I’ve been busy doing some research on how not to act old and have discovered this isn’t going to be easy. We have only ourselves to blame. The Echo generation, the children of baby boomers, were routinely warned to not speak to strangers. Public Service Announcements were instrumental in reinforcing this message as were Amber alerts, "America's Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response". The single most important thing to do so you not act old is to stop asking that women in the waiting room if she’s got her Christmas shopping done or the guy with the Patriots cap, “Hey, did you catch that game last night?” In other words, DO NOT SPEAK TO STRANGERS. Young people on the subways aren’t being anti-social. They are simply responding to what has been drilled into their heads from day 1. To this they paid attention. Well this and never go out with holes in your underwear just in case you get into a car accident. God forbid you should suffer both a head trauma and the embarrassment of unkemptness.
Speaking to strangers is my thing. If you give me an opening, a glance, any indication you want to converse (I include breathing and involuntary blinking here) I will speak to you; anyone, anywhere. I have to. I’m a conversational junkie and you are my fix.
Other things to do so as not to appear old; never refer to your younger physician as Doogie Howser. If you have a relative or friend named Dick, from this day forward he is Richard. When skyping, resist the urge to yell into your computer. Unless of course the person on the other end is hard of hearing then by all means yell. Otherwise, do not treat this means of communication like a tin can with a string. And speaking of skyping, do not, I repeat, do not look down. This is bad, very bad. Trust me on this one. You will resemble a Chinese Shar-pei. Not an attractive look.
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