It was a nice day this New Year as I stood on the corner\u00a0and watched people go by.<\/p>\n
I’ve noticed one thing good about being oldler: people don’t look at me as a pervert or mugger when I smile at them.<\/p>\n
Thinking back I remember when I hit a certain\u00a0age, maybe in my mid-to-late 40’s, women stopped glancing at me when they went by.<\/p>\n
I guess I was officially “old” and people who were “old” just don’t register in their mind any more.<\/p>\n
Not everyone wants to be admired but just recognized they exist.<\/p>\n
When you’re a young lady your mind is on boys and work, as it should be.<\/p>\n
But there’s something in the mind of someone that age doesn’t see an elderly person.<\/p>\n
Sometimes that hurts because we are still relevent and useful.<\/p>\n
There was the first time a woman told her friend at a party I was too old for her.
\nThat put a huge damper on my evening so I left and went home.<\/p>\n
A lot of sad things start to happen in your late 40’s.<\/p>\n
Maybe it’s nature’s way to prepare us for our later years when we’re seen as mostly in the way.<\/p>\n
Then, in my early 60’s, I became safe because I’m now really “old” and in their mind I shifted from a dirty old man to their favorite grandpa.<\/p>\n
I remember my grandfather mentioning something about getting older when I was in high school.<\/p>\n
I don’t remember what he said but I recall saying to myself I will be young and strong and athletic forever.<\/p>\n
There seems to be a point in everyone’s life where you realize you are now old.<\/p>\n
Not old in how I see myself, but realizing it’s how others see me.<\/p>\n
I was upset when a teenager at the McDonald’s counter first started asking if I want the senior’s discount.<\/p>\n
The first dozen or times I said something like, “Not there yet” and paid full price, even though I qualified.<\/p>\n
Too proud, I guess.<\/p>\n
I didn’t want to be old or have other people remind me I was.<\/p>\n
After awhile I stopped fighting it and now simply nod and smile.<\/p>\n
Of course they don’t ask anymore – they just know.<\/p>\n
Sometimes I see the men at work, 30 years younger, looking across the room at me and I wonder if they’re waiting for me to\u00a0retire and get out of the way so they have a chance to move up.<\/p>\n
If the damn Congress would fix the economy I would\u00a0love to.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, I am not useless.<\/p>\n