Where have all the old people gone? Seriously, I feel like I’m listening to that song by The Kingston Trio which asks where all the soldiers have gone.
I remember the first time I had to cross a freeway to get to a restaurant on the other side and thinking to myself, wow, I don’t think my grandma would be able to do this. I didn’t actually make the connection that apparently no one else’s grandma can do it either because it appears that none exist.
Do they just sit at home all day? Are they in some giant Jordanian retirement center? Is the average age of death just lower in this region? I’m not kidding. When I walk around town, I do not see anyone over the age of about 55. How can this be possible? Where the hell did all the old people go?
With that said, there is also an apparent baby boom in Amman. There are so many kids running around that I get the feeling the school system here would do well to include some sort of sex-ed course. And not only are there a lot of kids, they are loud kids. I know kids have a propensity to yell and do strange things, but it is literally the norm around here. I almost get a visual of these kids as seeing eye dogs: When the vest is on, the dog is in check. Maybe when the kids are at home, they have to behave, but once they hit the street, all shit hits the fan.
One kid in the mall was running around with his head down trying to tackle the seemingly impossible task of running full speed through a crowded location while trying to eat an ice cream cone and he ran face first into one of the glass displays of a shop. Besides the fact he was a little stunned, it didn’t even faze him. His dad came over, seemed wind up the switch again, and then set him loose. Seeing as the kid hit the glass about two feet in front of me, I was half-expecting everyone to blame me somehow, but I think everyone just wanted to return to the natural order of the controlled chaos of the children. The day I eat a meal without a kid screaming at the top of his lungs in the general vicinity will be one of the happier days of my life.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=94790
3 Comments
Hey man,
I have never responded to any of your posts, but wanted you to know that I’ve been reading them. It sounds pretty crazy over there I must admit. I think the slow moving people would drive me crazy. I’d probably have walk-rage! Thank goodness you’re their and not me because I’d probably be skinless.
Do you have the ability to add photos to the posts? I think that would (sometimes) put things in perspective, at least for me. I would love to see what that street looks like at rush hour on Thursday night with the lady in the middle of it laughing.
Anyways, wanted to let you know that somebody is out there reading these and your writing is unbelievable good and descriptive. And also, your fantasy team is on fire . . . slow it down so BLB can catch up!!
Hope all is well out there; we’re thinking of you!
Andy
Wow, I really had a lot of typos in that post. In the very sentence that I compliment you on your great writing, I leave of the ‘y’ on unbelievably. So dumb! And, for those counting, I also used their instead of there.
My whole point was to let you know that I’m reading, so I hope you got that. Anyways, have a good one. I’ll keep reading and double-check my next response for third-grade errors. Better yet, maybe I should leave the writing to you.
Andy
Fuck, off . . . leave off the ‘y’ . . . fuck I suck