Toward the end of dinner last evening, the three couples I was among discovered our ages spanned 36 years – from a 38-year-old to a 74-year-old. While our conversation had included what everyone did for a living and what one might do should their employer ever offer them a sabbatical (a dog sled adventure, ballroom dancing competition and motorcycling Europe), the talk eventually turned to “lifestyle”.
The physical differences among the couples were striking. The couple in their 30s and 40s was pudgy and pale. The 50-something couple was clearly overweight. And the couple in their 60s and 70s was not without love handles, but clearly the trimmest of the bunch.
People talked about what they were doing to stay healthy. It was no surprise that the two younger couples were doing nothing to maintain their health; the older couple was at least trying; they had annual physicals, she had a gym membership and walked 20 miles a week, and he joined the senior golferss every Monday and hit his outdated Nordic Track most days (although he’d clearly avoided the dentist for most of his life).
Our waiter could easily have graded each of us on our commitment to health. The two younger couples consumed enough vodka to burn a small wood pile, enjoyed breaded appetizers, topped their fried fish with mounds of tartar sauce and gobbled French fries. The heaviest woman topped off her evening with Spanish Coffee (384 calories, 38 fat calories). The older couple split a dessert and he downed two scotch and sodas, but they also asked the waiter to put the sauce on the side of the grilled fish, left their mashed potatoes on their plates, and declined after-dinner drinks.
There would be no reason to write up a post on these observations, except for the final comment made by the couple in their 40s. In the midst of our farewell handshake, the youngish man and woman smiled at my husband and me, their older counterparts, and remarked, “When we’re older, we want to be just like you.”
Really? Well, are you expecting a UFO filled with a longevity potion to land in your back yard?
Come on, dudes. Connect the dots.
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