World's oldest person celebrates 115th birthday
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES - The world's oldest known living person celebrated her 115th birthday Monday.
Gertrude Baines was honoured at Western Convalescent Hospital with music, a letter from the president, and two cakes. Baines said little during the celebration as friends sang to her and she received a proclamation from Guinness World Records acknowledging her as the world's oldest person.
"Who would take Los Angeles for the place that would have the world's oldest person?" Robert Young, a scientist and senior consultant with Guinness, said later in an interview. "Living that long is like winning the genetic lottery."
Born in 1894 in Shellman, Ga., Baines became the world's oldest living person when a 115-year-old woman, Maria de Jesus, died in Portugal in January.
Baines' physician said she only has two complaints.
"Number one, she doesn't like the bacon. It's not crisp enough," the doctor, Charles Witt Jr., told KCAL-TV. "And the other thing is she fusses about her ... arthritis of her knees. She told me that she owes her longevity to the Lord, that she never did drink, she never did smoke and she never did fool around."
Alright allow me to play devil's advocate here for a minute. Sure, its great to be recognized by the Guinness but who wants to abstain from drinking and fooling around your whole life just to be herded off to some old folks farm where you can't get crispy bacon? I wouldn't trade my wealth of drunken bad decisions for the golden years. In all honesty if I'm not dead by 75 I'm going to rob a bank and go for suicide by cop.
P.S. - That's really the lady in the picture. It's not just some random old person.
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