Boys Will be Boys…At Any Age

While driving to work this morning I saw something so awesome I had to share.*

My neighborhood is aging, and many of our neighbors are couples in their late 80s and early 90s. Many of these couples walk regularly for exercise, and on my way to work I normally pass at least one, and sometimes two, elderly couples out for a morning stroll. We normally wave when we pass and though I don’t know most of them well it makes me happy to see them.

A couple of months ago I noticed that one of the older gentlemen had acquired a walker – one of those spiffy new four-wheeled models with the built-in seat. (At the risk of some really interesting comment spam… the walker looks like this.) He doesn’t really seem dependent on it, and continues to walk at a lively pace, so I suspect he uses it more to keep from falling than from actual need.

Another gentleman normally walks in the street and uses a pair of ski poles for balance. He and his wife (who walks without poles and on the sidewalk) make their Nordic way around the neighborhood at a startling pace for people of their age. I hope I can do as well when I turn 90.

This morning I turned the corner in my truck and saw both couples standing together a couple of blocks away. The women stood off to one side, chatting, and the ski-pole gentleman’s wife was holding the poles. The men stood a few feet away, bent over the walker from opposite sides in the universal posture of two guys examining a machine. The walker’s owner pointed at something and stepped back with an inviting gesture, whereupon the other elderly gentleman grasped the walker’s handles and raced up and down the sidewalk at race-walking speed. (I was a little surprised the walker’s wheels could handle it.)

As I passed, both elderly gentlemen were admiring the walker and nodding with approval.

Both wives were pretending not to know them.

I waved and went on my way with a huge grin on my face. I love seeing people happy and active, especially at their ages, but even more entertaining was the realization that when it comes to tech and toys, boys will be boys and men will be men – at any and every age.

*For those keeping track, your regularly-scheduled Tuesday Tank Day post is delayed on account of awesome, and will post tomorrow instead.