Scottish Deep Thoughts

Today, I think that I may have seen my future. There are certain indicators that make one feel old; I experienced a lot of them today.

I have witnessed many retired people fill a whole day of looking busy when, in fact, they accomplish very little. In 3 hours I was able to go for a haircut and buy a loaf of bread, a jug of milk and a few other items (which I thought amounted to more money than it should have). This is alarming considering it only takes me 5 minutes to walk to the hair salon and the grocery store. To increase my feeling of being old, I paid for almost all my groceries with coupons! Afterall, a penny saved is a penny earned.

When you reach a certain age, young people refer to you as "Mr." or "sir". I saw 5 of my students on the street today and they all addressed me in this manner. Although it was weird at first, I am slowly getting used to it now.

My fate was sealed when I ended my afternoon by having a bowl of vegetable soup, eating biscuits and drinking a pot of tea whilst listening to jazz and opera on BBC Radio 2. I followed this by "doing my ironing".

The one saving grace that made me feel young again was when the woman cutting my hair said that I looked like a student when I told her where I worked. Thanks, haircut lady.