Entertainment For Lively Minds
Growing old has its perks
I'm 45 and realised last night that a real benefit of getting older is that over-refreshed ladies at parties don't force you to dance with them any more. Thank God for that.
You see, I have never really liked dancing - I might sort of enjoy it after a few minutes when endorphins kick in but overall, it is an embarrassing spectacle where no-one comes out with any credit. And I really hate everything about night clubs.
I was at a party last night and nobody in the least bit minded or cared that I didn't want to dance to some total crap by Meatloaf. I was as irrelevant to proceedings the chubby coach driver in his late 50s, who I was having a very interesting chat with (about coaches).
I don't have to try to be fashionable any more either. Winning!
What other benefits are there?
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I agree...
1. Realizing that practically all rock music is inferior to a Salvation Army band.
2. Realizing that things I once thought boring are in fact exceedingly interesting.
3. Being able to amaze youngsters by saying I saw Radiohead in 1997 and Supertramp in 1983.
4. To be more comfortable in the knowledge that one is a misanthropic, grumpy old bastard.
5. To know that nasal hair is a good look.
6. To know quite categorically that I know nothing.
7. To not care that I talk to myself in public.
8. Stepping out of the house on a crisp Autumn morning and realizing later that it was the highlight of my day.
9. Not giving a stuff about whether I am in tune with contemporary culture.
Agree with all the above,
but, being really old, I can add: seeing the Beatles many times in the Cavern in the early sixties (and in Abbey Road Studios in the late sixties).
i had a simular experience,Patrick..
..i had to pick up my daughter and her mates from some Donnington bash, and Baba O'Riley came on the radio.
they all exclaimed great delight in hearing this track, when i added i saw The Who in 1976 at Charlton performing this very song,my coolness rating rose to new heights.
So did I. I don't remember you though. Sorry
.
Agreed on all......
.....especially number 3. Being able to say I saw Nirvana live at Reading in '92, Radiohead in '97 and all those other huge 90's acts live - Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, The Verve, Blur all during their early 90's heydays. AND.............the ticket prices weren't that expensive back then. Good times indeed.
Around ten years ago...
I went to see a band at ULU with a French girl that I knew from the pub. She was a few years younger than me and looked still younger than she was. As we arrived this very drunk teenager came up to me and said "Oi, grandad! What are you doing with her? What are you doing at this gig?" Feeling aggrieved that this moron was in my presence and yet not being of the persuasion to park my fist in his face, I decided upon a different tactic. Spotting his Nirvana T-shirt, I said "Oh, you like Nirvana? Did you see them?" - he shook his head - "Well I did. On the Nevermind tour at the Kilburn National. They were great. Not so bad being an old git after all, is it?" And with that I left the poor wretch to seethe with jealousy.
Gonna see Nirvana? Nah...
Being able to say that at Reading 91 I saw The Honey Thieves, Babes in Toyland then Silverfish but skipped Nirvana as I was saving myself for Chapterhouse.
http://www.readingfestival.com/2011/history/1991
Point Number 4
is the one basic, golden rule of my existence (now I am the later side of 30-ten).
Grumpy? Yes
Misanthropic? Yes
Curmudgeonly? Yes
Cynical? Yes
Comfortable with ones self? Absolutely
There's a delicious irony
In the fact you'd forgotten what ten was by the time you got there. ;)
hmm
1.if you seriously think that all rock music is inferior to a Salvation Army band then I would suggest having your ears syringed.
9 .Yes, because you have seen contemporary culture and fashion come and go. That's what used to be called "wisdom".
Supertramp?
Patrick, I agree with almost all of your list, but I'd like proof (time, dates, names, ages) of any youngster who has been impressed with you seeing Supertramp in 1983.
That...
was not true.
Celtic Frost
I won't Dance
Definitely..
..putting up the Christmas tree with the kids earlier this evening, retiring to the sofa afterwards and settling for three bottles of beer rather than rolling in at 3am after thirteen. I enjoyed my 20s and 30s enormously, (mostly) but I wouldn't want them back.
I really hate everything about night clubs.
I really hate everything about night clubs.
There used to be a nightclub in Southsea way back when called Joannas
(AKA the Royal Navy school of dancing)
It was awful, sticky carpet, & a huge tree in the middle (I kid you not). I know many a refreshed sailor who took comfort there.
Fucking horrible place, a literal "cattle market"
Vile place.
It is there no longer..
Demolished. Making way for some flats.
A few eyes were moistened at its passing.
But only a few.
The others, presumably,
having been all knocked out?
cheaper
motor insurance
There's loads. Hang on. I need to go upstairs for a wee..
Where was I?
I dunno.
Who are you anyway?
Weren't you...
looking for your car keys?
It may have been on here (Not joking can't recall!)...
that someone told me - never stop on the stairs to try and remember what it was you set out to pick up. Not only will you not be able to remember, you won't be able to recall if you were going upstairs or downstairs
Have I gone deaf?
or has the youth of today gone soft?
My teenage daughter just asked me to turn the volume down
Staying up very late
Seems to be one of the perks of getting old. Speaking of which, Austin, 45? Old? I think not.
Old at 45?
Only just past half way, these days.
Old at 45?
45? - Just a mere stripling, a slip of a lad.
Having gone on the works Xmas do last night
and, at 48, being old enough to be the father of most of my staff -
not having to keep drinking till the very end
knowing when to leave the party
not dancing with anyone other than my wife
having seen REM at the Royal Court 3 times
U2 at the Royal Court twice
and most imprtantly, having lived 'Liverpool, The Glory Years'. "Dalglish? I saw IAN ST JOHN play!", instant authority.
I felt properly old...
...when I found out that Tony Hateley's GRANDSON is now playing professionally for Motherwell.
Jesus.
that is an aging sentence
"Differently young" I'd call it.
We've earned the right to:
- listen to whatever godawful music we like (at whatever volume we like - the hearings going a bit, don't you know?);
- wear band t-shirts (see next thread) which were bought when we were a stone or two lighter;
- tut at the uselessness and derivative-ness of most of modern culture.
That's our reward for having made it this far! The youngsters are still only part way to earning their keep right now.
Good spell in the Army would sort them out
I'm 50 (almost 51) and concur with everything above. I've gone off most parties, and always hated nightclubs and discos (paying to pretend to enjoy yourself in an air of cultural/ social/ actual intimidation seems the definition of masochism to me). This follows for 'hip' nightspots as much as the cattle-markets. I've stopped caring about chasing the laydeez (Berlesconi and Strauss-Kahn show show ugly that can be) and quite enjoy the anonymity of being an old fat bloke. One thing though; collectively we look grim in casual clothes. Might I suggest we stick to suits? It's more dignified.
I was in a bar at UEA
When I casually mentioned that I had seen the Clash at the Victoria Park RAR gig. And that I'd seen them at Coventry Tiffanys on the London Calling tour.
I could have started a new religion there and then, no problem.
Hey I was at that gig too!
Joe thumped some dipstick who kept gobbing. Magic evening!
He did. Right next to where we were standing.
He jumped off the stage and starting punching a college mate, Mike Ambrose. Unfortunately Amber wasn't the one doing the gobbing, but that didn't stop the rest of us from a) joining in and b) shouting encouragement.
Joe was pulled back up and they did Tommy Gun.
Happy days.
You don't have to care about fashion/brands
Not knowing what Superdry was (a clothing brand), or that my Berghaus waterproof jacket might mark me out as a style guru was quite refreshing to the 46 year old me.
Best thing about growing old is
you no longer give a shit
44 and counting
I've realised belatedly that I actually LOVE dancing, and do it whenever the opportunity presents. The key difference between me now and my younger self is that now I no longer CARE that I look like a complete tit.
*boogies like an idiot to "Disco Inferno"*
Quite right too
Good man
Ianess is right
Not giving a shit is nice. I have teenage daughters and I have just had to learn to accept that I won't meet their standards - not that they have any idea what they are. It is a real laugh actually as I am sure many of you will recognise. Also with age & wisdom comes taking one step back when about to say something (I do actually and genuinely do this just not on here) and this is good too.
I don't kid myself I would pass for a young bloke but I have my own hair/teeth & I am still a skinny fuck so some of my regrets are deferred. One thing that has helped with the mid-life crises - assuming they ever stop - has been the internet. I don't have to wistfully wonder whatever happened to - I can ask them directly what happened to them. This removes a really major area of potential madness/sadness and its a real boon - as is a place like this where you can argue/think aloud
As Arthur Smith once said
you can go out with your flies undone and, quite frankly, not caring.
Loads of benefits...
Woolly cardigans
Comfy slippers
An electric blanket
Appreciation of single malts
Loving Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald without having to defend why.
Nasal hair?
Sorry Patrick can't agree on the attractiveness of nasal hair. It is the one thing about growing old that I do not like.
Great to talk to youngsters about things we consider relatively recent that they consider in the dark ages ie. decimalisation, record players, football grounds where you stand up, cameras with film in them.
Here is a rude one - the sexual enthusiasm of youth resulting in a premature conclusion to a passionate session. Glad that takes a bit longer now!!
Nasal hair rocks...
I have mine like white man dreadlocks.