Better at Being Old People

Visited Nana, Dad, Mum, Grandpa the other day….  Was sitting at McDonalds and an old couple came in….  I saw an old couple walking down the Mall….  Met my mates Nana, Dad, Mum, Grandpa …..

…. and all the fuck I wanted to do was get away, politely and stop myself from gagging!

Why are you wearing those clothes…  Why do you have food down the front of those clothes….  Why are you telling me about your last operation or visit to the doctor…  Why do you keep saying “when I was young”….  and what the fuck is that smell!!!

Is this deliberate; it must be deliberate – if so you win…  if not, it is just sad and annoying…

Being old is a privilege (let me write another blog post about all my young dead friends and family….) – this privilege entitles you to live in the world with the rest of us… but it does not give you the right to live in the past and annoy me in the present.

… and the past is not coming back, and yes, I know you worked hard and did it hard and in your day this and that and please kill me now if you tell me one more time about how good the good old days were….

Well the ‘good’ days today are of your making:  although you deny it, you made this world and now we have to live in it and you keep telling us about how good your world was and how someone else fucked it up, not you, ….. and somehow we are responsible….  and not only that you wont get out of the way!

I know this is all terribly unkind and disrespectful to the elderly…. but, I would love to hear about how you solved a problem, or overcame adversity, or suffered a loss, or had an adventure, or what your world was really like….. without boring me to death, or whinging, or lecturing me.

I have had many an old mate, some of my best mates were and are 30+ years older than me… and I am old.  Did they bore me, no!  Did they tell me about their scheduled doctors appointment, no!  Did they complain about the world, no!

They revelled in their old age, they embraced the present and shared wisdom and humour… they transcended age and shared the thought that took years in the making… and they shared loyalty, honour, grace that only comes with time and experience.  They told their stories and never lectured, boasted or complained….  they grew old with acceptance and gratitude.

I’m sorry, but, I am not sorry really; if you are old and have nothing good to say about then, now or the future, please remember the hand you dealt us in todays world which is of your making…. you had your chance now please, please, get out of the way…..

…. and especially you old men who wont let go of that small morsel of power you possess…..  Yes, yes, you worked hard for it…  Bullshit, mostly you just waited your turn…. merit wasn’t around remember it was seniority…

I still baulk at people when they tell me they were born in the 70’s, or 80’s… or even the 90’s and they are my doctor!  (Just think about it if you were born this century you are 18 years old this year….  I am telling old people to think about this!!)

Old people…. it is not your world anymore!!!

So you (we, me) are in our 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or even 80’s and are still working, still wanting, dare I say, to be in charge, hang around for that extra $10 of pension….  do us all a favour and retire or die…  you are in the way!   …. and if you can’t because you can’t afford it then look at the good old days and see how you wasted your money as you relied on your government pension which is now being taken away from you by either your peers or your children….  why?  Maybe it was the way they were brought up!

Okay, this is a nasty post….  but sometimes things just have to be said….. and it is now a published reminder that as I age, do so gracefully, with some degree of humility and with a resolve to guide, help, coach, facilitate and support the young of the world…. it is their world now and we have to get out of the way!

PS:  Make sure you remind me of this next time I bitch about those young bucks and their stupid clothes and dumb attitudes….