I just finished grading a pile of papers -- stories written by my intro-level journalism class. In one of them, a novice writer refers to a 54-year-old man as "elderly." I tried to be gentle as I suggested that she reconsider labeling someone younger than her instructor as a geezer.
A former publisher at the newspaper I once called home stormed out of his office one day after a reporter referred to someone who was the same age as the publisher -- 60 -- as elderly. "I am not elderly!" the publisher roared. When publishers roar, people tend to pay attention.
All of this has me thinking about how old 59 sounded to me when I was 19, or even 29. But the closer I got to this age, the younger it seemed.
There's a great line in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes." Kathy Bates' character, speaking to her new friend -- played by the late, great Jessica Tandy -- says, "I'm too old to be young and too young to be old."
Precisely.
I'm not ready to be elderly. But honestly, I wouldn't want to be 20 again, either. (OK, I wouldn't mind FEELING 20 again ...)
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