Have any of you stopped and wondered what the world will be like when you reach retirement age? I know that in the prime of our lives, it is difficult to look down the road and see what our futures have in store.
I asked myself where I would be in 40 years and what my life would be like, what would I have done with my life, how many children and grandchildren I would have and whether my wife would still be with me or if she would have left a long time ago.
In order to better understand a life which I have no idea what could happen, I look at the people in my life who are close to retirement as a model.
My mother, for example, has always been slow to adapt to new technology, but it has not deterred her from eventually learning how to operate a computer, use the Internet or even using a cellular phone, though she still can’t program a VCR.
I also looked at my grandfather as a model of what I might be like when I’m older.
He was a crusty old man with a kind heart.
He woke up an hour before dawn each morning and would often drive an hour and a half just to get to our house before breakfast. He smelled like Bengay and Old Spice and wore plaid shirts and foam-mesh hats (before they were cool).
Always loving a good trade, he would go out to flea markets and garage sales to buy items he didn’t really need. He just enjoyed haggling a price down to where he thought he was getting a steal. He never lived in the same house for more than a few years and never drove the same truck (always a Ford or a Chevy) for more than two years. His speedometer never rose above 45 mph, even on the interstate and while driving he would do various other things like read the paper or peel a tangerine, never mind the swerving from lane to lane.
Is that what I would be like when I’m old? Will I drive 25 mph below the speed limit on the interstate? Will I know how to use the technology that our world will have 40 years from now?
Then, I started wondering what the world would be like and how different everything would be. In the past 50 years, the popular culture has changed drastically in terms of what is tolerated and what is obscene.
Just as many parents in the ’50s thought that rock-n-roll was the devil’s music and led to teenage rebellion, many parents today think that shock-rock and gangsta rap have heavily influenced the youth of today. Think about what your parents listened to when they were our age. Odds are they listen to the same music today.
I wonder if I’ll still be listening to Dave Matthew’s Band and Metallica when I have grandkids.
Stop and think about it for a minute. You know how the oldies stations on the radio today play music from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s?
Will they be playing Britney Spears, Nelly, 50 Cent and (my personal favorite) “The Thong Song” on the oldies stations in 2043?
Will Turner Classic Movies be playing “American Pie,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “Dude, Where’s My Car?”
Will we be yelling at our kids to “turn down that damn racket?” Will we take our grandkids out to go fishing or will we be trying to beat them at Tony Hawk Pro-Skater 12 on the new Playstation 7?
Will we ever start sentences with “Back in MY day …?” Will I smell like Old Spice and Bengay (which is a stifling combination for a smell)? Will we still have pierced tongues, eyebrows, noses and nipples?
In some ways our generation’s position in life has already changed. We grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, so things that we cherish from our childhood like “Saved By the Bell,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “New Kids on the Block” and friendship bracelets are already jokes to the kids today.
If you want to feel old, go hang out with a bunch of kids talking about what movies and television shows they like to watch and what music they listen to.
So what does all of this mean? Like it or not, we’re going to get older which means that to somebody younger than us, we’re going to BE old. All we can really do is try to hold on to the beliefs and values that we have learned up to now and mature gracefully with age. Acting like a jackass at age 19 is a lot different than acting like a jackass at 45.
I imagine that if I make it to 64 and I have all my hair and grandkids that love me, I don’t think it will matter much whether I’ll still listen to Metallica or play video games or even program a VCR.
I think I’d be a happy man that lived a full life.

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