House of Kyle

As I prepare to celebrate the start of my last year in what I’ll delicately call my “upper-early-forties,” I’ve decided to take a look back at some earlier posts on getting older to see what still holds up and what’s changed (along with adding a few new morsels).

Here’s the older stuff, if you want to catch up:

• Here Comes Forty ( February 2018)

• Older Still (March 2019)

• Lessons Learned (June 2019)

• They Get Like That (December 2020)

Let’s check in on a few of them:

“Having seen patterns on the Internet repeat over the years, I’m encouraged that people are waking up to the ‘didn’t we learn our lesson from AOL in the ‘90s’ current social media environment, and I’m feeling bullish for what comes next. I should note that my former boss Gina Bianchini has been ringing this bell for well over a decade.“

Well, I definitely took this one seriously. 💪

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“I can no longer be home without immediately changing into sweatpants (my wife is disappointingly unenthusiastic about this).“

Changing…into…sweatpants? There are other types of pants?

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“Nothing good can come from a webinar.”

Such innocence. Little did 2019 Kyle know that the entire world would soon become a webinar.

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Some new developments:

• I tweeted about this a while back as well, but I’ve become alarmed at the number of tonics and miracle elixirs that are now part of my daily routine.

• Crappy, cushion-less chairs and I are no longer able to date each other.

• I’m too old to convincingly say or type any of the following phrases…
  
  Bio Break: I’m just gonna say “going to the bathroom” (or nothing at all)
  
  LOL: Yes I’ve hated this for decades, but now I’ve crossed the Rubicon and entered into “tragic grandpa lol” territory
  
  Partner: I like/respect that this is a clean Gen Z way to refer to your significant other, but the ship has sailed for me being able to say “my partner” without sounding like a giant knob
  
  Hooked Up: Ditto on this one, I’ll continue saying “slept with” over here at the retirement home

• Not only am I done with commuting, but the pandemic has taught me that in-person group meetings of many sorts should be treated like live theater: nice, old-fashioned, impractical but endearing “once-in-a-while” events.

• The past two years have been incredibly illuminating for me in terms of discovering how well people tolerate and adapt to change, and I’ve realized that I most respect those that become more and more curious (actively seeking out new points of view) as they age.