I’m not sure when it happened exactly, but it was just over the last few days that I realized I’ve become an old man.. It’s not just that one of my supervisors and a former cube mate haven’t seen any of the Star Wars movies (I was stunned really – they seem like such good people too) it’s other things over the last month or so. I’m 43, not that terribly old I know but it’s the attitudes that convinced me it finally happened.

Yesterday afternoon I went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – which I recommend – and I had to leave my row because the people on all sides of me kept using their devices. Goddamn whipper-snappers have no respect for those around them you know. There are even commercials at the movies specifically asking people not to do this but there they were just checking Facebook or Snapchat or some nonsense. I moved to the front of the theatre, like row 5 and no one was in front of me… then towards end of the movie someone took a photo using flash… WTF children, WTF.

I’ll be driving down the road or stopped at a light and some vehicle will come up next to me with the BOOM BOOM BOOM coming out – and I’ll think how can they even enjoy that when it’s that loud, followed by “they’ll go deaf if they’re not careful. I used to roll my eyes at people when they would say such things to me  and here I am – an old fuddy duddy.

People who sleep til 10 or even noon I think have wasted half the day.

I go out of my way to eat extra fiber.

Get mad when I forget to use my coupons.

Shake my head at what the kids these days call music.

Forget what I came into a room looking for.

Use the wrong names when calling someone – Sue, John, Zach, Mark… you know who I mean!

Can’t find my keys (they were in my pocket)

But what really kind of hit home was when I reflected back on a conversation I had with one of my bosses the other week – I said “I think people these days just don’t want to work a real job, they’ve become lazy and when people expect them to actually work they’re shocked”. He just smiled at me… and looking back it was probably a “Oh my god this guy is old” smile like I used to use when talking to some old geezer who thought his generations work ethic was so much better than mine.

Yes I need a cane, dentures and maybe a walker before you know it…. I’m an old old man.