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vienna · 04-23-15, 03:45 PM

I gave this a bit of thought. I think the definitive moment was when I realized I was older than the President of the US. If there is anything heinous to blame Obama for, it is making me realize I am quite old now. If he runs again, I will not vote for him...

This subject brought to mind something I've thought about in recent years. I've lived in my present neighborhood for 40 years and have been in and out of the area about another 10 years. In that time, I've noticed a lot of overt changes; buildings torn down, buildings going up, businesses closing, new ones opening, etc. Some of the changes were far more subtle. A few years back, a clerk in a store I frequent made the offhand comment that I must have lived here a long time since he has seen me around for several years. After he said this, I thought about some of the people whom I had seen as more or less "regulars" in the area. I didn't really know any of them, they were just people I would see in the streets, in the stores, on the busses. Then I remembered one particular person. I never knew his real name, but his nickname was "Three Fingers" owing to two truncated fingers on his left hand. He was a low level bookie and I had been introduced to him by a co-worker at a bar we used to both frequent. It was a literally nodding acquaintance, both of us just giving a silent nod of acknowledgement on the occasions we noticed each other. He was already in his early 50s when I first saw him and I was in my early 30s. Through the years I watched him age. He was fairly healthy at first, then he began a long, slow decline. Walking became an effort for him. A few years later, I saw him walking with a walker. Then, he was using a motorized wheelchair. Next, an portable oxygen device was added to his needs. Then I saw him around no more...

I thought about the whole sequence, watching someone fade and decline, then fade off for good. The clerks comment made me realize: perhaps I have become some other person's "Three Fingers", the old guy they've seen around the neighborhood who is slowly declining and who will someday fade away, leaving behind the question "Whatever happened to that old guy..."...

<O>

04-23-15, 03:45 PM	#49
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,724 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	I gave this a bit of thought. I think the definitive moment was when I realized I was older than the President of the US. If there is anything heinous to blame Obama for, it is making me realize I am quite old now. If he runs again, I will not vote for him... This subject brought to mind something I've thought about in recent years. I've lived in my present neighborhood for 40 years and have been in and out of the area about another 10 years. In that time, I've noticed a lot of overt changes; buildings torn down, buildings going up, businesses closing, new ones opening, etc. Some of the changes were far more subtle. A few years back, a clerk in a store I frequent made the offhand comment that I must have lived here a long time since he has seen me around for several years. After he said this, I thought about some of the people whom I had seen as more or less "regulars" in the area. I didn't really know any of them, they were just people I would see in the streets, in the stores, on the busses. Then I remembered one particular person. I never knew his real name, but his nickname was "Three Fingers" owing to two truncated fingers on his left hand. He was a low level bookie and I had been introduced to him by a co-worker at a bar we used to both frequent. It was a literally nodding acquaintance, both of us just giving a silent nod of acknowledgement on the occasions we noticed each other. He was already in his early 50s when I first saw him and I was in my early 30s. Through the years I watched him age. He was fairly healthy at first, then he began a long, slow decline. Walking became an effort for him. A few years later, I saw him walking with a walker. Then, he was using a motorized wheelchair. Next, an portable oxygen device was added to his needs. Then I saw him around no more... I thought about the whole sequence, watching someone fade and decline, then fade off for good. The clerks comment made me realize: perhaps I have become some other person's "Three Fingers", the old guy they've seen around the neighborhood who is slowly declining and who will someday fade away, leaving behind the question "Whatever happened to that old guy..."... <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __