remaining active

  So, the wife is listening to a television show. The host remarks, for you younger members of the audience that may not know who Elizabeth Taylor is, she is lady that makes the perfume your grandmother wears, white diamonds. My wife looks up suddenly from her crocheting and remarks to me, hey I wear that! I remark back, you are a grandmother. That's when I get the "look" and you all know what that is. It's the I don't want to hear it look! That's when I went to You Tube and found an ad for Hai Karate aftershave and cologne. Yes, it was a budget brand and came with directions on self defense, to fight off the women. Today they would undoubtedly be sued on multiple layers. Domestic violence, promoting violence and it didn't really make you irresistible. Posting it to Facebook it broke the tension in the room.

 We began to talk about all of that a bit. How we used to look at others, like our neighbors and say things like, they shouldn't be doing that at their age. Or maybe, I'm amazed that they can do that at their age. That's when we both had to admit to ourselves, we are that age. You know you can still do a lot in your sixties and seventies. I think the ads on television call that, remaining active! They sell supplements for that, along with medical procedures and Pevergen to boost your memory! Makes you remember who you are I guess, can think of at least one person that needs that badly but I'm not going to get political. At the same time, they do recommend you wear life alert around your neck, just in case. Help is on the way.

 I do have some concern for this latest generation. I'm not concerned so much for their physical ability to "remain active" as their phycological ability to cope with life. If you listen to the news, it's a big problem already. Now I'm not making light of any real mental health crisis we may be having in America, I'm in fact showing concern. My concern is this narrative of today. You can't do anything on your own. You need support, you need help, you need assistance. You need the government to intervene in every aspect of your life! Only government can stop bullies and others from hurting your feelings. The government will mandate what pronouns are applied to whom!  You can come to work dressed in any fashion you choose; you can tell your employer when you will work and when you won't. You are entitled to mental health days when you just aren't feeling it! And if you need an emotional support animal you can take that animal anywhere you go! 

 My concern is what happens when they get old. Even the government can't stop the aging process. What happens when it isn't fair? Will they be able to accept reality? I admit it can be a sobering experience. There are times reality just slaps you in the face. Getting the senior discount, when you didn't ask about it, is one of those times. Or going up some steps and a younger person offers to "help" you. What are they going to do when they are offended by all of that? When they discover that being "woke" wasn't what they thought it was. Might cause some emotional distress. Especially when they discover they now have a fixed income and a mortgage to pay! I borrowed money and have to pay it back?