Close call.

@xFiacre (15214)
Ireland
July 23, 2026 3:45am CST
It’s service day for my car. I left it at the mechanic’s at 8.30 and they’ll call me “later” and we all know what that means. My wife will pick me up at 10.30 so I wondered into town to await her good pleasure. I took my place in a cafe from which I didn’t expect very much and I wasn’t disappointed. Sour coffee, silly blether radio. What I found to be the most odd was that most of the thirty or so tables were occupied by solitary, elderly men. As I sat feeling sorry for these solitary, elderly men bent over their sad cups of tea, all staring blankly into the middle distance, I suddenly realised that I’m one of them. I estimated that I was one of the youngest at 67 and three halves. This was disconcerting. I retrieved from my pocket the ultra slim copy of Kierkegaard’s thoughts that I carry for moments like this and lost myself in his prayers just as I felt the slough of despond starting to suck at my feet, trying to pull me in and brother Søren rescued me once more.
5 people like this
4 responses
Amber
@AmbiePam (125426)
• United States
23 Jul
If you saw a psychologist, I wonder who would examining whom? And then I wonder about my use of the words “who” and “whom”.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (177485)
• United States
23 Jul
If you're curious, you got "who" and "whom" correct.
2 people like this
Amber
@AmbiePam (125426)
• United States
23 Jul
@DaddyEvil Victory!
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (177485)
• United States
23 Jul
2 people like this
Michael
@Wrexxo (5826)
•
23 Jul
Their is nothing wrong with old age.its actually a blessing
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (177485)
• United States
23 Jul
Old age is only a blessing if you're ready for that part of your life to begin... I'm not but was forced to retire early, anyway.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (177485)
• United States
23 Jul
That's one reason I don't walk down to the local café on the next block... I don't want to be counted among the old geezers sitting in the café staring at nothing while other old geezers feel sorry for me. I don't like coffee, even if it didn't taste like crap to me. I do carry my phone with me everywhere I go so always have plenty of ebooks I can read if I'm stuck somewhere. (I'll go get my car inspected in August and that always takes a couple of hours before they finish with it and I can come home again.)
2 people like this
Judy Evans
@JudyEv (386750)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Jul
It's a bit sad when news readers talk about an elderly couple and you realise that that's how you're spoken of.
Fiacre Banks
@xFiacre (15214)
• Ireland
25 Jul
@judyev My 80 yr old aunt a few years ago was robbed at home and a few days later read about it in the newspaper. She said “Oh look, someone else has been robbed and it was an old woman, that’s awful”. Then she read on and discovered that the old woman was herself. She was incensed.
1 person likes this
Judy Evans
@JudyEv (386750)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Jul
@xFiacre That's so funny. I don't think I'd be incensed; sad, perhaps, but not incensed.
1 person likes this