Feeling My Age

Signs that you may be getting old:

• You start getting spam for senior dating, walk-in bath tubs, and hearing enhancement products in your email inbox.
• The waitress gives you a Senior discount without your asking for it.
• You get fancy invitations in the mail for events about how to manage your estate.

But the big one for me lately is this: what on earth have they done to my Target and why can’t I find anything?

As my mother used to say, “If it says new and improved, it probably isn’t.”

Part of getting old is a lack of mental/emotional flexibility and I guess I have met my match with Target. I’m not finding it to be a fun new adventure. So far it’s just a pain in the neck. Despite the fact that I have previously waxed eloquent about “noodling around” Target, that doesn’t mean I want to wander aimlessly without ever finding what I came to buy.

It pains me to hear myself talk like this. I never wanted to be one of those people who complained about change and went on and on about how things were better before. 

I know you know what I mean. 

In time I will figure out how to navigate the new layout. Perhaps I’ll make a game of it for myself to lessen my cognitive discomfort. (Scavenger Hunt, anyone? Target Bingo?) But I have to acknowledge that little voice inside - - no, let’s call it a curmudgeon - - that feels challenged by change and wants to cling to the familiar. I have a feeling that voice is only going to get louder as I age if I don’t actively work to confront it.

Speaking of women of a certain age, I wonder how the People Tree feels about that new sculpture in the Merriweather District?