Kids these days.
I have an acquaintance, who's in his
mid 20s. He was talking to a compatriot of his; she's in her mid
20s, as well, and they were discussing a couple of people they were
both looking to interview. Since she's new to the area he was giving
her a few pointers, which included this gem--
“They're in their early to mid 40s,
which means they're on the cusp of being old”.
Yup. Kids these days.
I have to admit that my first reaction
was to (literally) do a spit take. I was drinking tea and laughed so
hard some shot out of my mouth. I couldn't help myself. And just so
you know--blueberry-acai tea is REALLY hard to get out of a white
shirt.
My second reaction was what I assume
anyone at or past their early to mid 40s would do or say, and that
was to shake my head at the wonder of it all. I can't say this with
any certainty, but something along those lines may have popped into
my brain when I was in my mid 20s. Back then, I probably thought
that anyone in the early to mid 40s was about to be old. And I was
wrong. Really really wrong.
After all, when you get to be my age,
you realize that it's actually people in their 60s or 70s who are
really, really old.
That's a joke; after all, you're only
as old as you feel. And I can see why someone in their 20s might
feel like someone in their 40s is getting old. But I would also
point out to people in their 20s that they themselves will one day be
in their 40s—in fact, it'll happen much quicker than they think—and
maybe they might want to modify what they're thinking.
Of course, there's no way anyone in
their 20s would believe what I was saying. It's just one of those
things you have to experience for yourself before you realize it's
true. Maybe it's something you can't comprehend until you yourself
have jumped over the cusp of being old.
Maybe.
I'm sure my friend has no idea that
what he said was so funny, at least to me. But who knows—maybe,
when he's in his early to mid 40s and on the “cusp” being old,
he'll have an acquaintance who makes a comment like the one he made,
and he can then sit there, shake his head, and mutter that wonderful
phrase--
“Kids these days”.
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