Senior Moment

I wrote a blog post in 2019 about a funny moment I'd had with a client at work. I was making the man's lunch when he looked me up and down and commented, 'you know, you've still got an alright figure for an old bird.'

I was a bit shocked, but we shared a laugh about it and moved on.

I do recall thinking at the time, "Wow, I must be starting to show my age." Luckily, I was able to laugh at the absurdity of the comment, coming from a much older person, and didn't let it bother me too much.

I was reminded of this moment recently, when my Caveman had an unfortunate experience. He was walking through one of our local shopping centres and a small child who was running ahead of his mother almost ran into his legs. The mother called out to her son, "Be careful, you nearly bumped into that old man!"

Now, this poor "old" husband of mine turned 50 this year. Granted, he has less hair than he used to, and what he does have tends to stick up at all angles in a "mad professor" style. He is currently wearing an outdated pair of glasses because his good ones are broken and he's waiting for a new pair to arrive. He also walks with an awkward gait - this is partly due to his autism, but mainly because his body is a little worn out from his previous life as a semi-serious cricket player. Of course, we also became grandparents this year. But to be referred to as an OLD man?

Naturally, this didn't please him. He confessed to me later that he was actually a bit hurt when it happened. Luckily, by the time he was back in the car and driving home, he was able to see the funny side of the incident. As a result, he was able to tell us all the story of it that night, knowing that we would give him a bit of gentle ribbing about his age. Which, of course, we did. I mean, how could we not?

I did point out to him that the little boy's mother might not have taken a good look at him ... or she may have even realised her mistake and berated herself as she walked away. He responded that I'll be 50 myself in less than a year from now and to see how I feel when it happens to me. He has a point. None of us like to be mistaken for being older than we are. For now though, I don't feel old yet and I don't believe 50 counts as old anyway.

Of course, we'll see if I'm still that positive about it when the time comes!