What the Hell!

Can the old teach the young? I mean what can the old teach the young? Three times in the past few weeks young women have told me and a few of my friends that they really enjoy spending time with us. They find us amusing. We do like to laugh. They find us intelligent. (Thank you) They find us interesting. One dear young daughter of a friend suggested we do a little show of our conversations and post it.

"Who would watch it?" G. asked. "Someone", I replied. With six billion people out there-someone. The question I came home with is a question I have had when my oldest daughter has said it is hard to get into substantive matters in discussions with her friends."Why?" I don't get it. They are educated, well traveled, well read. What's holding things up. I mean my friends and I have always been witty and fascinating.

I think there is a bit of a "what the hell?" that comes with being older. I will ask anyone anything. I will tell almost anyone what I think. Maybe younger people are more wary of putting themselves 'out there', opening themselves to being wrong, or right. I don't know. I have never had a shy gene in me. I like to say provocative things sometimes. My friends and I trust ourselves with each other.

I don't know if this is hitting on the heart of the matter. We do have a pool of experiences that we draw on in our conversations. But I don't remember enjoying listening to my parents and their friends yak when I was young. Tonite we went from Rosie and Sophia Grace on Ellen to Hurricane Katrina to childbirth to eyebrows, each of us weighing in with observations, peeves, horror, laughter. That was five minutes at dinner tonite. Isn't that what people talk about?

I am deeply pleased that we old farts have retained some little edge. I hope, in our small way that we can encourage people to have confidence in who they are and put it out there, to have passion behind the things they believe in and to buck trends if they are stupid. You go girls!