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Having recently traveled out of state to attend a wedding reception, my wife and I were seated at a banquet table with six other guests, only two of whom we had met before.

Introductions and small talk led to discussion about families, and about the children of one of the couples, specifically regarding the difficulty that their 9 year old was having in school.

"The teacher wants him tested, but I don't like him labeled that way," said the mother.

"It's not so much a stigma anymore, as more parents request it," my wife said."It could be just a small problem with visual or auditory perception, and then the child would be eligible for all the help and additional support he will ever need."

"Are you a teacher?"

"I'm retired. But I taught 4^th grade for 23 years."

The woman's response was immediate: eyes glazing over, mouth closing into a tight smile, and then the slow, silent nod.

Any teacher who hasretired has encountered similarly dismissive body language.It's a look that says you're no longer in the game; that you don't count.

If you're wondering whether you're guilty of the same attitude, ask yourself if any of the following pictures flashes in your mind when you see the word retiree:

a) A white haired lady in a floral pantsuit, braced in an aluminum walker?

b) A slumping couple in a Mercury Marquis moving five miles an hour below the speed limit?

c) Half dozen men in farm implement caps sipping senior coffee in a booth at McDonald's?

But as 79 million baby boomers in this country are now turning sixty at the rate of8,000 per day, those stereotypes grow more and more inaccurate.

According to a survey conducted by AARP, 80% of those born between 1946 and 1964, intend to stay on the job past the age of 65.At least half of the survey respondents listed the need for money as their primary reason, while the other half said they would continue working in order to stay "mentally active," for reasons of physical and psychological, as well as mental well-being.

My wife fits into the latter classification.After taking her teacher's pension two years ago, she began volunteer work almost immediately, splitting her days between a city hospital and a grade school.

Besides counseling her three children, who are also teachers, thereby continuing to affect the lives of another generation of students, she's the "go-to guy" at the local elementary, relied upon to help out with instruction and advice.For her mentoring duties, she draws on her past and current experience, in addition to the latest literature in the field, which she finally has time to read.

I haven't begun to detail the rest of what consumes her days and nights, including serving as plant manager for two homes, and as resident editor for a freelance writer.But this column is not just about her.

Instead, it's a proposal for eradicating the odious stereotypes by coining a replacement term.After all, retiree denotes a person who leaves or quits or sits on the shelf.It's a word that needs to go the way of redskin, dame, and hick.Changing the vocabulary is necessary in order to reflect the new reality, and to reform attitudes.

Nor can we revert to other words commonly used, such as aged, elder, senior, or mature adult, which evoke the image of the infirm and irrelevant, even more readily than retired does.

Logical alternatives might seem to be certain other re- words, such as retooled, revitalized, reclassified, or rerouted, except that they sound too much like corrections of a career that was a mistake.

My recommendations?Ruminating once more on the multi-faceted role of my spouse, and the esteem with which she is held, I see accomplished as a felicitous replacement for retired, as in, "I'm an accomplished grade school teacher."

Another word that does the trick for both meaning and sound, sage is hard to beat: "Please provide proof of sage to get your 10% discount at Motel 6."

Or maybe an entirely new word needs to be invented, one with the familiar configuration, but which captures the appropriate context and spirit, like reaspired.AARP wouldn't even have to change its acronym!

Mine is not the last word, of course, so send a letter or email with your suggestion.But don't delay.8,000 of us are turning sixty each day.That's over 300 Americans per hour!