ScooterA13

Danji,

I recently was in an office scene where someone asked what year I was born in, and I told them. A younger person a very young woman half my age 'perked' up and said "NOOOOO way, you cannot have been born during W.W. 2!!! You HAVE to be MY AGE or YOUNGER!"

I smiled and said: "Thank you very much!" After an extended conversation, I revealed that my particular medical disorder involved .... not growing older like my school classmates. It has been a life time problem since I was decades behind my classmates from my school days.

They don't recognize me, for two reasons. I was so much smaller than the rest of them forever! My parents were told I was a Midget back in the Seventh Grade and wouldn't ever grow much more.

My High School Home Room Teacher, whom I'd had as my Home Room Teacher since the 7th Grade, did not recognize me on the First Day of my Senior Year in High School. She called my name and I said 'here'. She looked up at me and said "NO I mean the little Bobby" ... (as she held her hand barely above her desk)

I merely raised my hand and said 'here' again. She looked at me and after a very close look simply shook her head and checked me off her roster as being 'present'. I had grown OVER a foot that summer while working as a Carpenter's Helper. I would work from dawn to supper time six days a week, all summer long, in the South Texas heat.

I would take a shower after getting home from work, eat supper and GO TO BED and sleep until TIME to get up and go to WORK! It seemed I couldn't stay awake after eating supper. That was when I grew, while sleeping!

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

Random thoughts.
Most people say to me "your are not 75" wow. I am lucky and a have some good habits outweighing
bad habits. I don't have any problem working when the op is their. I do content and event marketing videography and stills sometimes. Not smoking appears to me to be very important. I like my vino.
I appears that many nice folks here are OK financiailly. That is good and encouraging. But I think this
countries leaders have made a mess of older decisions for Americans. I don't want anyone to take care of me. But when SS how taxes removed it seems crazy. Real Estate taxes and house maintenance, caused me to sell and switch to renting. The nonsense of Wall Street and corporate greed raided my nest egg in
2008. It was criminal behavior. The price of decent safe housing is over the top. My good friend in DE
pays almost no RE tax on the house he owns. Banks are predators. They are a business but now they are
working on profits from overdrawals, charging outrageous rates for credit cards and giving less then 1%
for money invested. The stock market has increased but it is very unreliable for short term earning.
Fed and state taxing is irrational. I got notices when I lived in PA that were just nuts. You owe 38k
because you didnt file a return years ago. This was a collection company hired by PA to harass many
people for with bogus claims. I am a student of life and people. I see the lack of opportunity and
availability of education for most young people an awful situation. 200k plus for an education.
Technology has it's wonderful services but everyone's nose in a smart phone all day is a crisis.
And allowing the US to become an armed camp is not what we need. Firearms for sport and hunting
are fine. Every week we have a shooting.

So now you say I am a cynic. No I am a dreamer. I am optimistic that good people will prevail
and a lot of these inequities today will be fixed. When I was young I lived in Manhattan NY.
We were able to afford the rent. Their was reasonable food out. And i never remember talking
to friends about my stocks. It was a great experience. Materialism was never discussed.
America always fixing itself. Do what scandinavia does. Put the old age facilities near schools
where children are. And let the children learn from the wisdom of the ages.