The Old Coot is “OK.”
By Merlin Lessler
A kid racing around like a wild maniac falls on his face;
the parent (at least in my day) immediately says, “You’re OK!” Usually, the kid
pops up and goes off running. Thinking he is OK, and learns to accept a level
of pain or discomfort and moves on.
Football, soccer, baseball, hockey, basketball and other coaches use
that same technique. “Walk it off and the hop over to the bench and we’ll tape
you up.” (And push that bone that is sticking out back into place).
It works with kids. I still see a lot of moms and dads
using the “you’re OK” technique. It doesn’t work with old coots. When we
stumble, we’re not Ok! Yet, we still engage our inner-child when someone rushes
over to ask, “Are you OK?” Whether we’re Ok or not, our embarrassment overpowers
reality, and we respond, “I’m OK.” We have not accepted our aged infirmity and
state of fragility.
I fell flat on my face while walking on the beach last
year. I claim I just stumbled, that my foot caught in the sand and in spite of
using a walking stick to avert a fall, I went down so fast I didn’t get a
chance to use it. A nice young couple
rushed over to see if I was OK and to offer to help me back up. “I’m fine,
thanks. I just need to sit here for a minute.” When they were out of sight I started
the process of getting up from a bed of soft sand. It was a perfect imitation
of a newborn colt standing for the first time. It’s an engineering marvel to
raise an old coot from a horizontal to a vertical position. Something we coots
don’t want anyone to see, if we can help it.
When I got back home I told my wife I had a close call, which
by then I’d increased its severity to a nearly fatal fall on the beach. Her
response, after hearing yet another of these incidents was simply, “You’re OK!”
Comments can be sent to mlessler7@gmail.com
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