You're only as old as you're perceived to be...

Photo by Ambrose

Last night, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first date, Dr X and I had a dinner and movie night. We decided to go to our local complex which offers a plethora of 'fine' eateries, amusement arcades, a candy cabin and a big cinema. The vibe was already kicking off in the restaurant. There was loud trendy music playing so it felt like a nightclub, balloons everywhere and preppy little serving girls bouncing around like Santa's elves overdosed on candy canes. The dinner was a long drawn out affair, not because it was haute cuisine, but because the restaurant (I'm using the term kindly) was either badly managed or it was part of a master plan to make you buy more drinks.

When we got to the paying stage Kelly, our overly helpful serving girl, snuggled up in our booth with us to chat and said... "So are you both going home to bed now?"   It was 20:30. "What?" we both said with quizzical looks on our faces. She gave us a look which implied, aww they can't hear, and repeated her question.  I responded frostily "Er no, we're actually going to the cinema for a movie." Her surprise was evident. You could see her thinking, 'how can these two olds be heading off to the cinema at this time of night?'. Then she remembered her ultimate goal was getting a tip so she made nice and started chatting about the movie we were planning on seeing (Mission Impossible).

That short conversation has been playing on my mind ever since. Do we look like a retired couple who's night has to end before 21:00? Have I not been covering up my grey hairs sufficiently? Does the pain in my right knee signal the beginnings of arthritis? "We are a hot young couple" I repeated on a regular basis throughout the night, sometimes I actually said this out loud, whilst pinching Dr X on the arm to make him agree. 

Dr X has forgotten about the incidence already. But is this because he's male and able to switch to other more interesting topics instead of letting them fester away? Or is it a sign of his diminishing mental faculties...  Only time will tell. I going  to find the Horlicks just in case.