David Duchovny On Old People
I was watching David Duchovny being interviewed by David Letterman on the “Late Show” one night last week.
Letterman said he had heard Duchovny was moving to New York and asked why?
Duchovny answered with a perfectly straight face, “Old people . . . . I hear NY has great old people.” He then continued, “My wife (actor Tea Leoni) and I realized that we could go for a year in Los Angeles without my kids ever seeing old people.”
His answer shocked me, and also pleased me!
The Part That Pleased Me
I know Duchovny exists in the world of Hollywood, specifically Show Biz Hollywood, the land of stay-forever-young-especially-if-you-want-to-keep-working. But I am very happy to see that he and his wife realize it is not a normal environment and want their kids exposed to “old people.” My hunch is that their family’s “Golden Oldies” may reside in or near New York so it will be wonderful to live close by and give their children the opportunity to have lots of visit with the grandparents and vice versa. You know I’m a huge fan of intergenerational relationships.
The Part That Shocked Me
I had to ask myself this: Are there really geographic areas in our country such as Duchovny describes? Could you go for a year where you live and not see “old people?” Is our society that stratified?
Personally, I never experienced anything like this, because we always had many older relatives living near us to spend time with, both in NY and California.
What do you think? Let’s discuss . . . .
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Hi Linda,
I’ve lived in California, and there are old people there. In fact, a lot of elderly people love to retire there because of the weather. There may be sections of cities where elderly people choose not to live, but then again it depends on where parents take their children.
Many years ago, I used to live in the resort town Aspen, Colorado, and it was strange to leave there after a month or two and go “down valley” to other, normal towns. There was a definite difference. Aspen truly was the town where “all the beautiful people” hung out. Well, at least those who took extreme care to look really good. So I would say some people like to pocket themselves in certain neighborhoods to keep up appearances. In Hollywood or Aspen, if you are older, you better look as good as Harrison Ford or you are left on the sidelines.
What a beautiful tribute to your mom. Thanks for sharing it.
Barbara,
Yes, San Diego (where my in-laws live) is a prime retirement spot! I’ve lived in CA for 30 years and never felt a “lack of old people” here. After I wrote this post, I thought of Laguna Woods (aka Leisure World), not far from here, where it is an entire city of “old people” because you have to be at least 55 to live there. We’ll have to import some kids to visit there. LOL
SpaceAgeSage,
I totally agree that some people enjoy being separate. I won’t chose that way of life however, and I suspect you wouldn’t either. Aspen is supposed to be beautiful, but I’ll only visit and not plan on settling there!
Sheila,
Welcome to the TLeC community. Thank you for your kind words!