When is it exactly we cross over into being “old”? And, why is it so hard to notice? It’s like a switch. One day, you are hip and “in the know” of all things cool (side note, I have learned that using the phrase “in the know” is a clear indication of being neither hip nor cool), the next day you are just, as my stepson once said to me, “past your prime”. You are smacked in the face with it. You are saying things your parents or grandparents were saying while once upon a time you rolled your eyes with utter disdain.
Why am I writing about this today? Because my husband and I recently and unsuspectingly had a conversation about how music today requires so little real talent, young people no longer have respect and, what happened to the American work ethic After 10 or so minutes of this we stopped, looked at each other and with a combination of horror and dread, said, “when did we turn into our parents?” Is it inevitable? We like to think of ourselves as those older people that are still “on-trend”. We are open to technology. We dress age appropriately but yet with style (so I believe). Yes, it’s true I will never let go the greatness of the 80s. Oh, the music, especially the music. I mean really, has there been another Morrissey, the Go-Go’s, Madonna or Pat Benetar? Okay, so the fashion may not be the best decade we have seen (I cower at the thought shoulder pads might make a comeback) but even there you can find an ambition that I don’t think we see today.
I think my point, growing older is inevitable. Yet, I think we may fight it without even realizing it and then are always surprised to find out it happened. Yes, we should all grow old gracefully. But damn it, does it have to slap us across the face when we least expect it? It’s just rude.