(Humor/Parenting) It’s as if God turns off the censor center of the brain as we get older. Younger people have to make a conscious decision to flaunt social norms, but it just comes naturally to older people.
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Standing in line at the local pharmacy, I realized that I am definitely becoming an older person because I no longer care what people think of me. I also think I have finally lost the last shred of self-respect I ever had.
Not only was I wearing form-fitting sweats (and my form is not something fitting to show like that), but I then noticed that I had a foxtail in my sweats on the back of my left thigh.
So I tried to get it to push through the fabric by pinching and pulling at it from the outside, but the tip was too dull and it wouldn’t budge. Meanwhile, it kept painfully jabbing my leg. So right in the middle of the store I reached down inside my sweats and pulled the sticker out.
That’s right. In front of the entire world to see I revealed a flash of my unmentionables because one cannot shove her arm down her sweats without ‘briefly’ exposing such things.
And then it hit me. I realized just what I had done in PUBLIC. But I wasn’t mortified…perhaps it was shock. Perhaps shock temporarily short-circuits one’s intellect because I decided that the best thing to do was to act like I didn’t know what I had just done as if maybe by playing dumb, everyone else would.
You know, there was a time when I would have endured a knife sticking me in the rump, before I’d ever remove it in public. I mean, what does it look like when a grown person, contorts herself, jams her hand down her pants and fishes around? It’s very odd, to say the least.
The only redeeming value my behavior has is that I can use it to mortify my children and promote their good behavior in public. “You better NOT bug me to buy you stuff while we are shopping or I will start singing/give you a big kiss/pick my nose.”
“Mother! Act your age!”
“But I am, dear.”
In fact, I can’t wait until my hair turns blue and I feel free to tell people what I think of the way they dress, the way they drive, the way they walk and the way politicians behave.
You know the type. The family gets together and Grandma says to the twenty-year old grandson with the well-groomed goatee, “Are you trying to grow something there?” To the very pregnant daughter-in-law, “Boy, are you HUGE.” And when she’s driving, Grandma has no problem tooting her horn and saluting innocent drivers as she zooms by.
It’s as if God turns off the censor center of the brain as we get older. Younger people have to make a conscious decision to flaunt social norms, but it just comes naturally to older people. Time makes you bolder.
I had a similar experience with a shoulder pad that had apparently come loose in the wash. Somewhere in the dryer the bit of velcro on the shoulder pad had re-stuck itself to the inside of a pair of sweat pants...which I grabbed the following morning to make a quick jog to the corner store. I was halfway there before I realized that there was an inappropriate lump in my drawers. So, you'll understand why I laughed out loud when I read your story. I think these types of experiences build character, don't you? Getting older teaches us how to NOT sweat the small stuff and finally be exactly who we are, no apologies. The kids can just learn to deal with it...after all, in us they can get a glimpse of their own future selves. :o)
When Kathy finds a small stray kitten some amazing things happen. Story's from a Mom's view of the love, caring and patience needed when a child wants to own a pet. Recipient of the prestigious Mom's Choice Award. Delightful illustrations!
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