Old

There's a word that's been sticking in my craw lately. I don't know where my craw is, but it hurts to have something sticking in it. The word is "old", which I think I may have just proved I am by using the word "craw". I hate words.

Of course, it's inevitable for anyone past 30 to spend some time thinking about what aging means. Some people completely flip out about it, some people are more relaxed, and some people actually enjoy it. But even the last group, which I'm mostly in, still has moments of crises when we realize that our hair really is thinning, that the dimples are now more like canyons when we smile, that the hair in our ears seems to finally be living out its life long dream to do an impression of a jungle. These crises usually happen in the unforgiving lights of bathrooms.

But I've become more aware lately of the word "old" being used as though it's automatically understood that it's a horrible thing that we should look down on, as though it's a pathetic, laughable, terribly wrong fashion choice. "So we went in and it was just this one old guy" or "He just looks so old now". And it surprises me how often I'll hear the word "old" with this slightly disgusted emphasis by people who are over 30. It's something that everyone should be concerned with; after all, we all hope to be old one day. But it's funny hearing it from the people who are already on the doorstep, getting ready to knock, go in and make themselves comfortable.

Hey, I can accept the fact that younger people usually look prettier than older people, and that as we age we lose things we'd rather not, but it just bothers me to hear the word "old" so often said as though it's something that should be avoided, and the people who don't avoid it are making a huge mistake.