Old woman! Man! Man... sorry!

Smarty cites a quote from Satchel Paige - "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"

There are a number of ways I could take this.

Physical age -- The very first job I ever worked was as the Fry Guy in the kitchen of an A & W.  Something I'd advise against for adolescent boys sporting zit goatees and already uncomfortable about their weight.  I was 15.

But there was this guy there who bemoaned the fact that he just turned 21 and, "...it's all down hill from here, man!"  WTF?!  I'm nearly 32 and convinced the best years are yet to come.  I'm in better shape than most men my age and aim to improve upon that and then maintain myself at a healthy level.  So, I'm 25.

Relative maturity -- My wife, on a number of occasions, has accused me of being more mature and responsible than she is.  I won't argue most things she sees fit to tell me about myself, so I'll take that as given.  How much more mature than your average 32 year-old?  Let's say I'm 35.

How old I'd like to be -- If I didn't know how old I was, I'd want to be about 45.  A man can keep himself in fabulous shape well past that point, and I think middle-ish age carries with it an air of experience and propriety that are harder earned in callow youth.  If I had to freeze myself at any age, I'd pick 45.  (I say that now, but have no idea what I'll think in 13 years.)

Spiritual, "old soul" type stuff -- A few years ago I went to a nearby sports pub after an evening playing squash.  As any good sports bar has, there was a middle-aged psychic lady stashed away in a back booth doing card readings at 20 bucks a shot.  I pounded down my second pint and sauntered over to her.  After I shuffled her cards she spent 15 minutes telling me things about my life in delightfully vague generalities and was sure to note, at the end, that I had an aura about me denoting the presence of an Old Soul.  Spiritually, I've been around a while.  I thanked her and sort of wished I could have my 20 bucks back.  I could have reached the same conclusions after a couple more pints.  From that perspective, I'd say I'm about 255 years old.

So there you go.

Comments

[Mark]

You didn't mention your "Sense of Humor Age." (or, humour, if you prefer) You know, that thing someone says in a meeting or a teleconference that has you barely able to stifle a gut-splitting laugh, but that you'd be embarrassed for most co-workers to know you found funny.

A psychic in a sports bar? You guys really do things differently up north.

[Moksha Gren]

Yeah, Mark...I was thinking the same thing. I don't know if he's being sarcastic or if psychics really are a mainstay of Canadian sports bars. I don't know whether to laugh at the silly Canuck or feel ashamed to be a culturally ill-informed American ;)

[fv]

"From that perspective, I'd say I'm about 255 years old."

If you used 16 bits instead of 8, you would be 65535 years old.

[marian]

Just one more thing I didn't know about Canadia. And that thing about being 45 -- you're totally right!

[Linda]

Really funny that you should post this right now. Lately I've been thinking aboot all the men I've known in my life and trying to decide (for no reason in particular) what a man's most interesting and appealing age is. While I'd trade all my furniture to hang out with one or two twenty-somethings and three or four thirty-somethings, if I really had to choose, 45-55 would be my pick. Something aboot where a man's head is at that age span; if they're taking good care of themselves, look out. I'm in line ;-) (PD just sneaked in under the wire... he's freshly 45, so the way I see it, this could be getting fun!) Take this how you please, but I've spent aboot 50 years studying men... I oughta know somethin', huh.