It’s a biennial thing: the physical exam. I like to do it sometime during my birth month because associating the requirement with a “known date” makes it easy to remember and all that. So it was out to the base hospital clinic today for the first of at least three visits, i.e., initial exam, lab work, results. My Primary Care Physician was recently reassigned, so I got to meet my new Primary Care Guy today, a young captain. Emphasis on “young.” One of the things that continually mystifies and amuses me about aging is the fact that nearly all the authority figures I encounter these days are young enough to be my kids. Gives one pause, it does.
But, back to the matter at hand. My new doctor seems to be a nice guy; he asked all the right questions, has a good bedside manner, in other words, all the right stuff. After our initial interview was over and he was getting ready to leave the exam room he looks at me and says “You know, you sure don’t look 61!” My response was a simple “thank you.” What else can you say? I appreciate it when folks say things like this, even though I know in most cases it’s just polite conversation. But anyway, I thought about this comment all the way home today, considering things such as “what’s a 61 year-old guy supposed to look like?” and “I’m not really 61, not for a couple of few days, at least” and finally decided it was only polite conversation, after all. I mean, I do have a mirror or two. And the damned things just don’t lie.
How is it that when I was young,all my doctors were old? Now that I am old; they are all young.
ReplyDeleteSo what are the big plans for your birthday?
That's a great point about the old/young thing, BB. Now that I think about it, I had/have the same experience!
ReplyDeleteNo plans for the birthday, other than an extra ration of grog, perhaps. And that will have to be at home, unless I want to drive to ABQ or Santa Fe. Gotta love them Blue Laws!
People don't usually believe me when I tell them my age. Or when I tell them I have a 20 year old they say I don't look old enough to have a grown up kid. My son often gets asked if I'm his sister, and once somebody thought we were a couple. That was very funny, made one of us sit up straighter and smile, and the other slide under the table. LOL!
ReplyDeleteTHAT's funny, Laurie! Now who did the sliding under the table? :-)
ReplyDeleteI've suffered the "young looking" thing all my life. Well, up until a couple of years ago, anyway. It was hard for me to "pass" in the bars prior to age 21, damned near impossible, in fact. And then there was the time shortly after I made Master Sergeant when, attending a conference, I happened to overhear one of the conferees ask another "Who's the Teen-aged MSgt?" after I'd given my presentation. Paradoxically, the comment sorta made me angry. I should have just smiled.
Youth is, indeed, fleeting.