Felice Shapiro
Dear Mr. Clooney:
I want to share with you a little story that may get you to rethink your recent statement about aging out after 55 from the big screen.
This past weekend at our 10th annual ski trip gathering of 5 couples at our friends’ home–our morning topic was eggs. I was offering up my favorite breakfast,
“How many for poached eggs?”
Plucking the eggs from the carton, I noticed the expiration date was January 29th but today was March 4th. Hmmmm…. I didn’t want to sound neurotic or critical of our hosts’ egg offerings – but I felt the need to share that the eggs had exceeded their expiration date. And…that’s when I learned I was on my own.
“Ignore that date, it’s a sham! Eggs can last for months beyond the date marked on the package – the companies just want you to throw them out and buy more.” The group was in unanimous agreement.
I was a lone wolf insistent 6 weeks past the expiration date seemed a tad risky. I chose to believe “the system.” There just so happened to be another carton in the fridge, with fresher and more virulent eggs and it seemed easy to grab those instead and just toss the old ones.
I was instructed not to throw the old eggs out and just to cook em up…they were not irrelevant yet. The gang gleefully ate those old eggs.
Our host did a little research on the topic and here’s what she discovered. It turns out eggs are the perfect package, neatly preserved in their lovely smooth shells and are safe, usable and in fact still tasty and nourishing unless they fail the “Floater Test”.
The next morning at breakfast, our host shared her Floater experiment with all of us. She placed the remaining “expired” eggs in a bowl of cold water. There was only one egg that floated to the top (which meant it should be tossed), the rest were still worth eating.
How have we gotten to be over 50 and not known about the “Floater Test?”
“I can’t believe how many cartons of eggs I have thrown out! I feel duped by the system,” I conceded. My host proved my Nana’s adage that she repeated time and again; “believe nothing of what you hear and half of what you read.” The point being — do your own homework!
There’s no question freshly laid eggs taste better with their bright yellow yolks and their firm albumen, but there had been no reason to throw out the older ones just because they had aged a bit– they were still viable.
So, it was no surprise that those old eggs got me thinking about a disturbing headline I read this past weekend about you, Mr. George Clooney, reaching your expiration date at 55. Apparently, having just released your latest film, Hail Ceasar, you are expecting to be cutting back on acting.
Did you mean it when you said, “aging isn’t something you want to do in the public eye?”
George, if you asked any of our readers who are over 47 to 64 years old, if they think you are past your expiration date … I would venture to guess – not a one!
It made me sad to watch you on Kimmel after the Oscars (even thought the clip is actually hysterical). You had chosen the meanest tweet ever written about you along with a slew of actors (click here to see them all).
George you need to know that you would pass our readers’ “Floater” test with flying colors. No way would you surface like a dead floater to the top of a bowl of viable eggs; vapid, used up and empty – in fact, you would sink royally to your distinguished well earned position.
George, don’t abandon us! You are one of us and make us feel really good about aging. Not only are you easy on the eyes with your magnetic smile and salt and pepper full head of hair. We love your acting and your activism too.
George, you need to hear us loud and clear — we love your perfect shell, graying and all, and we will not discard you just because you say you’ve passed your expiration date – we’ll be the judges of that.
Do your homework George, just like Nana advised. We’ll let you know when it’s time to give it up.
Fondly,
Felice
“Sex and the City” star Kim Cattrall, 59, also recently spoke about aging in Hollywood, saying the “expiration date” for women in Hollywood is 35.
Chris Gardner, a staff writer with The Hollywood Reporter, reacted to Clooney’s comments, saying many people consider the actor one of the most handsome men in the world.
“To hear him say that aging isn’t something he wants to do in the public eye … that’s sort of shocking,” Gardner said.