Getting older means adapting to the changing world with
fewer and fewer advantages, both for you and because of you. At first I thought
I was getting senile and paranoid that things were changing just to make life
harder for older people. Then I had the following experience:
I noticed that the print on everything is getting smaller
and smaller. This is because no one reads anymore. But this is also a way of
sneaking in changes so that no one who can read will notice. I decided to test
my theory with a magnifying glass after the labels on apples shrunk the print
considerably. My favorite apples are Braeburns. They are one of the few
varieties that I can still smell and taste. I noticed that they too, were
starting to lose their flavor. I looked at the label with my magnifying glass.
It read “Brainburn” instead of Braeburn, and “New Zeroland” instead of New
Zealand. I looked around for someone to
show it to, but I had become invisible.
