woopie - (acronym: well-off older person) - a rich retired person able to pursue a life of choice (Lexico.com)
Back when I was a struggling yuppie (also an acronym) in the early '80s, trying to make ends meet, living off fifty dollars of spending money a week in New York City, I aspired to be a woopie. Of course then, there was no such term. I have no idea who coined it. Nor do I know when it was invented. Although I am not a big fan of neologisms (check out the entry for August 5th), a catchy acronym can creep up on me and stick around for a while. After forty years of slaving away at a thankless-for-the-most-part job– teaching secondary English–I am more than glad to boast that I graduated into being a full-fledged woopie in the nick of time just before the pandemic. WHOOPEE!
What I like most about being a woopie is not that I can do just about anything I've always wanted to do but that I can now motivate millennials I know (especially my daughter) just by being a good example, meaning that I stress the four decades of overcoming challenges before bragging about the payoff. Millennials tend to have a tough time soaking up the idea of a firm work ethic. The concept of hard work ever paying off in spades is unfathomable to them. The concept of hard work, period, is unfathomable to them. Still, they can't refute indisputable evidence: me. Ergo, so far, my strategy is working. When I taught, I tended to use a similar tactic, and I am now noticing on Linked-In that some of my former students are doing quite well professionally. I couldn't be happier as they will someday segue from yuppiedom to woopiedom. WHOOPEE!
Hope this Wednesday finds you in a WHOOPEE state of mind. Remember this equation: Persistent hard work over time = success.
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