Forever young in old-time, and future Phoenix, Arizona


Time-travel with me to a little after 5 am this morning, when I stopped into the QT on Thunderbird Road and 75th Avenue in Peoria, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. It's Sunday morning, and don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen, in fact, just the opposite.

There was just enough sunlight for me to ride safely, and when I walked into the QT I was the only customer in there. The morning rush would happen soon, but for now it was very quiet. And I heard the laughter of the two young men behind the counter, joking around the way that young men do, always have, and hopefully always will.

When I complimented them on their cheerful attitude so early in the morning, they answered a question that I was about to ask. It really wasn't Sunday morning to them, it was more like late Saturday night. They had been there all night. And when I politely inquired about a knee brace that one of them was wearing, he laughed it off as just one of those things - the way that young men do. And when I asked if he would turn into an old guy who would complain about how soft the young people have it nowadays, and "back in his day", he cheerfully told me that he never wanted to be one of those old guys.

I doubt whether I'll be around for another forty years, in spite of my robust health, so I had to imagine the future that he would see. And hopefully he will have a long life, but remain forever young in spirit. He will be able to talk about back when there was still paper money in use, and how he had to make change with coins, but he would do so with a smile and a fond memory, not with criticism of the current younger generation. 

As a time-traveler, I see things repeat over and over, and often it just sounds like a script that old people are required to read once they reach a certain age: "Children no longer respect their elders!", that sort of thing. And maybe that's how it should be - people go through experiences, and little by little their attitudes, along with their bodies, get old and feeble.

And it's my greatest wish that the young man at the QT will remain forever young, in spirit, as I try to do as the years go by.

It's so hard to get old without a cause
I don't want to perish like a fading horse.
Youth's like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever.
Forever young.
I wanna be forever young.
Do you really want to live forever? 

Thank you for the encouragement! If you want to see daily pics of my adventures on my recumbent trike in suburban Phoenix (just for fun, of course!) you can follow me on buymeacoffee.com/bradhall, and you can buy me a coffee if you'd like to!

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