Being a Codger is Hard

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renfield

Lifer
Oct 16, 2011
5,183
42,487
Kansas
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

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2019
623
1,064
66
Illinois -> Florida
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.
 

briarbuck

Lifer
Nov 24, 2015
2,292
5,579
Blue...

tenor.gif
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,638
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.
 

timelord

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 30, 2017
955
1,982
Gallifrey
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.
 

scloyd

Lifer
May 23, 2018
5,972
12,225
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.
 
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