The old man told me he did not understand what was going on with young people these days. Right there in his town where he lived all his life, “There are over one-hundred of those queers living as couples, right out in the open! There is something wrong with people now days”, he said, “for this to be going on”. They did not act and carry on that way until recently, and they weren’t around when he was a younger man.

The old man went on to tell me about his antique and collectibles business. If he was living somewhere more mainstream he would be selling a thousand dollars a day of his wares he said. He told me he can not understand why young people do not collect old things anymore. They are still valuable and practical items he has for sale. “My kids will have fun with this stuff after I am gone”, he told me in a reassuring voice. It will keep them busy for a while, sorting and selling all this stuff.

He said he spends every extra dollar he has on buying collectibles and antiques. He is not selling much these days, and he has three buildings full of boxes and shelves of stuff. Some of the items he has have not had the price changed in thirty years, he has been too busy buying more items. He plans to keep on buying things he said, until he gets too old to drive. When he has to stop driving, he does not think his end will be too far away. Once he can longer drive he told me,”…there is not much point to living.”

I politely found an excuse to leave his insightful company and views on life as he knows it. He is a self admitted old man and what he talked of is life as he understands it. He is not able to change, but up until now he has found a way to endure.

I did not provide any meaningful response to his many observations and opinions for obvious reasons. The main reason was not having an argument with an old man. There is no gain in it. Old men have their opinions and they will never change. At least I managed to leave before he turned to politics. He was warming up to it, but never really got rolling on the subject of our new president elect.

He is set in his ways and his ways are right for him. As Ann Anne Rice mentions a few times in her vampire books, we either change or we die. It is not the exclusive realm of vampires to suffer this affliction. Our world no matter where we live is changing fast.

My Grandparents never believed that we put men on the moon. They believed in hard work, and saving for the future. Going on a cross country road trip, or sailing across the Atlantic Ocean was about the extent of possible travel in their world. I am sure each of us will find ourselves dated in our thinking and our ways at some point in our life. Hopefully those areas we find ourselves outdated in will not be not life limiters.

Maybe we will find we hold a timeless message for those coming behind us before we go the way of the old men and vampires that could not accept change.