Maggie said:I just figured it all out. This is the NG where no one ever grows old.
I finally get it. "18 till I die" is the motto for this secret
society.
Everyone is exactly the same as they were when they were 18.
I guess I have not put on the funny hat, and taken the secret oath, or
been privy to the secret handshake and sacred handbook to be part of
the group yet.
How does one enter this secret society? Do I need to be sponsored or
sign an oath in blood? When do I get my funny hat?
Do I go through the ritual on my bike while riding upside down, holding
a twinkie? Do I get a membership card that self destructs if I take the
secret outside of the society of "ageless, timeless, cyclists".
I think it's about Boomers, we've re-written the book on everything, why
should aging be any different.
Most of what chalked up to aging is really lifestyle disease. Aging is
real, but most of the ideas about it are based on ignorance. There is a
cultural disconnect as people assume that affluence means comfort and
luxury. As it turns out, you're much better off adopting the diet and
transportation habit of the third world -- while maintaining the medical
and nutritional advantages of the first world, of course.
To most Americans, this is unacceptable, self-induced discomfort is a
non-starter, the irony is that it's really pay me now or later and the
deferred bill is much heavier. By the time health consciousness begins
to dawn, it's a catch-up game, almost always too little, too late.
You can mock people for underestimating the toll of age, but what's the
down-side (assuming you're even partially right)? Compare that to the
down-side of overestimating. In any case, how do you know what your
limits are until you try to find them? That's a truth for any age.
In any case, I always wonder about motive when somebody is trying to
sell me on being old.
