NICEST OLD WHITE GUY

When do you know you've crossed over to "old"??? For me, it may have been last week when I had a college student tell me I was the "nicest old guy he has met"..... 

Of course, me being me, I took that in various ways. First was the positive - I like being the nice guy. We don't ALWAYS finish last! We are a happy bunch and hopefully it rubs off on those that are less-than-jubilant. To have a stranger notice AND comment was very cool.

On the OTHER hand, being accused of "old" is not to be taken lightly. That word has so many meanings that I wasn't sure how to react. Initially, I laughed it off because as soon as they said it, they started to apologize. It was not needed. Compared to someone in the 13th grade, I AM old. Life has zoomed by at an increasing speed and I have tried to learn from every twist and tear. 

When I was his age, OLD was anyone over 40. It seemed they were mostly just bored, and WE weren't going to be THAT way EVER. Well..... Time has seen to it that NO ONE escapes it's influence. The days that turn to weeks that roll into months that stack into years that suddenly start to make DECADES, eventually affect all of us. Some less than others, but 100% incurable. 

There IS of course, a plus to aging. 

Wisdom. 

I LIKE being smarter than the dummy that was me at 20. I like the fact I learned to deal with my ups and bottomless falls into bluesiness. I like the idea of being comfortable enough to worry less about the way I look in the mirror and more about the way my mind functions in crisis. 

Getting older is NOT a death sentence. We get more comfortable with the notion of the hereafter, but not in a hurry to get there, We want to impact those younger folks, to hopefully open their eyes to things we didn't see till much later - when we prolly needed glasses to see! We still DREAM of a life well lived, the definition of which has changed many times over the years. 

Would I want to be 20 in today's reality? Nope. I lived in a good time. Elvis was still rockin, doors didn't have to be locked, and my daydreams were endless. 

I DO envy the youngsters that see the world as changeable and fixable. Society as a whole hasn't retained a positive vibe, yet these kids are wanting to have an impact, even so young. It's very cool.

So this old guy will continue to talk to strangers, if for no other reason than to let them know they matter and are part of my world. I will keep asking questions and I'm sure be surprised at some of the answers I get. 

....Because a nice old white guy can do nothing else.