THE "KIDS" ARE IN CHARGE NOW

Roles Reverse As You Age

Have you ever heard the old adage: “Be kind to your kids…some day they’ll choose your nursing home”?  As teachers, we used to joke about that all the time especially after we had to punish a  student. “Ah oh, we’re probably not going to get our jello at the home someday.” Then we’d laugh. I don’t know if it’s funny anymore…

When I realized our Mayor, Fire Chief, City Council President, Judge and Superintendent of Schools were all former students of mine, I started thinking about that old adage again. And then, when I had to go to Urgent Care recently, it REALLY hit me.

I had been feeling pretty lousy for a couple days — sore throat, cough and body aches. Since I had escaped CoVid 19, I decided I probably should get checked out. When I was leaving the house, my husband yelled that I should wear a mask. I kinda smirked and shrugged my shoulders as I shut the door.

But when I walked in and greeted the Urgent Care receptionist , a former student of mine, she said, “Hi, Mrs. Stoneburner, put this mask on and sit over there, please.” All of a sudden I wondered if I had been nice to her when she was in high school.

And after the nurse, a former student of mine, took my vitals and temperature —and they were all normal — I apologized, “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

When she said, “I don’t know either, Mrs. Stoneburner,” I just hoped I had been kind to her when she was a teenager. Then I coughed really loudly to make sure she knew I wasn’t faking it.

By the time the nurse practitioner, a former student of mine, came into the examining room and said, “Hi, Mrs. Stoneburner, are you able to climb up on this table for me?” —- I knew a seismic shift had happened in my life.

I was no longer in charge. The “kids” were now in control.

I r-e-a-l-l-y prayed I’d been nice to her in earlier days when she stuck that stick up my nose. When the test came back that I had Influenza A, she sent me over to Koehler’s Pharmacy for some Oseltamivir Phosphate, better known as Tamiflu.

Since it’s a new pharmacy, I was wandering around a bit looking perplexed until the pharmacy tech, a former student of mine, who happened to be standing under three-foot sized letters spelling out “CHECK IN,” waved me over. “Hi, Mrs. Stoneburner. You’re suppose to start here.” I was kinda embarrassed and felt like a kindergartener who needed help lining up.

You know they say people start showing signs of needing assistance as early as 60 or as late as 80. Personally, I thought some of the red flags like looking puzzled, wearing pjs all day, forgetting what day it was, leaving stuff lying around the house, were benefits of retirement. Ha!

Well, the next thing I heard was the pharmacist, who was a former student of mine, exclaim, “Hi, Mrs. Stoneburner. I didn’t recognize you.” Was it the mask, the crow’s feet around my eyes or the wrinkles hanging under my chin? When he told me the meds may cause diarrhea, I immediately thought back to the time some students put E-lax in the teachers’ salad bar in the cafeteria. Oh dear!

Where has the time gone? I AM really proud of all these “kids,” my former students. I just keep hoping I was nice to them back then… Ha!

It’ll Be OK.

~~~

“You know you’re starting to get up there in years when you have to use a shopping cart at the pharmacy.” ~ Maxine

COMMENT: They say the average age of a doctor in the United States is 53.9 years old. Are your doctors younger or older than you? How do you feel about that?