Grugger’s Way

Or, are Old People just moving too Slow?  

I remember my Father saying that he didn’t understand why everyone was in such a big hurry.  The place he noticed it most was at the grocery store checkout:  

• “My God, people get upset if you want to write a check nowdays,” and, 
• “they act like it is the end of the world if they don’t just ZIP through the check out!” 
• “A lot of times they don’t even look up at the checker or say anything at all.”
•  ”Young people are not even the worst.” 

He noticed that it appeared to him that middle-aged people, men and women, were the most impatient, and were always stressed out.  Yes, I think many of us do try to squeese too much into each day and into each trip.

What a pleasure it is to not be in such a big hurry anymore.  The other day I was sitting in my car at a bank drive-through, along with about six other cars. We were waiting for the tellers to finish our deposits, etc., when we all overheard one lady yelling at the tellers.  She had pushed the call button and informed them that she couldn’t sit here all day…and asked the teller, “are you new?”   “All the slow people work on Mondays and Fridays…”   “I need to get home…!”

Wow.  I could hear other people comment on how rude this woman was acting.  I was sitting right next to the teller window and could see the reactions of all the tellers, although I couldn’t hear what they were saying except when they pushed the microphone button and talked to a customer.  They handled it all pretty well, I thought.  Every teller looked to be under 25 years old, and they were the ones who displayed patience.

I think we eventually become more patient in our older years. 

I guess we learned a little something from all our hurrying when we were younger:  it didn’t gain us any extra time. 

And, as a matter of fact, considering how we all end up eventually, it makes no sense at all to be in such a big hurry. 

Why Didn’t I Complain of Age Discrimination?

How often have you felt that you were being ignored while shopping?  How often have you felt invisible to store clerks?

I recently experienced what I thought must be blatant discrimination of SOME KIND, and because I am now in my early 60’s I kind of wondered if my age had anything to do with it.

I was in a little shoe repair shop where I stood at the counter and watched the only employee in the store “stuffing” his burger and fries into his pie hole while he looked right at me and never even acknowledged my presence.  He was on his “lunch” hour.  I left and only came back because my wife’s shoes were awaiting repair, but we will NEVER return to that shoe repair place again.

The shoe repair shop is not the only instance of being ignored. I once stood in one spot in an aisle of one of those big “box” sporting goods stores and I needed help in reaching something; but even though I made eye contact with a couple of clerks who were passing by, neither one of them stopped to ask if I needed any assistance in finding something, or whatever.

Wasn’t that one of the tenets of customer service?  That the clerks would inquire of us without us having to SHOUT at them?  I’ve never felt that I should have to grab some guy by the sleeve to get him to notice me, but I just wonder now if today’s modern stores have a policy of not “bothering” customers?  Modern box stores seem to be “self serve” to the extreme.

The old “mom and pop” stores would be sure to welcome you and even ask you for your first name, if they didn’t recognize you.  I really miss those days.  I try to find little shops that still believe in personalized and individual customer service.  Shops that also stand behind their products and services.

As for the big “box” sporting goods store I described above, my son is now a department manager there, so I won’t be complaining of poor service or age discrimination.  Unless he ignores me too.

Tomorrow:  Why Didn’t I Become a Wood Butcher?
Yesterday:  Why Didn’t I Excel at Basketball?

Just a fun bit of nonsense for today.  My spouse saw fit to send this to me in an e-mail from work.  She thinks I fit into this “older guy” humor category:

GAMES FOR WHEN WE ARE OLDER
1. Sag, you’re It!
2. Hide and go pee.
3. 20 questions shouted into your good ear.
4. Kick the bucket
5. Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says Bend Over.
6. Musical recliners.
7. Simon says something incoherent.
8. Pin the Toupee on the bald guy.

Now WAIT a MINUTE! There are a few things Older Ladies have to deal with too:

SOMETHING FOR THE LADIES:

SIGNS OF MENOPAUSE :
1. You sell your home heating system at a yard sale.
2. You have to write post-it notes with your kids’ names on them.
3. You change your underwear after a sneeze.
4. Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
WHAT WE ALL HAVE IN COMMON, EVENTUALLY:

OLD IS WHEN:
1. You don’t care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don’t have to go along.
2. Getting a little action means I don’t need fiber today.
3. Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.
4. An all-nighter means not getting up to pee!

GETTING YOUR HEAD OUT OF  YOUR PAST may sound vaguely familiar but only the words have changed.

We really deny outselves the pleasures of the moment, the ability to enjoy the “now” in our lives, when we constantly live in the past.

When we believe that yesterday was better than today, and today is not as bad as tomorrow, we give too much of our attention to what WAS, and drain our energy away from what IS.   We give too much of our power away to the past.  Can you imagine WORRYING about the PAST?  That is so worthless. If we have regrets, so what?  If we wronged someone and that person is still with us, call or write a letter and apologize.  Then get on with it.

I think having a certain degree of anxiety about the future is normal for folks as we age.  God knows, we WISH that our offspring would show at least a little bit of concern about the future as they charge headlong into the World, seemingly without a care.

If we live in our head all the time, we fail to appreciate our other forms of existence.  We need to feel the emotional attachments to the present moment to fully enjoy them.  If the fishing holes that we used to frequent have been obliterated by the changing course of the river, then find new fishing holes that we can enjoy today and let tomorrow take care of itself.

Enjoy the sunset we see tonight and look forward to the sunsets to come.  Hanging on to memories of old sunsets just make us older.