Several Shades of Grey

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Several Shades of Grey

April 18, 2015 - 11:17
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I had just emerged from a benign and wholly unnecessary meeting with WINZ Senior Services. A different world where they speak slow and clear, are graciously deferential and call you sir. Seniors are a different class of beneficiary deserving of a comfortable quiet space well away from the mewling masses queued next door.

This meeting, which could have been completed on-line in less than two minutes, were I a ten year old, was generously arranged to spare me the minor trauma of typing and fiddling with the send button. So at our first meeting I was given a form along with clear, simple instructions and a week to complete it. I had come in so that a school boy in shorts could check that I’d put my name in the right box. So thoughtful.

As I said, I emerged from this delightful interlude, feeling fully my age, into the sparkling sunshine of a Whangarei afternoon to meet Janet. Standing on the footpath outside Warren’s Electrical, I noticed an elderly man, white-headed, bound toward me, his wife in tow.

‘Are you a Goldcard holder?’ he asked, breathless.

I looked around for the object of his interest and, finding no one, concluded, somewhat perplexed, that he must be referring to me.

‘No. Well, not quite.’ Do I look like a pensioner already, I wondered? ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Well, the white hair.’ I wasn't warming to this man. ‘Do you know where the petrol station is that gives Goldcard holders seventeen cents a litre off?’ He waved a gold and black card at me. ‘We're from out of town.’

Janet, who was finding this all terribly amusing, engaged with our new friends. I hung back, resenting this confirmation of my soon-to-be new status. She discovered that, quite apart from being able to catch the Waiheke ferry for free, I would soon be eligible for a smorgasbord of discounts, that our friends were sailors from Nelson and that life with a Goldcard could be great fun. I'm still digesting this.

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Great post, great person. You made me smile. Just think David, now get can get freebies and still have all the energy to make the most of them. Lol Enjoy your birthday and the next new exciting chapter in your life. still sounds young to me.

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