Sunday, February 23, 2014

Post 2601 - A Post 50 Years In The Making!

It is nearly 8pm. I am leaning back in my good-for-nothing chair with a laptop on a plastic device that prevents the laptop from overheating and which keeps my thighs nice and comfortable. I will be watching another episode of "House of Cards" as soon as I finish this blog post.

I drove back to the city mid-afternoon. Patricia made me a birthday dinner of salmon and rice, which was excellent. For dessert, we munched on some of the dark chocolate and pomegranates my sister gave me.

Yes. I am now 50 years old. It is difficult to type these words. I figured that as long as I was in my forties, I could talk to a 30 year old person and think, "Well, he's only one decade and change behind me." Now, he's 2 decades behind me.  When I interview a radio broadcaster who's in her 20's, I am robbing the cradle. Would I be arrested for  that? Hard to say.

I have had about 100 happy birthday messages on Facebook today. Some people find that stuff creepy. I love it. I enjoy how 1 out of 8 of my Facebook "friends" have taken the time to write me a birthday wish. I appreciate it.

At the half century mark, a fella is supposed to look back on what he has accomplished so far and then look forward to what is to come. I did not have a brother to blaze a path for me when I was growing up, and my father was always workin', so I was pretty much left to my own devices when it came to going through life.

If I have learned anything, it is that I try to treat people the way I want to be treated. Good manners do not go out of style. If I put out my hand and the other person doesn't want to shake it, then that is his problem, not mine. If I say good morning to someone and receive only a snarl in return, then that is not my hang up. It's his.

I have tolerated many fools for a long time. I have walked away from arguments not because I was conceding the other person's points, but because I had more important things to do than argue a point with someone whose intransigence had no hope of wavering. If they want to think they won, then that is fine. Doesn't cost me anything. Doesn't change the car I drive, or make me smell any worse.

I believe that part of the price of living in a democracy is paying one's taxes, so I do so willingly, but not gladly. I also am of the opinion that part of the price of holding down a job is to put up with a degree of BS and to endure a modicum of inconvenience. But if those things become the majority of my perception of my job, then it is time to look around for something else. Which I have done a couple of times in my life.

It is my belief, my conceit even, that I should try to leave he world, or my piece of it, in at least as good a shape as how it was when I entered it. I do not litter. I do not drink and drive. I try to conduct myself in a way that is consistent with how I was brought up, and in a way that would not bring embarrassment or chagrin to my family.

I continue to believe that I can do better, in every aspect of my life. I am not perfect. I make lots of mistakes. But I am aware of them and try to make sure they don't happen over and over again.

Sometime during this decade of my life, I expect to retire from the job I hold now, and go on to do something else. I do not know what that something else will be. I just know that I will tackle it with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. If I find afterward that I don't like it, or don't want to do it, I will go do something else. I will have earned the right to do that.

In other, unrelated news, I have it on good authority that there will be a very interesting announcement on Live 105 first thing Monday morning. I have a good idea of what half of it will be. The other half, I can only speculate about. I have been asked not to spill the beans until the morning, so I just urge you to tune in and find out along with the rest of the world. It may be history in the making!

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

1 comment:

Rick Parker said...

You're a wise man for one who was only on his 40's recently. For the record, the fifties are a great time in one's life. You're still young enough to do everything you want to and wise enough not to do everything you want to. Hope it will be as good for you as it was for me. If you're looking for a new career after you retire, may I suggest writing more? I thin k you do that very well.