Kay Town
Andrew Kay on staying young and feeling old
I will soon be 54. The day after I will be celebrating the first anniversary of my first date with Mr R at L’Eglise and also my friend Mr L’s 36th birthday. Mr L is looking good for his age but recently revealed his secret. It would seem that he keeps his body a few degrees colder than the rest of us thus preserving his youthful good looks. Could it be true that he actually passed away 14 years ago and, using advanced cryogenics, he has managed to remain 36 for 14 years? Whatever, congratulations on reaching your half cent… sorry quarter gross.
This made me reflect on my age and given our love of top ten charts I have collated my own.
TOP 10 THINGS THAT…
Make me feel old
1. Being born too soon to have ever sat in the child seat of a supermarket shopping trolley.
2. Having to click repeatedly to find my year of birth when filling in forms on websites.
3. Not being offered club fliers by young people at the end of Kensington Gardens.
4. Staying in on a Saturday night by choice.
5. Shopping for my clothes in Marks and Spencer.
6. Remembering to put the thingies in the washing machine to stop the limescale wrecking the gubbins inside.
7. Working with people whose parents are younger, often much younger, than I am.
8. Using shopping bags even though it makes ecological sense to not use plastic carrier bags.
9. Waking up in the night and needing to pee even though I seldom drink in the quantities I once did.
10. Passing that point where one’s peers ask you to be a godparent.
Make me feel young
1. Seeing people who are my age but dress like my mum and dad.
2. Chatting to my 15-year-old nephew about music and still enjoying some of the same bands.
3. Walking into my favourite cocktail bars knowing that they know what I like to drink.
4. Having best friends who are half my age and comfortable in my company.
5. Having best friends who are considerably older than I am and comfortable in my company.
6. Being handed a club flier at the end of Kensington Gardens and smiling thank you, even though I am very unlikely to go.
7. Wearing clothes that I bought 20 or more years ago that still look good (I have quite a few), not sure why it makes me feel young, but it does.
8. Being in love with someone I know is in love with me.
9. Being spontaneous.
10. Waking up here in Brighton, walking onto the seafront and realising that I am lucky enough to live in the Peter Pan of all cities.
