Upon time's Inexorable March

I occassionally have these moments, and another one popped up today. Is it June 23rd? Seriously?? Already?? I rather unceremoniously passed the 2 year mark for working at my job, which is a trip in and of itself. Last night I went out to a bar in Rockaway and was amazed to look around at what used to consist of an awesome evening. $5 for a 16 oz cup that could be refilled with beer at $1.50 a pop. Countless 17-20 year old women,adorned with apparel designed to accentuate those body parts which they have the most confidence in displaying. This is certainly not to say that I did not admire their efforts, much as an afficionado of art may admire a masterful painting without attempting himself to take up the brush. However, the realization that these girls were 4-7 years younger than me did bring me up a bit short. There was a quote from Dazed and Confused that I happened to recall at that time "...high school girls. I get older, but they stay the same age." As I migrated through the bar, my steps paced out by the blaring tones of the popular college rock of the day, I took a very sociological/anthropological look at things, as is my want. The patterns of social interaction among youths aged 17-20 is certainly interesting when viewed in hindsight. I spent a great deal of my time while in that demographic observing such patterns, and I can now look back and test the validity of these social theses I first posited. It was amusing to note the costumes that people donned, and the packs in which they traveled. It was somewhat depressing to look at a young girl, and know that absent cosmetic surgery, she was already as attractive as she would ever be, and that the rest of her life would be a slow descent into average looks. It was with this realization that I could not find fault with her barely-there skirt, her skimpy tank-top with its obvious lack of support garment...etc. I could not begrudge her feeling cute, and as a man I am not immune to such things, though morality and better judgment do certainly rule the day. Nothing like remembering that some were 6th and 7th graders when you were a freshman in college.

So I've gotten older. The daily 8-5 grind makes a weekend of back to back 5 AM nights a hurculean task, whereas I wouldn't bat an eye at doing so in college (where I would have all week to catch up on sleep). Now I wind up with a cold that is still hitting me 4 days later. On the other side of the coin, I was able to drop the door cover without thinking about how much money I had left for the week, much less the night. Time continues to march, and the snow of the winter is being replaced with the beach sand of the summer.

Yes.