Let Us Praise Older Men
Task 40, October 10 to October 17
LET US PRAISE OLDER MEN
"Retirement at sixty five is ridiculous. When I was sixty five I still had pimples". George Burns This task if for anyone not as aged as me...
Alright, I'm old. I admit it. The other day I made a left turn a little cautiously and a young man with a mullet behind the wheel of a canary yellow
Dodge Charger went around me and yelled, "hey old man, kick that pig!"
That's ageist. But I had to smile, because in similar circumstances, when I was younger and behind an old man who wasn't going to make the left turn unless he had a mile of open space, I said the same thing, or something like it, and probably accompanied by an expletive.
That one didn't hurt, but something that happened more recently did. Hurt, that is. After work I went out for a drink with the only other guy at my office who's near my age. We sat at a table near the bar. My friend Michael ordered a martini, no fruit, and told the barkeeper that if he (the barkeep) broke his wrist shaking the martini that would be all right. I had a glass of red wine. Happy hour red wine.
About an hour later a younger guy from work strode in. His name is Tim. Tim works in traffic, which in television world means that he spends all day hunched over a computer placing, monitoring, tracking, and analysing the success/failure of the ads that run in primetime. It's a thankless, mind-numbing job with little area for growth and a propensity for turning bright young men like Tim into raging alcoholics.
CHECK OUT OUR PODCAST “OLD PEOPLE THIS WEEK” ON YOUTUBE, SPOTIFY AND APPLE PODCASTS.
Tim walked toward the bar and looked over and I caught his attention and then--he turned away. Pivoted, really, and I realized in a hot second that Tim did not want to come over and sit down with the two old guys from the office. How did I read all of that in a momentary glance? I don't know, but I did.
He had the decency to look at his watch and say in the general direction of the bartender, "shit--I forgot that I'm supposed to be somewhere else..", and he left.
The entire three act drama played out in less than thirty seconds. The bartender shrugged when Tim left and Michael didn't miss a sip, but it tore at me.
To all Tims and anyone else that doesn't respect a man of age: first of all--fuck you. Second, old men are funny, pithy, smart, reflective, intuitive, and just downright cool as shit. Our frame of reference may be dated, but you know what? Everything old is new...we've had seen more, experienced more, lived more than you--I can talk politics, sports, cars, and sex with more authority than you could ever muster, and I don't need google to lean on.
And I didn't need Tinder to find a date either, so there.
Look past the wrinkles, and the age spots, and the bifocals because we have LIVED--we've made every bonehead mistake possible, from idiotic financial miscues (penny stocks? What was I even thinking?)to work miscues to romantic gaffes, and lived through it.
Our knowledge is knowledge from the Gods. Speech is over--you can go back to Reddit.
TASK:
Young people, go hang out with an older feller or lady. Not older like someone who was a senior when you were a freshman, but a real
senior--someone over 65 years old. And not your dad or mom, or step mother or father, or anyone related to you. It can be a someone random--I mean, you can go to the nearest retirement village, or down to the park where the old guys play backgammon--but if you can, do some research and try to find a person from whom you might learn something.
Like a guy who did your job but has retired. Or a successful businessperson, or the older person from work that you see at a bar.
And make an effort to spend some real time with them. Do what THEY want to do. That's important. Don't foist your lifestyle on them. Dive into theirs. Maybe it's the early bird dinner at Dennys, a game of pickle ball, or that screening of Double Indemnity at the health center.
PREPARE for the meeting. Write up some questions. Let them talk and LISTEN to them.
Get Busy!