Being a Codger is Hard

[boatme99]

John Glenn was a super cool dude and eventually the oldest astronaut to go into space. A joke was that you could tell it was him in orbit if you watched the night sky and saw a space vehicle passing overhead with its turn signal left on.

And a box of Kleenex in the back window.

 

[username]

Joints sounding like someone popping bubble wrap.

 

[renfield]

Getting older isn’t for the weak.

I’ve encountered several people about 20 years old who still live with their parents and don’t drive because “it makes them feel anxious.” Their parents still drive them around. The notion of deriding “codgers” is laughable in light of that kind of thing. They act like they’re 80 and they’ve never even lived yet. Sad.

 

[LOREN]

Getting older isn’t for the weak.

I’ve encountered several people about 20 years old who still live with their parents and don’t drive because “it makes them feel anxious.” Their parents still drive them around. The notion of deriding “codgers” is laughable in light of that kind of thing. They act like they’re 80 and they’ve never even lived yet. Sad.

May be an anxiety disorder. Can range from mild to extremely debilitating. I’ve known people in the mid-range of that illness, very tough on them.

 

[anotherbob]

also depends on where they're driving and where they're living too. Some places would give me a stroke to face traffic and the cost of living could make anyone entering the job market seize up too. I don't mind people who live with their parents but I do mind the ones that can't appreciate what they have.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

...Cribbage...

My aunts used to torture me with that game. Dozens and dozens of rules and exceptions to rules, the game must have been invented by a team of lawyers.

 

[sittingbear]

Being told "You sound just like your dad."

 

[briarbuck]

Blue...

 

[anantaandroscoggin]

I really hate those days when I wake up feeling that I'm the same age as this planet.

 

[mso489]

Codger or not, I'm not sure what to advise people starting out. The best advice I can. When young, I commuted my first two years of college, since my dad had another kid in college and another one coming along. Then I felt an intense compulsion to go off and make my way. I think I overdid independence in a sense. I was completely transient for about a decade, living nowhere near family and no place for much more than a year. I had friends, but all in passing, and no real relationships Kids who hole up with their folks may need a push, but I feel like I probably needed a little more anchor. It took me a long time to settle down after I settled down. You need other people, and you need to know that, and how to do that. I was a stray.

 

[jhowell]

It's hard coming up with new noises and grunts when I stand up from being on my knees or on the floor, doing some project or playing with my five year old grandson. My grandson already has all my noises down pat and mimics me.

You can still stand up?

 

[mso489]

frozen churchwarden, I bet the excessive rules in cribbage were generated not by lawyers, but by sea lawyers, Navy guys and other maritime people who debate every rule and reg to see what they can gain, as a way to beat boredom ... and a neurosis.

 

[timelord]

The hairdo question reminds me, what are you supposed to say if someone shows you their really homely baby? One pretty good maneuver is to say, "Now, that's a baby!" Not direct, but you don't have to fib, much. "Now that's a hairdo."

Well you could do what my wife did once (mind you she was only 5 so had an excuse). Neighbour and her husband were proudly showing off their new born son to the mums in the street; everyone one was making appropriate comments until my wife apparently pushed her way to front, had a good look and said "what an ugly baby; looks just like his father". Stunned silence; her mum hoping the ground would open up and then the father burst out laughing.

 

[timelord]

On a positive note...socks with Berkenstocks have made a comeback and is you're now one of the cool kids.

hmm; she would probably look cool with whatever she was wearing. The other two, not so.

 

[scloyd]

Here are some of my codger habits.

Taking the garbage bins down to the curb at noon the day before trash day.

If I notice the mail lady across the street, I'll wait at the door until she gets to my house. As she approaches, I'll meet her at the mailbox.

I'll sit across the street with my neighbor (who is also retired) and watch the cars go by.

I'll ask the kids next door "when's your last day of school?" Then in early August, I ask "when does school start?" I love the first day of school...peace and quiet again.

 

[scloyd]

I can see a couple of disturbing early signs... Like my sudden interest in wanting to get a weather station for the backyard ?

This is funny!!!! I watch the weather several times a day.

 

[edger]

Being a codger isn’t hard. But I do find myself uninterested in most of the tobacco and pipe threads. I gravitate to the threads that involve:
Reading
Listening
Watching
Drinking
Dogs and cats
Ephemera,etc.

 

[cossackjack]

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

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BTW, I like your signature.

 

[sablebrush52]

Getting older isn't for sissies.