I walk to the new car and open the door ready to turn the key and drive off. But this was no ordinary car. There was no ignition switch or key. There was a remote for locking/unlocking the doors and trunk, but no key. Of course being the man I am, there was no way I was going to go back into office where I rented the car and ask how to start the car without a key. Even if I felt the desperate need to go back, it was too late. I saw the lady in the office lock up and trek to another building.
On this car, like my sports car, there is a start button. I pushed it and some icons appeared along with the word Brake. Now I start searching for the emergency brake. Found it…not engaged. Hmmm. I kept on trying different things and accidently stepped on the brake pedal and pushed the button. Zoom, zoom, zoom.
On Saturday, I spent the day with my 7 year old granddaughter. We took in a movie (Puss in Boots) and then went shopping. She knows she gets what she wants when Papa’s in town J. She saw this tea party set with metal cups and a metal teapot that she wanted “really bad”…or at least that is what she told me. Suffice to say it wasn’t cheap and she got it. When I took her to my mom’s I saw she already had a plastic tea party set. I asked her why she needed this new one if she already had one. The new one is real, the other one is “fake.” I have a feeling she’ll be emptying a future beau’s wallet fairly quickly J.
After the fight, a group of ten, including my son-in-law and daughter went to a local establishment that my daughter recalled me taking her to after my indoor soccer games many years ago. The indoor soccer facility was a couple blocks away. This group consisted of either millennials or Gen Xers, save me. I was the only card carrying Baby Boomer. As I looked around, I was also the only one without a cell phone. People were posting or checking in on their Facebook pages, or texting, or tweeting as we waited for our drinks and food, and inhaled the thick smoke of burning cigarettes. I watched in amazement of how well these young people used their thumbs and their ability to type faster than I can on a standard keyboard. My phone was safely stowed in the rental car. I haven’t yet made it a mandatory accessory to my being.
My flight back to South Carolina had a layover in Atlanta. I was at my gate and watched the folks come off the plane that I was about to board. I noticed a need for at least 3 wheel chairs. Additionally, there was an older nicely dressed gentleman who had to be 80+ and another couple around the same age. I was intrigued with the older man in how he navigated to the flight schedule board and slowly walked to his next connection. The older couple was just as interesting and as a team they figured out where to go next, and off they went.
A thought occurred to me around those three people. Ten years ago, if I were behind them, I would have seen them as an inconvenience and a hurdle because they were slow. I tend to be on a mission in airports because I most often cut it pretty close in regard to having time to spare before I have to board the plane or if the truth be told, for most things where I have to be somewhere. The wife can validate this behaviour.
Statistically speaking, my life expectancy is around 75 +/- 5. If life is divided into 3 sections, then I have quickly moved into the final phase. As I saw those 3 on this day, I said to myself, “good for them.” Let me hope that people like me will come to that realization that we all will not be so limber or so keen as we once were and that if we should happen to be lucky enough to remain healthy and live beyond expectations then I hope we too will be able to enjoy the same independence to go wherever the next flight takes us.
1 From the song, “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn.
No comments:
Post a Comment