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Crisscrossing the town today in my new job driving Uber and Lyft, it occurred to me that an old person can easily become obsolete, not just pas·sé, but actually unuseful, a word just one notch kinder than "useless."
As a very smart little boy in the 50's things came too easily and I found I could mostly just coast, a modus operandi also nurtured by an inherited religious belief system that mostly just waited on the Almighty to make everything perfect and just.
Of course, consumers were programmed to believe most things eventually become obsolete. The 50's brought us planned obsolescence, intentionally making things that would become obsolete so folks would gravitate toward and purchase the newest and latest.
The '56 Chevy was a perfectly good car with straightforward lines, but lacked the fins and the chrome of the '57, the tail lights of the '58 and finally the gaude of the monstros '59. The postwar world of that era believed in creating demand by fostering dissatisfaction, something called "planned obsolescense," the basis of which is making something obsolete or simply made not to last.
I remember looking quizzically at the home of Ed Beckley, a Boeing engineer, who lived behind our church in Renton, Washington, with a 40's car in his carport he maintained perfectly, never "upgrading," bucking the country's economic system. Beckley simply chose not to play the game.
Today, it came to me that old age can become unplanned obsolescence unless one puts forth a little effort to adjust. Maybe grandpa can't write code like his grandsons, but what's his excuse for not becoming adept with the iphone or laptop, not simply being too mentally lazy to try?
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What a drag it is getting old...days are longer with little to do. Time means nothing. You could drop a fork in the kitchen, and it will be there, same spot, tomorrow...unless someone picks it up. You make plans to pick it up tomorrow, or as needed. An old flame calls to see if you're interested in watching a movie on bed with her and smoke some weed and fuck and out before lunch. I'm free tomorrow and the next day and for the foreseeable future. Cool mornings have been nice. At night I gaze at the sky and wonder if Orion will ever catch the girls. Last sip of coffee. Did I tell you I used to be someone? I did? Huh. I guess I'll watch a movie tomorrow, then when I get home maybe pick up the fork.
ReplyDeleteI guess what you're sayin is " fight the power" but try to keep up with what's happening nowadays . So many beautiful things to learn. History, the Arts, Music... My one regret is that I try to scramble what few neurons I have left in my head and start anew the next day. You ain't obsolete. You are reaching your prime, ( at least mentally )
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