It starts when you\u2019re a little kid. You head out the back door to play, to freedom. Your mom says,\u201d Get back in here young man and put on a jacket. It\u2019s freezing out there!\u201d Her thermostat is different than yours. Freezing to moms is any temperature below 70 degrees. To kids, it\u2019s 40 or less.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh ma,\u201d we complain, but under our breath we say, \u201cLeave me alone.\u201d We slink back in the house, put on the coat she holds out to us, make our escape, turn the corner, take it off, tie it around our waist and join the gang in play. Everyone has their coat tied around their waist.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s dinnertime; wash your hands!\u201d \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s time for bed; brush your teeth and wash your face.\u201d \u2013 \u201cWhen you get to Bobby\u2019s house call me so I\u2019ll know you made it, and be polite; say thank you and please.\u201d We resent it, but these admonishments are what make us civilized.<\/p>\n
When mom is done, she hands off the baton to our wives in a secret meeting in the hall at the wedding reception. She apologizes, \u201cI did the best I could; the rest is up to you,\u201d turns and walks back to the party, looking 20 years younger and smiling, really smiling for the first time in years.<\/p>\n
We revert right back to our cave man state; it\u2019s as though we were never taught manners, civility or common sense. Men aren\u2019t from Mars; we actually are from Earth, but not of this modern era. We exist in a prehistoric time, just barely out of the cave. We walk upright, we have human features, but we haven\u2019t finished evolving.<\/p>\n
So, it goes from mom, to wife, an unending struggle and full time supervision to make and keep us human. It works, for the most part, until we reach old coot age. Then, the suppressed LEAVE ME ALONE gene reemerges. It\u2019s been dormant for a long time, but it takes hold in earnest.<\/p>\n
\u201cHoney; you can\u2019t wear that in public!\u201d \u2013 \u201cHoney; a dollar tip isn\u2019t enough; the bill was over 100 dollars.\u201d Honey! Honey! Honey! \u2013 Leave me alone!\u201d \u2013 Leave me alone!\u201d \u2013 Leave me alone!\u201d Finally, our Honey gives up! Leaves us alone. That\u2019s when you see us in public in pajama bottoms, a too tight letter sweater from high school, a washed out New York Yankees baseball cap with Mickey Mantle\u2019s signature across the brow, yakking about the good old days and all the ills of today\u2019s society. If not that, then we spend endless hours detailing the multitude of physical afflictions we are dealing with.<\/p>\n
But, we\u2019re happy. We no longer have to say, \u201cLeave me alone.\u201d There is nobody around to say it to. I wonder why?<\/p>\n
Send you comments, complaints to mlessler7@gmail.com.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It starts when you\u2019re a little kid. You head out the back door to play, to freedom. Your mom says,\u201d Get back in here young…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n