aging ungracefuly

“You know, you’ve really stumbled upon something slightly brilliant,” I told the young, indie-looking waitress who had earlier commented on the book I was reading while waiting for my Pad Thai. “Is that book good,” she had asked in the excited and utterly unabashed way only a person under 30 can ask a mundane question?” She apologetically told me she had seen the movie, but should have read the book first, reminding me even the young are not free of hyper self-consciousness. “If you see the movie first, you might enjoy it a bit for a while. If you read the book first the movie will always disappoint and seem like a waste of time. It’s the same reason we eat desert after the meal.” These are the types of things you find yourself telling strangers when: A. You travel a lot. B. You want to talk to someone, but for no longer than a couple seconds. C. You get old.