"But you don't look 14!"

@GreatMartin (23678)
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
October 22, 2018 1:39pm CST
With all due respect, you kids (anyone under 60) shouldn't believe the lies that old people tell you! Age is NOT just a number. You are NOT as old as you feel. 60 is NOT the new 40. Should I go on? Your body will tell you first thing in the morning when you try to get up that, yes, you are old. The medicines in your cabinet tell you that you are old. Doctor visits tell you that you are old. Now I can go on and tell you all the ways you will know you are old but we weren't told so why should I spoil your fun (and moaning and groaning) as you find out. But, and this is a big but (not to mention that most of you will get a big butt as you age!) getting old is great in many ways such as you know that worrying is a waste of time! Let's not talk about all the 'specials' you get such as reduced restaurant bills at Denny's or the fact that you can rant and rave in restaurants, after you have cleaned your plates, about how bad the food is, how horrible the service was and the manager will pick up your check just to get rid of you. You can got to supermarkets on certain days and get 20% off. (And there are a lot more financial advantages off-set by higher medical bills!) Complaining is an art for old people as is telling the young know it alls that they don't know anything until they become old people who do know it all. Biscuit, Mimi and Dallas, in the picture, are constantly told that 'you don't act 14, as they say out loud, 'how old you really are in dog years?'. (Let's just say Rian is over 14! LOL) I constantly hear, "You don't look/act like you are 82/83 years old!" in a surprised voice. Then when I tell them I am actually 20, being a Leap Year baby, they are silent! What does a 82-year-old man look like? I live in a community of about 300 seniors and, let's say, a third are men. I can line up 5 guys in around 80 and one will have a walker, another will be carrying an oxygen tank, the third will have just returned from a jog to the beach and back while the 4th will be in a wheelchair being pushed down to The Point. I am the 5th--the one who drank too much as a youth and had to stop (January 21, 1981, when I was 45) because I was having blackouts. I'm the guy who smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day for 60 years and stopped (July 21, 2008) when I had to have an aorta valve replacement. I am a guy who ate all the wrong foods for years and lost 100+ pounds in March 1967 when I was 31 and for the last 50 years have been fighting between 11 and 25 pounds (depending on the month of the year). I have PAD, fight high blood pressure and cholesterol, am a pre-diabetic, have AFIB, COPD, take blood thinners among 13 other meds, see a primary doctor a minimum of 4 times a year plus 6 specialists at least once a year and take a home test every two weeks to get my INR count. "You don't look 82!" Thanks but you haven't seen my insides! I look in the mirror and I see the kid that will be 21 on Saturday, February 29, 2020, but when I get up in the morning or walk the steps up to my apartment or go to climb a step-ladder to hang a picture I know what 82/83 looks like! Hey keep on saying "You don't look 82!" and I will say "Thank You" because I have learned how to accept a compliment without adding 'but'. Oh yes, I promise to never say "When I was your age.....".
14 people like this
13 responses
@amadeo (111956)
• United States
22 Oct 18
when I was your age Martin.Where was I.no never say that.Looking good is how you take care of your self. Why lie about age,where does it get you.You do not look 82 I do not look 88 why because we had good genes
4 people like this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Oct 18
No I think it has been all our good 'exercises' over the years! (And I don't mean tennis!)
2 people like this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
24 Oct 18
@xander6464 That is to be published after I die (IF I die!) as too many names could have problems if exposed!
1 person likes this
@xander6464 (40715)
• Wapello, Iowa
24 Oct 18
@GreatMartin Well, I don't want you to die...There has to be some middle ground that allows it to be published now!
1 person likes this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
22 Oct 18
Point taken, as they say, by a mere youth of 66! Do I feel my age? Not really - earlier this evening I did run up three flights of stairs to the top floor of the library where I work and got there before my colleagues who took the lift - and I was only slightly puffed! Mind you, I have never smoked in my life - I had a puff once just to see what it was like, thought it was a waste of time and never did it again.
3 people like this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Oct 18
66??? Wait 4 more years my friend. :O)
@marguicha (214294)
• Chile
22 Oct 18
We get wise enough so we don´t say "but" after we thank the person that made our day saying that we don´t look our age.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (214294)
• Chile
23 Oct 18
@GreatMartin Only if they said something nice
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
24 Oct 18
@marguicha But why bring it up in the first place? It's like asking a man "Did you stop beating your wife?"
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Oct 18
Why should I thank that person? Why say anything about my age?
1 person likes this
@sol_cee (38224)
• Philippines
25 Oct 18
Looking forward to celebrating your 21st birthday here in myLot. That’s a milestone. Will there be booze and all those stuff? ;)
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
25 Oct 18
Of course--I will be 21--an adult--everything I couldn't have (as a kid) will be there!
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
27 Oct 18
@sol_cee No thanks--only sushi I like are clams and oysters! :O)
@sol_cee (38224)
• Philippines
25 Oct 18
@GreatMartin cool!! I’ll bring sushi! Lol
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40250)
• United States
23 Oct 18
Wow! Let me join the list of people saying - you look great! I feel you though. Even though I'm under 60 and therefor a "kid" - each year that goes on now seems to bring new aches and pains, the body complains about things that used to not be a problem, etc. You're born on leap day? I have a friend also born leap day! My b-day is 2/1.
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
24 Oct 18
February 29 1936---I will be 21 Saturday, February 29, 2020 and will celebrate it as I always do--with a big dinner party!
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
25 Oct 18
@FayeHazel No I don't--I was born on February and that is when I celebrate--plus that's how I can claim, truthfully, that I am 20!!
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40250)
• United States
25 Oct 18
@GreatMartin Yeah! Dinner party! I wish I could come! My friend turned , uh, I think... 8? Awhile back? (30s) Oh 21! That's a fun age! Hey -- how do you celebrate on the non-leap years
1 person likes this
@Janet357 (75678)
23 Oct 18
The first paragraph amused me. You are very right. You may not look your age physically but the medicines and your vigor tell about your real age. Well im just 38 so no medicines yet but my vigor is not the same as it was ten years ago.
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
24 Oct 18
I would love to have the vigor I had at 38--heck I would settle for my 50 year old vigor!
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
25 Oct 18
@Janet357 Nope--I was in commercials in the 1970s for my company Our Weigh--also have had 8 books published with my picture on it--but aside from avatars all over the Internet that's it!
1 person likes this
@Janet357 (75678)
25 Oct 18
@GreatMartin :)) by the way, do you appear on info commercials? Your face looks familiar.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
24 Oct 18
Love what you said here! People have commented over the years that I am not like my age-whatever age it was at the time. First, we know people lie. Second, I'm not sure how we are supposed to be, look or act at different ages. I'm just ME, not someone else.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
31 Oct 18
@GreatMartin Oh, there is no way I would go back to a younger age. Now I understand why Grandmother said she would not want to be young again!
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
31 Oct 18
@PatZAnthony Especially in today's world!!
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
25 Oct 18
Ah, but I look in the mirror and I know I am not 30 anymore---Thank God!
1 person likes this
@xander6464 (40715)
• Wapello, Iowa
22 Oct 18
Some of those perks are pretty nice. If it weren't for the higher medical bills, you'd be rich.
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Oct 18
You're paying MY medical bills--ask Trump!
1 person likes this
@xander6464 (40715)
• Wapello, Iowa
23 Oct 18
@GreatMartin Well, I can't, I'm only making $14 billion a year. But I have rich friends who could afford it, so ask them!
@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
23 Oct 18
we all struggle with accepting a compliment, but its a good thing when we do, so Thank you is always the way to go. You and the Animal farm family look good.
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
24 Oct 18
Thank you!
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (40184)
• United States
22 Oct 18
When I was young, I was tempted to say I was a few years older. Now I think about telling people I'm 94 (I'm a lot younger than that!) so they'll say, "Wow! You look so young for your age!"
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Oct 18
Most of my life I have hung out with older people--I saw what happens as you get older so nothing comes as a surprise--in fact I have always said I was a year older. I won't be 83 until February and I have been telling people I am 83 since June! :O)
@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
22 Oct 18
Are you on Coumadin? Those INR checks can be tedious. Glad you got the home tester and don't have to go to the office every time!
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Oct 18
Yep! Have been on Coumadin for 19 years--nothing that helps my life is tedious! :O)
1 person likes this
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
23 Oct 18
@GreatMartin That's true!
@RubyHawk (99437)
• Atlanta, Georgia
22 Oct 18
But think about it, if you don't feel old, why should you think of yourself as old. Sounds like you are doing great to me.
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Oct 18
I LOVE being old and that is a feeling!
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99437)
• Atlanta, Georgia
24 Oct 18
@GreatMartin You’re right. It’s according to how you look at it.
@Courage7 (19635)
• United States
22 Oct 18
You are great Martin, simply great.
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Oct 18
How can I argue with the facts!?! Thanks.
1 person likes this