As we go through life, events occur that define our place in the world. Sometimes these events are small, seemingly insignificant and hardly noticed. Yet other times, reality hits us square in the chin. This was one of those times.
"Men of a Certain Age" enjoy a summit w/ the girls
I am 47 years old. Ok, so my 48th birthday is coming up Jan 3. Whatever. Aside from the occasional Terminator Stout, I take pretty good care of my body. Climbing mountains, running marathons.... the "ususal" stuff middle aged men do while trying to cling to their fleeting youth. Fortunately for me, it seems to work most of the time.
A weak moment at the local watering hole
Consequently, the LAST thing I suspected when I walked into the small, Kingston, WA convenience store was the ego-busting missle launched from the 30-something checker. Oh, it started out innocently enough. I had found a whole box of "Rhino Bars", a rare commodity that I like to give to my clients when they visit the office (if you don't know about my penchant for rhinos by now, I don't know what to tell ya). I excitedly approached the checkout line and made my purchase. A slight smile from the checker, a nod from me, and nothing more. I was off to Mom's for Thanksgiving dinner. Pretty routine stuff.
Sure, until the day I pulled the receipt out of my wallet and gave it to Glo for month-end filing. I looked down at the piece of paper and there, there on the receipt, in the middle of the receipt, away from everything else on the receipt, in parenthesis, capital letters, quotated, read the following words:
"Kid, have you looked in the mirror lately?"
What? I rubbed my eyes and read the receipt again.
Bzzzt. "Sir, missle impact confirmed. A direct hit!"
Balance Due: $38.87
5% Senior Discount
$38.87 @ 5.000%: -$1.94
BALANCE DUE: $36.93
And in one, brief millisecond, the final chapter of my youth was closed.
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