By Merlin Lessler —<\/p>\n
At coffee the other morning, one of the \u201cklatsch\u201d boys asked me why I had my arms folded. Was I cold? I didn\u2019t know I had folded my arms. I guess I did it without knowing. I wasn\u2019t cold. It\u2019s just another trait that emerges when you are an old coot.<\/p>\n
Changes like this happen, and we don\u2019t notice. We walk funny, groan when we get up from a chair; when we glance in a mirror, we see a memory of what we used to look like, not an old man\u2019s face. It\u2019s a long list of oddities that we are blessed with.<\/p>\n
Cheapness is a big one. It\u2019s a perspective thing. We remember when a Baby Ruth candy bar cost a nickel, a pizza was a dollar, and a Pepsi was ten cents. When we look at a restaurant bill, it\u2019s a shock, especially when we calculate a 20% tip that amounts to what we once paid for the entire meal.<\/p>\n
So, I now cross my arms all the time. Sitting at a red light, I look down, and my arms are crossed. In the bleachers at one of my grandkids’ soccer, lacrosse, or football games, I sit with my arms crossed. Watching TV, sitting by the pool. You name it, any idle time, I\u2019m arm crossed.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t always this way. I only crossed my arms when I was cold. Brrr! Or when I was looking down at one of my daughters watching TV instead of picking up her toys. It\u2019s a bad habit; it makes you come across as a rude, angry person.<\/p>\n
I remember how I felt when the teacher in our elementary school looked down at me with her arms crossed. I knew I was in trouble and was going to be sent to the cloakroom or the principal\u2019s office. Now, I project that same image as I sit or stand, unaware that my arms are crossed.<\/p>\n
In Finland, it\u2019s seen as a sign of arrogance. I\u2019m going to start keeping my hands in my pockets. It won\u2019t be easy. My mother would yell at me when I was a kid, \u201cGet your hands out of your pockets.\u201d It\u2019s one of those things you never forget, even decades later when you\u2019re an old coot.<\/p>\n