Well...today was my birthday. I was...well...another year older. When you reach my age you stop counting the years. I don't feel much different than I did when I was younger but the strange thing is, I see my grandfather in the mirror every morning! Isn't that weird? Wouldn't it be better if we were born brilliant and became dumber as we aged? I mean, being young, mature and smart would make more sense to me. The way things are now, we're smartest when we're the weakest! And we don't seem to value smart older people in this society. In China, there is a great reverence for that segment of their population. In the US...they hope that you'll move to 'The Villages' ASAP.
The smartest man I ever met was my late dad. He was one of these people who was intellectually gifted all of his life...straight A's in high school...Phi Beta Kappa from Brown...honors from Boston University Law... the list goes on and on. But I think he was the wisest towards the end of his life. Even after he became sick and his once strong body diminished, we could sit and discuss things like the American Civil War and he would amaze me with his knowledge. His brilliance, in his later years, was awe inspiring. Yet, if he wasn't a successful attorney, with his own practice, odds are he would have had a hard time finding a job in the USA today.
We are a fast food society. We gobble things up and discard our waste. If we have to wait longer than five minute for our service, we become impatient. We're bombarded with commercials that glorify youth. Few people on television are bald, overweight and old. Most are young, firm and under forty. And, as a country, this national attitude is hurting us. One of our greatest resources is our wisdom and intelligence. We acquire this as we age, yet we turn our back on our elders. Everything isn't solved with a computer. All answers aren't digital. Some of our greatest problems require thought and life experience. As a society we have to slow down and think. And we have to use our collective intellect...young and old. I'm afraid that we'll become a second rate country if we don't.
Hey...it's just an opinion from someone who, today became one year older. Now I'm off for a slice of that birthday cake.
