On the inside, looking out
From within
As usual this piece is think of a decent title, have a vague idea of what to write and then begin. The theme has been triggered by a few things, the latest was yesterday. I was driving through my gyms car park when I saw a police car. The police man followed me and as he parked he pulled up next to me, he had his window open and shouted across I had a brake light out. I thanked him and was planning excuses but then he drove off. Did he trust me to fix it because i have grey hair and a grey beard?
A light out usually garners some sort of a telling off or minor penalty, maybe he was just feeling generous? Its not legal to treat someone differently because of sex/age/religion etc, but in this case I will make an exception. Anyway this old man went home and changed the bulb so all is ok now.
Maybe how I dress and appear makes a difference. What the policeman couldn’t see was the heavy metal tour shirt and shorts hidden by the door. I own more shirts than trousers, have 1 formal shirt and 1 formal suit, if I get dressed its nearly always the same t-shirt and shorts. Maybe its how I feel inside projected through an elderly looking outside. To add to the confusion , I have a long list of medical conditions that aren’t visible but affect every moment of my life.
Fibromyalgia gives constant pain, breathing trouble stops too much exercise, high cholesterol with high blood pressure with the latest one, prediabetes, means I have to change my lifestyle totally. Diet has to change, energy drinks have to go, exercise has to rise despite pain and have to sleet better somehow. It probably means I look older due to these varied conditions.
I am retraining as a driving instructor, maybe if I try and look older and wiser it will work. I can give the impression of experience and wisdom, better than learning with someone who hasn’t driven for long. Luckily I have 35 years since I passed my test, one far simpler than those I will train. I just have to forget all the bad habits I have picked up over many years, and forget that one 70mph crash I had.
I basically have to tell pupils that are older as their reactions may be slower, in other words watch out for people like me. The ultimate do as I say, not as I do. Hopefully their will be many new drivers driving around the area taught by me. Though if they crash or get caught speeding I will deny ever meeting them. I will probably drive to pick up pupils in my normal way, death metal blasting out of the car stereo. Arm resting on the door, nearly obeying the speed limit and park more or less outside their house. Then I can teach them not to do any of those things.
Then this old man has to show pupils how to use sat nav, cruise control and parking cameras. Unfortunately I cant show them the paper maps I used to manage with when i passed my test. Either stop every few miles to recheck the map or write down on a piece of paper the places you turn and places you go through. If you wanted a distance you had to measure the road on the map, to find landmarks you needed to know the pictures that were used.
A whole different world back then, some of which I would love to experience again. Life managed without the internet, smart phones and smart watches. The first mobile phone I used was in 1989, the handset was like one from a house phone and the battery was ten times the size of the handset. My first computer needed a cassette tape to load individual games, usually at least 10 minutes to load even the simplest games.
Maybe now it would be good to have a day a month when all the internet is turned off, so younger people can see the world us old people lived in. It will do their fingers and necks the world of good, a chance to look where they are going. Yes I know, that makes me sound very old.
