#turningsixty

In the book The Making of Star Trek (copyright 1968, Ballantine Books) at one point author Stephen Whitfield entertains the question of just how old Captain Kirk is at the time of the show. The consensus was that he is late twenties or early thirties, but in the course of the discussion the author makes this statement [this is a rough paraphrase as I no longer have the book and am doing this from memory!]:

"It was not all that long ago that, if it was forty years after you were born, you were probably dead. If you weren't dead, you were probably in an old folk's home doing nothing but sit around. Nowadays, forty year olds are surfing, riding motorcycles, jogging, and taking part in all sorts of sports and activities. And this is 1968. By the time of Star Trek, who knows?"

"By the time of Star Trek", my foot! It isn't quite fifty years since the first episode of Kirk & crew was broadcast, and already sixty barely qualifies as "all that old"!

Tomorrow I turn The Big Six Oh. I am working at the place I have been employed at since 1999. Some two years ago I may have been about ready to be put out to pasure, but I decided to make a change in my life and actually start living instead of just existing. I may not be 21 anymore, but I am not about to quietly fade away, either.

In 1968, forty was no longer Retirement Home age. As far as I'm concerned, in 2015 sixty isn't retirement either (for me, anyway). And even if, in a few years, I do elect to retire from the hotel I manage, I sure as hell won't spend the rest of my life doing nothing but sit around.