This may sound crazy, but I honestly don’t feel much different than when I was 25 and graduating from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. I have been very fortunate to stay healthy, exercise often, take no medications, and have had no major surgeries or broken bones since birth 😳🙏.

However, each of my five children has assured me that I am getting older, and after doing some serious SELF REFLECTION, I am starting to realize they may be right!

Here are the top 25 reasons that may explain why “I may be getting older and no longer ‘hip’ with the current generation.”

(These are not in any specific order, but math majors like to number things 😉)

  1. One of my daughters explained to me: “Dad, people don’t use the word ‘hip’ anymore.”
  2. I enjoy wearing a tie and a button-down shirt and collar when I go to work or attend board meetings.
  3. I miss my flip phone (I dropped my flip phone around 10 years ago. It broke in half, and the guy at the phone store said they stopped making my model 15 years earlier. You can read the full saga in my post “Rest in peace, Flip“).
  4. I also miss my Blackberry (I was forced to switch to an iPhone several years ago since I was the last person in the entire company still using a Blackberry).
  5. By the way, I also don’t understand why they call them “smart phones.”
  6. I always prefer to call people on the phone rather than texting or emailing them. I realize it is old fashioned, but I really enjoy talking with people live.
  7. I prefer taking taxies to taking Uber and Lyft (probably because I couldn’t use any ridesharing apps on my flip phone).
  8. I miss my camera (it isn’t clear to me what the advantage is of taking pictures with a phone).
  9. Speaking of cameras, I don’t understand why so many people are taking pictures of their food with “smart phones” before they eat it. Is this some type of food safety concern? 😉
  10. I keep my daily, monthly, and annual calendars on paper. I do realize this can be problematic if you lose your briefcase ☹️
  11. I also don’t understand why families go out to dinner together when everyone in the family spends most of the dinner on their “smart phones.”
  12. I wish baseball team owners were not trying to speed up baseball games. What’s the hurry? Where is everyone going? Aren’t they paying the players enough money already?  And by the way, the fact that if the game goes into extra innings you have a guy start off on second base is crazy!
  13. I prefer to watch movies in movie theaters (and usually bring my own sodas and treats 🤫).
  14. I also miss going to Blockbuster and searching through the tapes for a movie on the weekends.
  15. I miss Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” (that was the last time I watched television).
  16. Speaking of television, I miss the fact that there is no more news. When I was growing up Walter Cronkite reported the NEWS. Today we no longer have NEWS; we have OPINIONS from a group of people referred to as “a panel of experts.” Really, who are “those guys?”
  17. I don’t know what “snap chat” is, and I am okay with not knowing.
  18. I have never purchased anything on Amazon other than books. Why do people get Amazon deliveries to their homes almost every day when the store is sometimes only three blocks away?
  19. I truly miss not having a key that I can insert in the ignition to start my car, which is why I often forget to turn off my car and leave it running while going shopping. Trust me, this can be a real problem if your gas tank is low when you pull into the grocery store parking lot.
  20. I have no idea what “Game of Thrones” is (and really don’t need to know).
  21. The only app I use on my phone is Fandango to see what time movies start since they no longer list the movie times in the newspaper. There is nothing as enjoyable as watching movies on the big screen!
  22. I try to say hello to people who sit next to me on airplanes, but usually, they don’t hear me say hello since they have headphones on.
  23. I read books exclusively by holding the actual books rather than reading on a device (that’s why I miss Borders and am worried about Barnes & Noble).
  24. I try to convince myself that Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are only in their 30s. Why? Because if they are in their 70s, how could I be only 25? 😉
  25. I actually enjoy going to church at least once a week no matter how busy things are!

I guess I am getting older, but please don’t tell anybody!!!

 

Photo by Martin Reisch on Unsplash

Balance | Blog | Self Reflection