Age and Relevance
I overheard a conversation between a couple of toddlers recently and it started me thinking about common perceptions about Age and Relevance. It went something like this:
“Hey, Mike, do you ever look around, see how far we’ve come, and think back about the good old days?”
“What, like last week?”
“No, man. I mean like when we were infants, you know?”
“Oh. I hadn’t really thought about it. Hey, are you done with that truck, dude?”
“Um, I don’t know. Why?”
“I was going to stick the front end in my mouth for a while.”
“Oh, that’s cool. Here you go. I mean, back then, we were like the center of the universe. We had everything, man. Everybody fussed over us all the time, remember?”
“Mmmmphhhh.”
“Anyway, since then, I’ve started to think that maybe we’re not as cool as we used to be.”
“Mmmmggghhhh.”
“Dude, I can’t understand you with that truck in your mouth.”
“Sorry, Jimmy. I was saying that you’re seeing the evidence of the long, slow inevitable descent into decay. That’s entropy for you. Hey, you can’t argue with the laws of Thermodynamics, dude.”
“That’s kind of dark, Mike. I get what you’re saying, though. It’s just that I’m finding it difficult to accept that I’m no longer in the prime of my life, that I’m no longer in the most desirable demographic, and that I’m less culturally relevant than I was as an infant. What are you doing now?”
“I’m waving this truck up and down in preparation for throwing it about three inches in front of my feet. No, I get what you mean. On one hand, you feel that you still should have a valid point of view and that your year of experience should count for something. Deep down, however, I think there’s a little bit of fear that the younger generation might disregard you as obsolete.”
“I’m sorry, dude. I didn’t hear what you just said. I was watching Sammy come home from kindergarten. Many, he’s really let himself go.”
“Yeah, I know. Retirement hasn’t been good for him. He’s lost like all of his baby fat, man.”
“Yeah. Pretty gross. Anyway, I think I’m going to chew on this ducky.”
“Excellent plan, dude. I’m going to fall over now.”