The Lost Cohort- We Octogenarians

One of the drawbacks of being in your eighties is that people think you need help with almost everything you do. I must confess I do take advantage of this misconception now and again especially when I feel a wee bit lazy!  But for the most part, I manage to get through each day on my own. Nevertheless, we all need assistance in life in so many areas, it's part of 'living together in the world'. So, if the help is offered, who am I to turn it down. I do draw the line however, when they step back to open the door for me.

The other situation that I discovered over the years, was that my humble opinions did not bear the same weight as I grew older.  If you buy into the so-called Generation Theory, I first noticed myself being dismissed by the 'Baby Boomers' who had the audacity to consider me past my prime! Actually, because of their nearness to my generation, (perhaps the  nomiker "old farts"!), I was able to fit in once in a while!

Today, Baby Boomers", because of their numbers, are still grabbing headlines as they now slip into the senile dementia bracket themselves. I think it looks good on them! There are so many of them and so few of us, old geezers i.e., they still have the chutzpah to attract attention to themselves. Then the "Gen X" group came on the scene and  I found myself being pushed even further out to the edge of the discussion circle. Today, "Generation Z" (the Internet Generation), consider me computer illiterate and Tweeter dead. So I just  pull out my iPod Touch and take their picture! 

 Being aware of my age and being ignored sometimes as being "age irrelevant" does not mean I will clam up and move back into the shadows. What it does mean is that I have learned to ignore this normal isolation of older generations, "damn the torpedoes", and contribute my comments whether wanted or not. Actually, I see the Generation Theory as being part of the natural process of living and dying. Adolescents instinctively realize their future exists, not with their parents, but with people their own age. Hence, the so-called "terrible teens" rebellion. But I realize my future, unlike that of a teenager, is mostly with those who are younger than me, a kind of old age reversal.

But I must confess to one weakness. When I was young and experienced pain - a headache, a sore leg, a slight chest pain - I dismissed it as a temporary set back to be overcome. Take an Aspirin and it will pass. Now, when I experience similar symptoms I think, "Cripes, do I have a brain tumor, or require a hip or knee replacement? Is that chest pain a heart attack?"

On the other hand what is great about getting old is you no longer have to worry about what people think. I am  free from fretting about my image. As Martin Luther King would say, "Free at last!"

And that's Dick's View of the World this Week