Old
Today winter officially ended in Richmond. It was sunny and beautiful, and the temperature hit 80 for the first time this year. I’ve been happy all day, but that doesn't mean I can’t complain about work.
Ugh. Okay, so I’m not usually one to fall prey to feeling old. Well, that’s not true; I feel old all the time, but I have done so since the arthritis in my knees forced me to stop playing basketball twenty years ago. Generally speaking, I don’t feel any older now than I did then, except that the knees (if possible) are even worse, and seem to be taking the hips with them. But sometimes the children I work with make me feel the years.
So today I get to work, and there’s a pretty young thing I’m working with. She starts telling me this story about trouble she’s having with her boyfriend. You know, girl talk. For some reason, I’m always favored with girl talk.
Anyway, she’s telling this story and she almost gets to the point, but just before she does she stops and looks at me. “Do you know what Facebook is?” she asks.
I just stare at her for a second. She could not possibly have just asked me that. “Facebook?” I say. “Is that something you can do on those crazy Interwebs things you kids are always talking about? Seriously, honey, how old do you think I am?”
I expect that to humble her a bit, you know, maybe get her to rethink what she’s just said, but instead she says, “Well, my mother doesn’t know what Facebook is.”
I wonder if the old folks’ home across the street has any openings.
POSTSCRIPT: I don’t know if you noticed, but I have a brand-new userpic (my last for 2010, which reflects admirable restraint in my opinion). I created it especially for this entry, but I expect to get plenty of use out of it.
