“Die Already, Old Man!”
A fictional short-short story
I was entering the crosswalk when a bicyclist didn’t let me cross. He was close to running me over when I raised my hand, signaling him to slow down. He gave me the finger and said, “Die already, old man!”
I thought about what might be implicit in that: that he’s sure that his generation is better than mine — Make way, old men.
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I don’t think our generation has been so bad. I’m pretty typical. I sold a reasonable product and made my customers laugh along the way while supporting my family. I paid my taxes while being only slightly aggressive, plus I give a fair amount to charity. I’m a decent dad, and the people on my softball team like me. I’d bet that bicyclist contributes less. I’d bet that many people like him contribute less.
Maybe he was even implying that older people’s voting — more moderate — is more deleterious than liberals’ like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Kamala Harris, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, Elizabeth Warren, and Maxine Waters, who want yet more redistribution from society’s contributors even though the top 1% already pay 40% of the income tax and the top 10% pay 70%. Liberals spend taxpayer money on programs worldwide to encourage transgenderism — Is that a wise use of taxpayer dollars? Liberals de facto punish legal residents by winking and nodding at the massive illegal immigration. Liberals push transportation bills that raise everyone’s blood pressure: Instead of building lanes to accommodate the increased population, they reduce them by converting them into little-used bike lanes or shrub clumps. Liberals fund mainstream media with leftist bias — even “reporting” white heroes such as George Washington as Black. The head of NPR, Katherine Maher, publicly admitted that truth need be cast aside in favor of the liberal agenda. Liberals and their amplifier-in-chief, the mainstream media, condone people unhappy with a court decision burning down their cities and not prosecuting, labeling them “protestors.” And to ensure that the next generation is even more leftist, liberals vote to give billions in taxpayer dollars to subsidize liberally biased universities, a bit reminiscent of Soviet re-education camps.
But maybe I’m just being defensive and the world would be better if it were even more liberal. I dunno. I am old. Maybe like every older generation, we just think we’re better.
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Marty Nemko is a career and personal coach, and author of 35 books including A Dose of Reality. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com
