Mid?

I’m getting old. There’s no way around it. I don’t mean that I feel ancient or decrepit or anything, I just mean that I am noticing things that I had once thought only old people would notice.

For instance I am having real difficulty seeing fine print in low light. Just a few years ago, I could read the tiniest mice type in near pitch black darkness, and now I find myself searching out a window, tilting my head and moving the object back and forth, trying in vain to read instructions which I am SURE were printed  larger last time I bought these.

I’m driving slower. Kelly may argue this one, but she isn’t always in the car with me. When I was alone, I used to drive 15km over the limit. Always. That was my rule. And if I needed to get past someone, I might even go a fair bit faster, just long enough to get ahead of that slow poke who is for sure trying to box me in.  In essence I was an idiot. Not dangerous, but an idiot nonetheless. Not so much anymore. I’m quite content tooting along at just a few kilometers over the limit, enjoying the scenery and cursing at those young punks who zip past me.

But the biggest thing I’ve noticed lately is an awareness of the age of those around me. Facebook is the worst for this. I’ve had some time on my hands lately and so I’ve been surfing around in Facebook at the pictures of some of my old high school and grade school friends. Wow are they old! Of course they are the same age as me, but…they look so…OLD! Of course, if I was to ask a stranger to guess how old they are, they would likely guess around 40, which is correct. But that’s just it. They’re 40! When did that happen?  Last night I was looking at a picture of a friend, I hadn’t seen him since high school. It occurred to me that he looked like any of our dads looked when we were in grade 8 or 9. And then it hit me. We ARE at the age our dads were when we were in grade 8 or 9.  This isn’t something I had thought about, because I don’t have kids, but I did the math and it’s true. I am 41. When I was in grade 8, my dad was 41. I don’t know why, but thinking about it in those terms freaks me out a bit.

Then there’s the age of people providing services. One instance was in the hospital recently, on the second last day. Without giving you too much detail, I was to have small procedure involving VERY personal care, direct manipulation of a certain part of my anatomy.  My nurse, who herself was likely only 25 or so, asked if it was ok for her to have one of the student nurses do it so she could get some experience.  I said sure, of course, as I am not very shy and usually don’t mind student nurses.  So she spoke to the curtain and told the young lady behind it that it was ok for her to come in. Well, for Pete’s sake, this girl looked like she was 13! She did what she was there for, with instructions from the nurse, and she got through it with only a few nervous giggles. I’m sure she will be great nurse someday, but right now she looks like she should be playing with dolls or an easy bake oven, not handling my ummm…goods.

And then there’s today. I went to my family physician and he ordered blood work to make sure I am on track since leaving the hospital.  I went to the lab in the same building took a number and waited. When I was called in, the young lady taking my blood did not inspire confidence. I am not usually one to judge people on appearance, but other than being very young, she also had three piercings on her face (eyebrow, nose, lower lip). That alone I could have gotten past, but it was more the way she did her job. She was sloppy and rushed and somewhat cold. At one point she tossed, yes tossed, one of the vials of my blood on the little table behind her. It rolled to the edge and if it weren’t for the cotton swab she had already tossed there, my blood would have been on the floor. My immediate reaction was to blame her sloppiness on her age. I didn’t think “Wow she’s grumpy” or “Geez what’s wrong with her” or even “What a useless tool”  No, I thought to myself “This young person has no work ethic, what is wrong with kids today?”

I’ve thought that a lot in the last few years. But these last couple of months I’ve started wondering more if it’s just my age, or rather the age that I have reached. The age where we look at the next generation, the one just entering the workforce, and we think they either look way too young or are completely inept. Does every generation do this? Is it a phase? Am I going to adjust?

Maybe I just need some highlights, and a motorcycle.