Maybe age is kinder to us than we think. With my bad eyes, I can't see how bad I look, and with my rotten memory, I have a good excuse for getting out of a lot of stuff.
Interpretation
Age brings unexpected benefits like better excuses for our shortcomings.
In this quote, Erma Bombeck humorously reflects on the advantages that come with aging, particularly in relation to self-perception and memory lapses. She suggests that as we age, our physical imperfections and memory issues offer us a chance to view ourselves more kindly and provide justifications for avoiding certain responsibilities.
In practice
In a speech about aging at a community center, to emphasize the lighthearted side of getting older.
We've got a generation now who were born with semiequality. They don't know how it was before, so they think, this isn't too bad. We're working. We have our attache' cases and our three piece suits. I get very disgusted with the younger generation of women. We had a torch to pass, and they are just sitting there. They don't realize it can be taken away. Things are going to have to get worse before they join in fighting the battle.
You hear a lot of dialogue on the death of the American family. Families aren't dying. They're merging into big conglomerates.
Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It's the only thing "real" men do that doesn't seem to threaten their masculinity. To women, it's on the same domestic entry level as putting the spring back into the toilet-tissue holder or taking a chicken out of the freezer to thaw.
Not everyone is comfortable with the kissing ritual. My husband is one of them. Her refuses to press lips with anyone except his wife, mother, and dog. If someone wanted to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he would refuse until he had been formally introduced.
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
A grandparent will help you with your buttons, your zippers, and your shoelaces and not be in any hurry for you to grow up.
Humor is one of the most serious tools we have for dealing with impossible situations.
It was sad, like those businessmen who came to work in serious clothes but wore colorful ties in a mad, desperate attempt to show there was a free spirit in there somewhere.
True humor springs not more from the head than from the heart. It is not contempt; its essence is love. It issues not in laughter, but in still smiles, which lie far deeper.
A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.
Nobody gave me what I wanted for my birthday! Nobody! What sort of presents do you call these? New shoes, a green sweater and a bunch of stupid toys!" "What were you expecting?" "Real estate!
You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look.
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