There’s one thing about getting old I really don’t like: the part about getting old. Of course, the alternative isn’t so attractive; one could even say it’s a dead end. For any young readers out there, one day (if you live long enough) you too will be considered an “old guy,” and being one is not exactly what you think.
When you’re in high school, you care about being able to drive, going places and doing things with your friends. If you get into a car crash, you worry Mom or Dad will think you’re too young to drive and take your license away. You worry they’ll take your freedom away. You care about wearing the latest fashions, having the right haircut to make you look older, and going to see your friends to say hi. You worry about that pimple that came up overnight, the math test you didn’t study for, and whether that special someone will notice you today. Most of all, you want to be older, on your own, and not dependent on anyone for anything. All of these things are important in your high school world; but there’s another world out there.
In the old guy world, things are a little different. We also drive to see old friends; we remember all of the things we did together, and say good-bye as we leave their graveside services. When we get into a car crash, we too worry about losing our license. We worry whether our son or daughter will think we’re too old to drive and take our license away. We worry they’ll take our freedom away. We don’t care about the latest fashions anymore; we just hope the clothes look right on us. The right haircut can make us look younger. Most of all, we want to be young again, on our own and not dependent on anyone for anything, but the reality is, we find more and more we can’t.
As a senior in high school, you’re excited about what college you’ll soon attend. In the next four years you’ll spend most of your time learning as much as you can so you can get a good paying job and be a productive member of society. You look forward, and your whole life lies before you. Soon, you’ll start to save for retirement. You live your life at a fast pace, and if you stumble and fall along the way, it’s no big deal because you’ll just pick yourself up and heal quickly. You want to see and do everything, and you wonder if you’ll “fit in” and make a difference in the world.
In the old guy world, things are a little different. We spend most of our time trying to remember what we’ve learned in school, and everyday we see more and more of that knowledge slipping away. Now that our retirement savings is gone, all we want is a job, even a low paying one, so we can be productive members of society once again. We look back, and see that most of our life is now behind us. We live our life at a much slower pace, if we stumble and fall, we must have someone else pick us up and it’s a big concern because now we don’t heal so quickly. Looking back, we wonder, “Did we ever fit in and make a difference in the world?”
I told Best Friend Mitch the other day that I didn’t think that I “fit in” anymore. Guess I’m getting to be an “old guy.” He looked at me and said, “What do you mean you THINK you’re getting to be an old guy? I got news for you, you ARE an old guy.”
I told him it looked like maybe he was getting to be an “old guy” too. All of his hair has started turning gray. He just looked at me, shook his head and said, “Well, mine might be turning gray, but at least mine’s not turning loose.” Best Friend Mitch; he’s such a funny guy. Sometimes he knows just what to say to cheer me up.
[Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at saferick@bellsouth.net.]

Back to thø Opinion Home Page| Back to the top of the page