Living On The Edge

While Buster and I were out for our morning walk, I saw an old man walking with a cane rather slowly just ahead of us. I knew that we would pass him and I reined in Buster and took my ear buds out so that I could “Good morning” him. Things played out the way that I thought and he “Just a beautiful day”ed me when we powered through.

We continued on along our way and I couldn’t help but wonder if he would be writing in a blog about this old guy and his dog that passed him while he was walking this morning.

It used to be so easy to tell if someone was old. They had their own place and their own cash; no one told them what to do or gave them advice on what they should spend their money on. I realize now that what I just described just doesn’t exist. Well, perhaps within the pages of Cosmo and Penthouse magazines. It certainly doesn’t apply if you have parents, a wife, relatives, friends or co-workers.

I think that it was Jerry Rubin that said “Don’t trust anyone over thirty!” Jerry died in 1994 at 56 years of age, a couple of years younger than I am. If you believe Jerry then you really can’t believe him, at least not for the last 27 years of his life. I wonder if he spent those years questioning all of the decisions that he made? I did find out that he was an early investor in Apple, so he managed to do a 180º with his life. I think a lot of us change sides over the years. It isn’t that we change our core beliefs, it is just that we develop a larger view of the world. I know that the teenaged Ken wouldn’t spend his mornings carrying a bag of dog shit around the neighbourhood talking to old guys with canes. Hell, the teenage Ken didn’t really believe in mornings, they were just something that other people had.

There seem to be more attractive women now. I am pretty sure that part of the reason is that my eyes aren’t very good anymore. The other reason is that at 16 there was a four year window of girls from 14 to 18 that I looked at. Now, there is a 45 year range. Not that any woman is or would be interested in me or I them. I worked with a fellow that was about 65 and he had a woman he delivered parcels to on a regular basis. It turns out that she was sort of courting him via the shopping network. She asked him out once and he showed his ring to her and later told me that if he were ever to be unfaithful to his sixty-five year old wife it wouldn’t be with another sixty-five year old woman. Maybe a sixty year old.

I think that someone is old if they are about twenty years older than you are. That is about a generation and that gap is still pretty hard to bridge. Someone 20 years older than me lived through a world with horse drawn bread and milk carts, the invention of TV, the great depression, WWII, and would have thought that rock and roll was the devils music. Everyone knows that the devils music is rap and hip-hop.

My grandmother moved into an apartment for the elderly and left shortly afterwards because the people were so old. Gram was 86 at the time and the old people were in their 60’s. I suppose that age is a state of mind and if you remain active and invested in the world then most people will get older around you. I like that way best I think.  

You can’t do the same things that you did at 30, but really why would you want to? I was pretty stupid at thirty. I’m not any smarter now, but I prefer to do stupid things that are age appropriate. I don’t see why I can’t have a coffee and ice cream tonight at 10:00, and there is no need to pee before I go to bed.

That is me living on the edge...