There are a number of life steps we all take. This may be more towards ladies and girls, but men and boys also have been known to take part in some of these steps.
As a younger woman there were teenage magazines. I was not into the teen action of the real world.
My neck of the woods was filled with waiting for the phone to ring and dragging main street half the night, on two dollars’ worth of gas! But!
Yes, a summer night of fun “but.” I do remember a few times of hearing about the “love” quizzes in the Teen Beat magazines. It seems that advertisers think it is a good thing to make us compare the things we think, say and do, with others in our life circle.
“What’s your favorite way to handle jealousy?” “What do to do when he doesn’t call the next day?”
“Is he really boyfriend material?” Don’t laugh. These were really quizzes of the past. Come now, isn’t it important to know: “What to do if your best friend is a drama queen?”
Even teenage boys wonder those same wonders.
Then you move up to the more serious quandaries of life. Reading Cosmopolitan, you can easily find where you stand in the pecking order of life by answering the quiz of “How your walking style fits into your relationship.”
Apparently, the grown-up quiz of “Why is he taking so long to respond?” is the same as the “What to do when he doesn’t call the next day?” of the teen magazine. Yes, love and comparing is an ongoing dance we all dance. No matter our age.
I remember once being on a camping trip with friends when we were probably in our forty’s.
I usually treated myself to a magazine that I normally don’t have time or interest in during my regular life whirlwind, so I had picked up a Cosmo when shopping for the required ribs and marshmallows. Around the campfire one evening I pulled it out and opened it to see what I was missing in the “real” world. Oh, how we all laughed when the article I turned to was, “How to tell if you both like to lick your partner’s arm pits.”
Holy cats and kittens, what has the world come to. That was one quiz that none of us wanted to compare ourselves too. For some unknown reason we all seem to still read these silly things. It is human nature to see where we stand in the line of life. The important thing is not to put yourself in any line that starts with, “How to feel when…”
After the Cosmo period of life starts to dwindle, the AARP information and quizzes sneak into your existence. At the tender age of fifty! Yes, fifty is all you have to be to get those AARP discounts and the magazine and life insurance offers by the pound in your mail box.
Wouldn’t you think by fifty we’d have outgrown our need to see how we stack up to others? Nope. For some reason it is still in our human-ness to know,“Where do you fit into the retirement fund?” If you are wondering if you have as much as the next guy and can retire in the south of France, you probably are low on the list and no, you cannot afford to retire in the south of France.
There was a time, in the 1950’s, when it became very evident that the sign of the times was to “keep up with the Jones’.” Starting on the curb and moving through the house and ending with the back yard bar-b-que.
The biggest sections of neighborhoods kept a sharp eye out on neighbors. Heaven forbid that Mr. Blue House got a new 24-inch electric start mower and Mr. Yellow House was still pushing his 20-inch pull start monster.
Or, what is Mrs. Green House getting delivered by the local furniture store? Is that a new lazy boy chair? Well Mrs. Red House now needs to get a new sofa. Oh, keeping up with the Jones’ is hard to keep up with.
There is hope for acceptance of our status. We all get there sooner or later. I have found it. Took me just a few more than 50 years for me to come to terms with the terms of life I have been handed.
It might’ve been when my mother-in-law passed away. I was no longer terrified of her coming into my house with gloves on and “accidentally” running a finger over a table top or the top of a door. Yep, I haven’t dusted the tops of my doors for years.
Trina lives in Diamond Valley, north of Eureka, Nevada. She loves to hear from readers. Email her at itybytrina@yahoo.com
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