Top 10 Reasons Why I Know I Am Now Old

When I was at the kidney doctor’s the other day, when he said, “How do you feel?” I replied that I felt great, except for feeling old. He was very serious for a minute and wanted to know if I felt old because I was unwell or if I was half-joking. Of course, I’m half-joking, but I do honestly feel super old these days. On the streetcar ride home I tried to think of all the reasons why I feel so old, particularly this year:

1. Because I’ve had the disease for over 15 years. That’s almost 20 years of going through medical problems. 20 years is a long, long time.

2. I can no longer listen to pop radio. Now, I listen to the CBC in the car. Oddly, when growing up, as other parents listened to the CBC in their cars, mine always listened to pop radio. I am convinced it’s because my parents were still so young when they had me. They didn’t have the chance to grow out of it, to some extent.

3. I have no idea who the majority of the people are who won MTV Video Awards. No clue.

4. I bought a dress from Anne Klein to wear to a wedding.

5. I carry a purse. All. The. Time. I don’t even own a non-work related knapsack.

6. My hair is grey, very, very grey.

7. I have very little patience for public transit despite being incredibly concerned about climate change.

8. Speaking of which, I found myself having a crush, for a nano-second, on Peter MacKay. And then I saw the pictures of him with Condoleeza Rice and decided that it was very, very wrong to have a crush on Peter MacKay.

9. When I meet new people they are always very shocked when they hear my age and almost always say, “You don’t look [insert your age here].” My tried and true response is always, “But I sure feel it.”

10. I have almost decided I will no longer wear my rock and roll t-shirts. Almost. But that begs the question, what will I wear instead? I have very few (read: none), non rock and roll t-shirts.

See, OLD.