Old

Recently I had dinner with a senior diplomat who spoke bravely about confronting the sheer horror of turning 50. The unwavering march of the calendar date toward him was ruthless.

Carrington Bowling Club members growing old disgracefully. Pic: Robert McKell

In the meantime he was stubbornly holding on to being in his forties. As a 43-year-old myself, he desperately looked in my direction in search of a common age identity.

In youth growing old was good. Age brought an end to study, hopefully a nice job, and with it economic emancipation. Age was also a ticket to fun: independence, romance, and booze.

Latest 2 of 24 comments

View all comments
 
  • Valerie Woodruffe says:

    02:40pm | 16/05/11

    Golfing great Seve Ballesteros who died last week at 54,  was just one year younger than me (my birthday is in December), goes to show you never know when your time is going to come up, and you should live every day as your last Read more »

  • Watcher says:

    12:38pm | 15/05/11

    turning 50 is not such a bad thing, it might have been 100 years ago, they did not live as long, but you can wear the half a century badge proudly, today knowing you still have plenty of years in front of you. Turning 50 did not bother me, turning… Read more »

 

What do you do with your life when what is left can be counted in years, rather than decades?

Table tennis champ Dorothy De Low. 100, still going strong. Pic: Phil Hillyard

When the realisation hits that you are sliding into oblivion?

This new fear is aided and abetted by the overwhelming attitude of the community towards the elderly.

Latest 2 of 34 comments

View all comments
 
  • Damocles says:

    05:58pm | 21/03/11

    Yeah, well picked “rickety” Reg (blah..blah…blah), but I think you’ll find that “their or they’re” is a GRAMMATICAL error, not a SPELLING error, so go and bark up another tree! My “breathtaking, assumptive, god damn statement” is true and correct and one you didn’t respond to, but feel free to… Read more »

  • sherry says:

    12:44am | 20/03/11

    At the age of 45 I was bemoaning my state of ‘already too oldism’ to an 85 year old friend who had immigrated from England at the age of 75 to be near a particular spiritual community. She looked penetratingly at me and smiled indulgently; ‘My dear, 45 is a… Read more »

 

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

ToryShepherd

RT @saline: Touche Miriam. Touche Barry. Wicked old thespians taking the pith. #qanda

ToryShepherd

The best haters are the worst spellers #qandadelayed#godihopeididntmakeatypo

Anthony Sharwood

How much fun is it retweeting people who can't spell?

Anthony Sharwood

In other Olympian news, Steph rice is advertising Sunrice Chinese style Mongolian chicken. Think about that for a tick

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

Is there a nicotine patch strong enough for this?

Is there a nicotine patch strong enough for this?

Ok. I am not a leading expert in world’s best practice on prisoner rehabilitation — my experience…

A great win by Webber, but it sure as hell wasn’t sport

A great win by Webber, but it sure as hell wasn’t sport

This morning I joined millions of other Australians in accelerating, braking, swearing and spilling coffee…

Fighting Assad one strongly worded statement at a time

Fighting Assad one strongly worded statement at a time

This weekend’s massacre in Houla, Syria, is one of those stories that invites but doesn’t…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

Michael S says:

"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]

From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone

Change Up! says:

I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]

Gentle jabs to the ribs

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more

243 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free daily Punch newsletter