It’s been a hard few weeks. Not because I have had a lot of homework, or I am stressed at work either. I have been coming to a shocking realization, and Tuesday set it in stone. I am getting older.
The hardest thing about aging is that being older is not that exciting. I don’t get to proudly wear an orange safety belt that gives me authority over little children. I already go outside and play with my friends without my mom’s permission or chaperoning. I even had immediate freedom of having a license and going out to lunch during high school.
Now, I am getting old.
Two weeks ago, I was in the Detroit area flipping through radio stations, and I came across an oldies station. On the radio was Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.” OK, I guess it’s been 20 years since it came out. But still, this isn’t an “oldie.” Where were popular classics like “It’s My Party” and the infamous “Twist and Shout”?
Watching television recently, I flipped on Nick at Nite to see if a good episode of “I Love Lucy” was on. To my surprise, I saw “The Facts of Life” in full color, as it was back when I was a child.
That’s it - popular culture from when I was a kid is considered classical. What does that say about me? What’s next - our charm necklaces and Underoos being worth thousands? I don’t get it.
And then Tuesday brought my favorite holiday, Halloween. Every year I dress up with glee. Give me a holiday when I can put on more makeup than I can pack on my face and take on the role of someone else, and I sign up quickly.
My grief - where were the costumes Tuesday? Granted, I saw a lot of costumes Friday night when campus was full of Halloween parties, but what about the actual day of Halloween? It seemed no one wanted to have fun Tuesday.
In full apparel as Cruella DeVil, I was stared at and mocked by peers on campus. My hair, half spray-painted white to add to the flare of my costume, brought on puzzled looks walking to class. I dressed up not for them though - I did it for myself.
Imagine flipping channels, and seeing NBC’s “Friends” on Nick at Nite, and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s pictures in a magazine announcing them as grandparents - that day is coming.
Eventually we will get older, and these are days that we decide what the future holds. This is the time to get ourselves where we want to be. It may not be decided by the class we sleep through, or the costume we wear on Halloween, but it does happen sometime.
It may have been back in elementary school when you wore that safety belt and herded a kindergarten class into the bus, or it may even be the realization that the future inevitably will come.
Radio songs, the lack of participation in a holiday geared around candy and make-believe and pop culture of the 1980s being displayed on Nick at Nite are signs that it is time to do something.
Do something, do anything, because one day it’s going to be Britney Spears and Dave Matthews wailing on the oldies station. We will be the ones telling stories to children starting with “I remember the days when we drove cars on the road.”
We must live life realizing that each decision made and accomplishments achieved will help us attain our ultimate goals. Dressing up for Halloween may not be the start, but you might get some sort of mini-chocolate bar out of it.
Rachel Wright, State News business and environment reporter, can be reached at wrightr9@msu.edu.
