hence, shrinkflation is deflation

And it is in no way rocket science

To discern there is shrinkflation.

 

Bear this in mind, my friend

When you go to do your shopping,

Watch for “deception shrinkflation”

For patrons taking a knocking.

 

It is true we cannot win

And money does not taste good

But there are more robbers around

Than those that wear a hood.

 

Inflation and Shrinkflation

Opposites that go together,

For the merchant, a dream come true,

For you and me, a colossal bother.

 

Stewart Russell © August 31, 2022