We name a number. It\u2019s how old coots respond (to each other) when asked, \u201cHow are you doing?\u201d We don\u2019t go into detail about our current ailments. We just state a number that corresponds to the number of issues we\u2019re dealing with at the moment. We\u2019ve retired the age-old and over used replies – Not bad \u2013 Not so hot \u2013 OK. Our response is usually in the three to four range. I hit six one day last December. It\u2019s not as bad as it sounds, but sometimes the collective number of minor ailments we deal with makes us preoccupied with our state of health, even more self-possessed than normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding with a \u201csix\u201d was a kindness to the, \u201cHow you doing?\u201d asker. Better than running through my list at the time – a tender arthritic knuckle on my left index finger \u2013 an achy left knee (my good one) \u2013 a cold coming on \u2013 a nagging low level tooth ache, that may or may not go away \u2013 a bad haircut (something more upsetting than you might think, especially when the cutter did exactly what I\u2019d asked for) \u2013 and lastly, a zit in the middle of my forehead, that apparently had been lying in wait for 60 years before making its debut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t take much to get your number up there. Start with a sore back, a common ailment that old coots are well versed in. Throw in a leg that keeps cramping up, stub a toe, add a dash of vertigo and you have a recipe that gets you off and running. The magic number is 10. That\u2019s when you start engaging the worst of your grouchy, old crab persona. Fortunately, it usually only takes a day or two before you get used to it, or USED OF IT, as my son used to say when he was a toddler, bumping around the house and racking up a stack of numbers himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women, I\u2019ve noticed, don\u2019t play the numbers game. They don\u2019t keep track and add them up, they just deal with whatever number of ailments they face and make us look bad. Yet, society refers to them as the weaker sex. What a lie. If I wasn\u2019t crabbing about hitting the \u201c5\u201d I\u2019m dealing with today, I\u2019d expand on the issue and help my gender understand the truth, that WE, are the weaker sex. Not even strong enough to admit it. It\u2019s that often quoted saying, \u201cIf men had the babies, every kid would be an only child.
Comments? Send to mlessler7@gmail.com – Complaints? – Idon\u2019tcarethisweek@benice.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We name a number. It\u2019s how old coots respond (to each other) when asked, \u201cHow are you doing?\u201d We don\u2019t go into detail about our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":71435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n