Valuable old people in old-time Phoenix


Like most people born in the middle of the 20th Century, I really don't value old people. Not really. Mostly when I see old people, I see someone who will take forever in line, or not be able to park their car, stuff like that. My stereotypical image of an old person is cranky, and complaining, with their favorite topics of conversation being taxes, or whatever medical procedure they're currently doing, or going to do, or have done. They seem to be endlessly fascinated with their cholesterol, or their spleen, and talk about it constantly, much to the annoyance of young people (I call that an "organ recital").

But I have also known some wonderfully valuable old people - the kind of old person that I wanted to grow into, wise, considerate, loving, concerned. These are the kind of old people for whom life's lessons have made them interesting to listen to, and sympathetic to others. They're the kind of old people that I think of when I hear the phrase "You can't put old heads on young shoulders". That is, knowledge, and more than just trivia, a synthesis of that knowledge that makes life better for everyone. Yes, these people are rare, but they exist, and as a young person I value them, and as you'd expect, right now I'm thinking about those valuable old people in old-time Phoenix.

I'm the first to admit that my first thought was always the stereotypical old person, cranky, and opinionated about things that they'd never bothered to try to understand. My dad always said, "There's no fool like an old fool". I knew what that meant, and as I live I'm determined to make age empower me, not enfeeble me. I will continue to learn, and I will continue to share, and encourage.

I've been reading about life expectancy back in the day, and comparing it to nowadays, and what would have been considered old. Speaking for myself, I'm old enough to remember the phrase "don't trust anyone over thirty", and I suppose it would be fair to consider anyone who is no longer in their twenties in old-time Phoenix to be "old".

So when I time-travel back to Phoenix, I see old people. Certainly not as many as now, especially as I live just a few miles from Sun City, but they're there. They can tell me what it was like being a soldier in the Civil War, they can proudly show me their Winchester '73, they can encourage me to try out new things, like driving a horseless carriage, by telling me that they learned to handle a team when they were twelve. I like that.

Image at the top of this post: City Hall Plaza, Phoenix, Arizona. Washington between 1st and 2nd Streets, Block 23.
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