Friday 18 June 2010

Top Ten: Signs you're getting old(er)

Living at home with parents in their sixties is taking its toll. At 10pm, the TV is turned down to minuscule levels; I'm still watching. They wake to pee at hours of morning not meant to be seen. At the weekend they've experienced a full day by 2pm; I'm just getting up.

Like or not, we age. Bodies peak, faces wrinkle, mobility slows. But there are signs that tell us the metaphorical hill might be closer than we think, as well as living under my roof...

1)
You enjoy cups of tea a little too much. After a long day out the first words are: 'I'm dying for a cuppa.' You might say you're 'parched'. If accompanied by an expression more appropriate on a man lost in the desert, you have old fartitus.

2)
Unlike the youthful frivolity of living payday to payday, you speak of investments and bonds. You know the inns and outs of ISAs like you know your ABCs. The thought of putting money away is positively orgasmic. Yes! I'll be £200 richer in 20 years! Yes! I'll have what she's having- a 3.6% tax-free ISA please. Sexy.

3)
You often start a sentence with, 'When I was your age...' Enough said.

4)
You obsess with parking your car outside your house. Come home to find a strange car where yours should be, you're hysterical. What follows is persistent peeping behind net curtains, watching, waiting, for that pesky car to move. When it does, two seconds later, you follow. Car in rightful place = relaaaax.

5)
You're strangely sensitive to changes in room temperature. You have a telepathic link to the thermostat and can sense when changed. If anyone dares to turn that dial by two degrees, you'll know. It's like the spidey-sense for old folk.

6)
If you can say: 'I've spent enough of my lifetime cooking to not want to do it anymore,' well, you are old people. Old. And perhaps a teeny bit lazy. Making beans on toast three nights in a row is not cooking. I'm just saying.

7)
Your kitchen is a hive of forgotten activity. Taps left running in the sink. Dishwasher half unloaded. Teabags over-stewed in cups of cold tea. Warning: age related forgetfulness results in massive water bills, dirty plates, and thirsty house guests.

8)
The legal ability to vote, drink, drive, or watch an 18 rated movie no longer holds any excitement. You've been there, done that, and worn the t-shirt so many times it's worn out. A bit like yourself.

9)
When you reminisce about movies or TV shows, no one has a clue what you're talking about. That's because they were probably rolling around on a floor somewhere trying to learn to crawl. Or hadn't yet been conceived...

10)
You can tell it's going to rain by the creak of knee or pain in your hip. Joints telling the weather is not just a circus freak rarity, although it should be.

So reader, remind you of anyone?

13 comments:

  1. Yeah.... Reminds me of me. I understand how frustrating the generation gaps can be. I wonder why more older people don't blog? It would be some comforting to be able to speak to "your generation" of same. But .... they don't. The tecky stuff is too hard to learn. I've having a tough time with my 2 blogs (I'm 80) . I enjoy your writing. It's clean and easy to read.
    http://www.wholeradish.com/
    http://www.beajayblock.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice list. Here's a few I'd add: you don't feel guilty about staying in on a Saturday night, you don't care as much about what people think of you, you realise England are never going to win the World Cup, and you don't cum any more. The last one might be a man thing...
    *Plentymorefishoutofwater - One Man's Dating Diary*

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've got to remember these and try not to do them myself someday...

    ReplyDelete
  4. oh boy!

    funny that living with parents will try your patience. Is the phenom one-sided?

    I think such a list is good for everyone. Makes one think a little and njoy the moment even more.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I enjoyed this post. I'm guilty of the car thing but mostly because I have trouble parking so it bothers me when the guy across the street parks where I usually do especially when there is room in in front of his place for this van.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fun post! I'm only 27 but i'm guilty of a couple of those points on the list. The car thing and also the cup of tea thing! Maybe that means i'm old before my time.

    I love your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for the comments everyone! Yes, generally living with my parents is tesing my patience- they're set in their ways and don't realise what they're doing half the time.

    I think that a lot of people are guilty of the car thing too- i've noticed it a lot in my street. Maybe that's just a human nature thing, regardless of age.

    I have to say i am guilty of being able to predict the weather after a nasty 5th metatarsal break in my foot a few years ago. Never been the same since and i can tell when the weather is damp! hehe...doesn't mean i'm old though...does it?!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am cackling at your post, Lou. Hilarious. And I'm thinking YIKES! Old age here I come. UGH

    I can't remember names like I use to. Does this mean... Dum dum de dum...

    Just so I don't break a hip. Yanno? *hugs* I missed you. =)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great post. Been reading all your top tens now and they're really funny. You should do more of these.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ha Ha I am 26 in July but I definiately relate to the tea drinking!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Robyn: Hehe, glad you liked it!

    Anon: Thank you. Top Ten lists are in my future, so keep on reading.

    Kate: Hey! You're back after a long hiatus! Nice one. Thanks for stopping by. :)

    ReplyDelete

Go on. It's free...