I’ve always had a cherub face and looked younger than my chronological age. It angered me. I always wanted to be older, i.e. suave and sophisticated. I wanted the gaunt, exotic, dramatic look of the ‘60’s movie stars.
One of the 1st signs that my body was degenerating occurred around 40. I slowly noticed that I was no longer asked for my ID when buying alcohol. Then, I got my wisdom teeth pulled, and all of a sudden, I had ‘less than round’ cheeks. Way 2 go girl! I thought. If I had known, I would have had that done years ago.
While traveling in recent years, I’ve secretly been thrilled [or going out of my way to] ordered a beer at an airport lounge as they were asked me for my ID. And the lightening was'nt even dimmed. Eventually I observed, dejected, as I realized they asked EVERYONE 4 their ID. Some sort of blanket control mechanism? Damn!
I occasional work at a grocery store in Iowa. The cash register, when ringing up an alcoholic beverage, asks that we enter the customer’s birth date. Last week in Oregon, shopping for a dinner party, I purchased a bottle of wine. Checking prices while unpacking, I noticed printed blatantly on the receipt, “age verification bypassed”. If there was ever a reason to pop the cork pre-dinner! Proof, once again, that we can never, ever outrun the aging process.
Hint to grocers: If the customer looks way too old to verify age, quietly push the ‘it’s ok’ button, but do not rub it in by printing it in black & white on our receipt! We may b past any doubt, but we r old enf to drink and we still have enf money & sense to shop elsewhere.
“Calm, calm me more! nor let me die
Before I have begun to live.”
~Matthew Arnold
