The first time it happened, I couldn’t believe my ears. Yes, we are in our fifties (EARLY fifties!) and we’ve been married almost thirty years. And, yes, David does have that gray--almost white--hair and beard. But we don’t think of ourselves as being OLD. So I was caught by surprise when I answered the door one morning.
“I want to talk to the old man,” the guy at the door insisted.
My first thought was, “There isn’t an old man here.”
“Who?” I asked him.
“The old man. Your husband.”
My husband? The old man? I laughed out loud. “David, you’re not going to believe this,” I called down the hallway. “This guy wants to talk to the old man, and he means you.”
David took it in stride. It’s happened several times since then. The Zambians respect old age, so it’s actually a compliment to be called old. David’s white hair and beard place him in the aged category, I guess. The average life expectancy in Zambia is around 36, so 50-something is approaching elderly.
Let’s not even think about what will happen when someone comes to the door and asks for “the old woman.”
1 comment:
Linda, when I was growing up the people in rural Texas often called spouses the "old man" and "old lady" or "old woman" regardless of age. It always made me cringe to hear someone refer to "John's old lady."
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