Signs of Old Age

Because I'm blessed with good health and a considerable amount of energy, if left to my own devices, and aside from the inevitable quick look in the mirror, I'd never know that I've become old. I could easily fool myself into thinking that I'm still in young adulthood trying to figure out what I want to do in life. However, outside stimuli are a constant reminder that I've aged and that for me, this is the last act (and I hope a long one) of the play, with no encore allowed. Here are some recent happenings, and my reactions to them, that provide me with a reality check of my advancing--and some would say, declining---years:

1. As I walk on the soi (side road) in front of my apartment, which is filled with friendly street vendors, most of whom I know, I'm greeted and addressed as "papa," ("Sawadee krup papa! Sabadii mai papa?") Thais use "papa" as a term of respect and affection for the elderly.

2. On the same soi, the bar girls whom I pass on the way to the skytrain, long ago
stopped greeting me at all. They recognize that I'm too old to be a prospect.

3. On the skytrain, which is almost always crowded, I'm now regularly offered seats by both young men and women. At first I was angry---how dare they think that I can't remain standing for a few minutes. Then, not too long ago, a severely wrinkled, shrunken old Thai lady, at least 80 years of age, offered me her seat. I went into shock and couldn't even utter "mai pen rai; yaa lamback luey" (a very polite way of saying "thank you, but please don't bother"). Nowadays, as I've come to accept my chronological status in life, I'm mildly annoyed when no one offers me a seat.

4. In Shanghai (May 10-16, 2006), I visited a not very good English-language bookstore. One of the books that looked interesting was 101 Things To Do Before You're Old and Boring. Too late for me---I'm already there, so I didn't buy it. (Actually, the book is written for teens. The author explains to his youthful audience that there's nothing worse than being boring, expect being old and boring.)

5. When a new issue of The Arizona Lawyer arrives, I suspect that, like most members of the bar, in a harmless exercise of schadenfreude, I turn first to read the list of lawyers who were recently disciplined by the supreme court. Now, I turn first to the list of recently deceased lawyers. Unfortunately, my contemporaries are beginning to be well-represented.

6. One of the two English dailies in Bangkok, The Nation, contains a column of that day's celebrity birthdays. I usually recognize the names of those over age 50, but I almost never know anyone younger.

7. I just received an invitation to my 50th, yes 50th, high school reunion.

8. I think twice before buying a bunch of green bananas.

9. The aphorism goes: "Life is a journey, not a destination." At my age, it's more destination than journey.

10. I was in a restaurant that had an attractive seniors menu for those 65 and older. I offered to provide the waitress with proof that I was over 65. She told one look at me and replied: "That won't be necessary."

To be continued....