While Russians are a rather grumpy lot they are quite respectful of their “elders”. Yesterday I was on the Metro (subway) and I was shown, reluctantly, that I have become a “senior citizen”. And, while I am closer to 63 than 62 and therefore have been among the elderly for almost a year now (using eligibility for Social Security as a criterion) it hadn’t occurred to me until yesterday that I am old.
The Metro car was packed and I was standing, hanging onto the bar above me. I was going to get off in 5 stops. The doors closed and the car started to move forward. A young woman, probably in her 40s, was seated in front of me. As we got up to speed she motioned to me to take her seat. I waved her off and hopefully had a polite face on signaling “thank you” but I was fine. She again insisted (this is going on in “Russian sign-language”) that I sit down, which I did grudgingly. My hair, what’s left of it, has turned a snowy-grey white and has been this way since my early 50s, a trait I obviously inherited from my father.
My benefactor got off at the next stop. As I sat there I contemplated what had just happened. It dawned on me that I had just been officially identified as a senior citizen and from a 40 year-old no less.
This is hard to take…and something I guess I’m going to have to get used to…I think…
До следующего раза ...
Борис
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