My dear friend George, who turned 100 last month, once told me: “Growing old, there’s no future in it.”
He has a point, but I’m still looking for that silver lining in my future.
Recently, while running errands on an extremely rainy day, I had the opportunity to buck the trend of old age and use it to my benefit. At my first stop, I stepped out of the CR-V into three inches of standing water. As an eight year old, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it, but as a senior citizen not so much fun. The cold water swallowed my sock and filled my left tennis shoe. It also gave my spine quite a shiver. The damage was done, nevertheless I jumped back into the Honda and moved to higher ground.
At my next stop, I figured I’d just take off my shoe and sock. Wring out the sock, dump the excess water out of the shoe and put them back on. And that’s what I did. My next stop was the supermarket. I tried to balance on a grocery cart, but the wheels didn’t make it easy. So I sat down on the ledge of the produce counter. I took of my shoe and turned it upside down. No water trickled out. Good deal, I thought. It must have soaked into the sock. Next step was to remove my sock and wring it out. While all this was happening, I was told this not a good thing to do in a grocery store. “It’s the kind of thing an old man would do.”
“What do you think I am?” Was my retort. I quickly wriggled my sock back on and slipped into my black canvas sneaker. With the shopping completed, we headed for the parking lot. Timing is everything and today the timing wasn’t good. The rain was pouring so severely you couldn’t see the cars in the lot. Waiting was an option, but not a long-term one. Not with frozen foods in the sacks and a 25 minute drive ahead.
I opened the umbrella and made a semi-mad dash for the car. Once there, I threw the umbrella on the passenger floorboard and flung myself behind the wheel. My left side was drenched, but I figured it matched my left foot in water consumption. I pulled the CR-V under the carport style over hang where the overfilled grocery cart stood waiting. As the rain was cascading off the overhang like a mini-waterfall. I methodically began loading the car. My peripheral vision felt someone standing next to me.
“Sir, you are not allowed to park your vehicle here.” Was the soft, timid voice coming from the short young lady. “But since you are already loading your groceries, it will be ok this time. Just don’t do it again.”
Her stern direction, didn’t match her size nor the twinkle in her eye.
I kept loading, a little faster now, and leaned down to her. “Oh sweetie,” I’m old, and I didn’t know I couldn’t pull up here in the rain.”
I was sheepish, apologetic and pretty pathetic. But I stayed dry, as did my groceries.
I closed the back passenger door and met my reflection in the window. This wasn’t the thirty something guy who would’ve had a much quicker quip and retort. This reflection was several decades later filled with creases and a sheepish grin.
I had done two things an old man would do and it wasn’t even eleven a.m. And I still had three errands to run. As rain continued to fall, I had already found a silver lining in my day. And it wasn’t in my wet sock.
Until next time…