You’ve probably heard that, as people age, things change for them, in them and around them. Ours is one of the few “developed” nations that does not revere old age. One only has to look at the world around them to see that it’s youth-oriented and that “old people” should simply fade away.
In the commercials on TV, especially the ones for some skin-oriented product, you never see a person in their 70’s, 80’s or 90’s using one of those creams or oils. Why? Probably because they don’t work, but that’s just one old person’s opinion. What you see is a person, usually a woman, who has NO wrinkles and they’re going on and on about the wonders of this or that product, when the truth is that they don’t have any wrinkles at all!
You’re thinking about buying a new(er) vehicle, maybe because your family is growing and you need more room. So you make the trek to the dealer for the type that you’re interested in buying and you listen to the pitch. Having been in that business, I know that every answer given you will be a positive one about the vehicle…which is only right and proper. Certainly you don’t want to hear negative things that might change your mind…but sometimes you do, inadvertently. While extolling the virtues of the car, you hear the person say something that strikes you as odd, and turns you away from the purchase. What might that be, you ask? It could be that only certain colors are available, or that a trim option is only on the top of the line…whatever it is, you’ve changed your mind.
Comes a time when you’re attending a wedding and you’re taking pictures of everyone and everything. At weddings you may be competing with a professional photographer hired just for that occasion, but you persist because you want your own memories. At some point all the attendees will be “making the rounds” and doing the hand-shaking and kissy-kissy thing, all the while wondering why “so-and-so” was invited? At many of the weddings I went to there were always people there that I didn’t know and when introduced to them I STILL didn’t know them because they weren’t in the social circle to which I belonged. Then, maybe a dozen years later you look at the pictures and wonder if the bride and groom are still together. That’s the sort of thing that occurs today. A “lifetime” guarantee or commitment sometimes isn’t all that long.
If you are a person under the age of 50, you might want to think about this for a bit…when was the last time that you actually TALKED on your phone? The texting of a conversation is easier, you say, because of the abbreviations that you can use…right? After all, why would you put in a whole phrase when the same thing can be said with a few initials? I’ve only learned to text recently, and I use whole sentences, but then it’s because that’s what was taught to me. The so-called “social networks” (and I use them) have further reduced any sort of real conversations. There’s one that limits you to only 140 characters, another that is “guarded” by “curators” to make sure that you don’t say anything negative about what THEY believe, and still another that’s even more rigidly controlled in who can access it. Person-to-person, in the flesh, is what used to be, but seems to have gone by the wayside.
Old people get so cranky so easily…and you’ve probably either heard that or, maybe even said it. It’s true. Patience, which old folks seem to have more of than youngsters, is tried almost on a daily basis. There is a humorous story making the rounds now about an older person going into a fast-food establishment. The menu says that a certain type of chicken piece is available in groups of 6, 12 or 18. The customer says that he will take a half-dozen of this item and the response from the young person behind that counter is that, sorry but we don’t have half-dozens…only 6, 12, or 18. So the older person says that the 6 will do just fine. Could this be because young folks are not being taught basic mathematics, thinking that they have a phone with a calculator in it, or because the cash registers (or whatever they use now) have buttons and pictures on them, so no actual thinking is involved?
Don’t even get me started on what’s being taught in schools today…or what is NOT being taught. Suffice it to say that we’re turning out semi-literate graduates at all levels.
Politics used to be the governance of a place, be it city, state or the Federal government…not so now. We have become a divided nation and the divisions are many. The rich versus the poor, whites against blacks, browns, yellows, etc. (have you ever seen any of these colors…really?) We were told that there are more genders than previously acknowledged and, what’s more, these genders could be changed, either on a permanent basis by surgery or simply on how you think you felt on any given day!
Parting shot: America is undergoing tremendous change, and no one truly knows whether the change is for the good. We will get through it…we always have, and we always will … right?
Image:(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); https://www.flickr.com/photos/rphlegm/2397207337/;
