The Old Woman

Over the past few years I've begun to feel a certain sadness that older people in our culture are often marginalized. No wonder so many old folks "retire" and act like such idiots spending their time in search of the perfect "leisure activity". Generally, they are not needed by the wider culture, so who can blame them for "goofing off" until they die. It seems to me that the so-called cultural revolution (i.e. "the sixties") really did a number on the notion of having respect for one's elders. Of course, it was cool to think that way when I was younger because it was a convenient justification for my adolescent self-absorption. I could ignore the wisdom offered by my elders as being "out of touch", or "archaic", or "repressive", or whatever and smugly assume I was right because most everyone my age was thinking the same thing. I was a typical, young, arrogant, middle-class white man without a lot of life experience and therefore ignorant of all the things that can go wrong in life and relationships. Who needs nautical advice when the seas are calm? But now that I've been "out here" a few years and have hung over the railings many times with failed relationships and unrealized dreams. . .I find myself more open to a little help from my older, and often wiser, friends.