I DON'T THINK I LIKE OLD AGE

I noticed the changes at 60. There were some body aches and the bed was only comfortable for about 5 hours. I began to look at the patients differently. I'd go by a room and here was a nurse or a tech trying to keep that old person in bed, and that old person was getting cantankerous. Used to, I'd get that old person back into bed. He was safer. They have a heck of a habit of falling. Then one day, after 60, I found myself getting cantankerous and telling that nurse or aid to let the old person up and let him sit in the chair for a while -- his body was probably hurting all over from lying in bed. I'd get these crooked looks back. I turned gray at 29, which up until then had always been an asset. I got listened to without expending too much effort. After 60, my body caught up with my hair and I found I wasn't being listened to, treated as somewhat dumb, hard of hearing maybe, and just plain not equal. And Heaven forbid I fall into discussion with a young, college-aged Democrat. Those kids just plain don't have any respect for our country, our government, our elected leaders, our military, or ordinary Americans.

At 60, I also quit working at Medical Center. I took a month off and played computer games. Then ole Montanez wrote a few letters and we all started fighting on the editorial page until Vicky Gomez told us to shut up. Montanez did. Wonder what happened to him? The rest of us haven't, but Montanez started me searching the web. The world is an entirely different place than I thought it was.

Those authority figures in government like senators and U.S. Representatives have turned out to be some of the most rotten skalawags I could ever imagine. Our good-looking Texas governor is busy selling us down the river while ensuring his son or his son-in-law, I forget, has a good position with Merck. Kay Bailey Hutchison acts like a dingy, high-school cheerleader fawning over football players on the Senate floor. Her office staff evidently has stacks of pre-printed letters to send out and they don't care whether their choice of reply letter pertains to the issue you addressed or not. Kyl Selinger ALWAYS sends out post-cards in reply to his constituancy contacts stating, effectively, "That's not my job," until I'm wondering if he has any job at all. And, although I've been observing him closely for 3 years, I can't decide whether John Cornyn is for us or against us. I'm counting the days until Bush leaves office and hate to get up in the morning and face what he's done the previous day. His side-kick, Cheney, has given up all pretenses and declared himself to be above the law and accountable to no one. I could go on and on, but what put me on this tirade this morning is our illustrous U.N.

Evidently, they're trying to take our guns away from us. But that's been going on for quite some time, almost from the git-go.