At a Certain Age
Jan. 8th, 2008 02:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebToday I was forced to wear a birthday-girl tiara at work, eat Italian creme cake, and take the afternoon off. Oh, yes, life is delicious.
**
One time in college I saw a gal walking in front of me. She was energetic and her little ponytail was bouncing around. Later she turned around, and I recoiled. Old! She must have been forty-five years old, I thought. People that old shouldn't go around masquerading as energetic young people and then shocking you when you see their face, I thought.
But then I asked myself what specifically she should have done differently. Walked more slowly and stooped? Worn her hair in some middle-aged lady hairdo? In the end, I couldn't think of anything reasonable.
I'd forgotten all about that until recently. Now I do have one decent answer: one could let one's hair turn grey. I suppose one could also get a face-lift, and one should have been wearing sunscreen throughout life.
Well, now I could be that exact same person. From the back, I definitely look young and energetic and often have a ponytail. And I wear a backpack and walk around a college campus. And from the front I am forty-five. And I have hardly any grey hair, no face-lift, and not enough sunscreen. So who knows how many people I am shocking when I turn around and have a surprising number of wrinkles for a college student?
I don't suppose that tiara was helping matters.
**
One time in college I saw a gal walking in front of me. She was energetic and her little ponytail was bouncing around. Later she turned around, and I recoiled. Old! She must have been forty-five years old, I thought. People that old shouldn't go around masquerading as energetic young people and then shocking you when you see their face, I thought.
But then I asked myself what specifically she should have done differently. Walked more slowly and stooped? Worn her hair in some middle-aged lady hairdo? In the end, I couldn't think of anything reasonable.
I'd forgotten all about that until recently. Now I do have one decent answer: one could let one's hair turn grey. I suppose one could also get a face-lift, and one should have been wearing sunscreen throughout life.
Well, now I could be that exact same person. From the back, I definitely look young and energetic and often have a ponytail. And I wear a backpack and walk around a college campus. And from the front I am forty-five. And I have hardly any grey hair, no face-lift, and not enough sunscreen. So who knows how many people I am shocking when I turn around and have a surprising number of wrinkles for a college student?
I don't suppose that tiara was helping matters.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Sarcasm
on 2008-01-08 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-01-08 09:40 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-01-09 12:30 am (UTC)no subject
on 2008-01-09 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
on 2008-01-09 12:44 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-01-09 05:55 pm (UTC)And don't worry - they can probably tell from your clothes that you are not 20.
(sally)
Not sarcasm
on 2008-01-10 02:30 am (UTC)