Friday, August 17, 2007

Little old men

On my way to work this morning I passed an elderly gentleman. He looked as if he were going to the shops.

He was wearing lime green sweat pants and an olive green anorak. I bet he didn't have a wife. Why are old widowers such a pathetic sight, so much sadder-looking than old widows? I hate it when I see them in a shop buying what is obviously food for one. I think it's because they're of a generation when the woman looked after her man; and I am of a generation that is used to seeing our grandmothers, mothers even, looking after their men. To see them alone then makes them appear lost and lonely. I'm sure they are all perfectly capable of cooking and seeing to their own needs - except perhaps when it comes choosing clothes.

When I got into work, I was telling my boss about the man's trousers and anorak and I didn't need to finish my sentence: she finished it for me. 'I bet John would be like that if he didn't have Megan!' (John was one of the founders of our church and is notorious for buying his clothes in car boot sales.)

5 comments:

mdmhvonpa said...

You see, men have this 'function trumps form' mentality. Is it clean? Does it cover my gibbets? Am I warm or cool enough? If sack-cloth were available and comfortable, you KNOW we would wear it. I compromised with the Mrs. I have 8 identical sets of clothing I wear ... black socks, black denim pants, grey t-shirt. Of course, in the winter, I'll throw on one of 8 semi-identical flannel shirts. Dull? Perhaps, but never mismatched or stained! :D

Liz Hinds said...

Ah, yes, but have you ever tried to match up black socks? They never match! How many colour blacks can there be?!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Poor elderly gentleman. Perhaps he was colur blind?

Anonymous said...

Einstein was once criticised for being absent minded.

"Why do you think that?" he asked the journalist in the back row.

"Well, you're wearing one yellow sock and one gray one"

Pause while Einstein looks at his ankles.

"Incorrect. Therefore I am not absent minded!"

"But I can see one yellow sock and one gray one"

"Wrong again. You can see one yellow sock and one unwashed foot" ;-)


Don't you love crazy old men?
I'm headed that way too :-(

Lee said...

I laughed when I read this post as it reminded me of a friend's husband once, when I was staying with him. He walked down the hallway dressed in a striped shirt and tartan shorts. I burst out laughing and exclaimed, "I hope you're not going out dressed like that!" He immediately looked crestfallen like a small child being reprimanded and back away to change! His wife laughed along with me. Hehehe!