The View From Here . . .
By Bob Morgan, Jr.

Last week, I promised that this week's piece, which is being written on Election Day before any returns are known, would discuss something, anything other than politics.

I wasn't quite sure about a suitable topic until I looked in the mirror earlier this week, checked out my middle aged visage and thought it might be interesting to make a few observations about life in the fifties. Not the 1950's, of course, but life in the age group between fifty and fifty nine, in effect the young geezer generation, of which I am an, er, proud member.

Of course, while I generally consider myself to be an optimist, a clear downside of being over 50 is mathematical. Short of truly amazing medical breakthroughs in the next 20 or 30 years, my life is more than half over, and probably considerably more than that. I very much enjoy life and living and it is all very disconcerting Nevertheless, despite these dark considerations about life expectancy, being over 50 isn't so bad. And this isn't because of eligibility for AARP, which is not exactly shy about membership recruitment efforts among folks in their early fifties.

While my mirror left no doubt that I am middle aged, I really don't feel physically very much different than I did 20 years ago, something that many of my friends in our age cohort also tell me. I thankfully have enjoyed excellent health all my life and I suppose that being the single father of a 12 year old helps keep some sort of youthful outlook, even if just it means familiarity with the fads, videogames and music of kids today. The lad is increasingly able to outplay me in sports when we go out to the playground, but I still enjoy competing with him.

I do also believe that the many years of living does give some sense of perspective. I am considerably more patient than I was in my younger years, with a growing sense that very little that happens in life is the end of the world. There may be a downside to this, in that maybe the new patience is the mirror image of a lack of passion, but on balance I will take the change. The perspective also extends to a feeling that there is very little new under the sun and that most of life's crises are not new and can be resolved.

Another part of life in the fifties, I think, is a greater appreciation of preceding generations. Sometimes when I have trouble getting the lad and me out of the house in the morning in a timely manner, I marvel at my parents having to raise six kids. My father worked incredibly long hours at the newspapers and my mother had to cope with six different sets of moods and expectations, and actually did so with a great deal of skill.

Another upside of being over 50 is that people actually do treat me with considerably more respect and stature than before. For example, when I go through security checkpoints at a sports stadium, I am pretty much waved through after a cursory patdown. When I shop for something and need an explanation, younger clerks are generally very polite. Also, my opinion seems to be taken more seriously, whether this deference is warranted or not.

As they say, you only go round once in life. It is definitely not a matter of choice, but life in the fifties, at least for me, isn't bad at all.