Inequality

When considerably younger, I thought the day would come when little or nothing would surprise me. You perhaps thought that way too. Aging is supposed to bring about maturity, and maturity, knowledge, and knowledge, wisdom. Now, as I view TV, read the newspaper and weekly magazines, and peek at news briefs almost instantly on my computer, I find plenty of surprises.

Like lack of civility among slowly maturing adults right along with juvenile senseless bullying. I listened to the outcry, pro and con, of both adults and kids when a young male athlete refused to wrestle against a female opponent. I listen in amazement, sometimes disgust, at language uttered on what used to be a rather straight-laced mass media. And I was baffled when one of our high schools banned homecoming kings and queens because a king was chosen who was registered as a girl in his school.

Every day something crosses my path that causes bewilderment or intrigue. So, I do have many unusual senior moments, moments that I could never dream could happen but did. On the positive side, I have also been taken by advances in science, let's say, like the size of the solar system never understood before. That light from stars which travel at an amazing speed taking eons to penetrate our planet but are probably out of existence long before we get to view them. That scientists believe they are on the verge of developing robots with human intelligence beset by fear that they could undermine humans, possibly as soon as the year 2045.

Not many of us who are seniors (according to AARP that could be 50) will be around then but our grandkids will be. I used to be worried about overpopulation but that has faded as I now worry about overcrowding, from rural to urban existence. I am amazed at how many huge cities have risen in many countries with ensuing problems.

As I sit here with my 5 ½ year-old Toshiba computer, I much prefer it to even my former electric typewriter. However, I use only a fraction of what it is capable of doing should I ever need those amenities. But I am satisfied with email, word processing, bill paying and utilizing Google and Bing after having disposed of most of my library when I retired. Every once in awhile I look for a tome I disposed of before realizing it is gone (to worthy causes, really, as I simply hate to throw a book away).

If you wonder where all these senior moments come from, now you have a little idea. Stay tuned. There are more moments out there. Some I never imagined will end up in print.