Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-09-09
Middle Age Station

T HAS only recently been dawning
 upon me what s the matter with me -l m hiking along toward middle age, remarked a round man of 45 or so, who accomplished great deal of roaming up and down the world before he dropped anchor and settled down about a decade and half ago. T hate to believe it, but it's a fact.
 The other afternoon went into a store to buy hat.
 Show me some straws,' said to the salesman.
 s'The salesman brought out lot of those narrow-brimmed, soft, high crowned straw hats that the sedate old codgers wear, for comfort more than looks.
 Not that kind said, rather impa- tiently to the salesman-I didn't enjoy out hats of that kind. Wide -brimmed sailor straws, you know something stylish-not necessarily jaunty, but-er
 stylish and effective
 ''The salesman looked at me rather doubtfully.
 Very we'll he replied, but the kind I've shown you are the sort that are mostly worn by settled men
 :" Settled men!' Me settled man! That came as sort of shock to me, I'm bound to admit.
 Say, how old dye think anna hundred and fourteen?' asked the sales man.
 Oh, no,,' he replied, smiling, but, you know, those -brimmed sailor straws are generally worn by-they're more suitable for the young fellows. y'know.
 Il hadn't entirely got into the habit of chasing myself as anything else but one of the young fellows, but of course had to accept the polite salesman's yer dict that was in the fogy class can't say that enjoyed it. aa6
 "But that salesman's opinion wasn't the first to nudge me along to the some what unpleasant realization that I'm really not one of the young fellows any more Last winter I went into a shoe store and said, sort of off-hand, to the salesman: Show me some shoes, size eight, and blamed if he didn't look me | over and then fetch out four or five ,square-toed very sort leather congress gaiters-those shoes with the elastic | tabs at the side, you know, that old codgers wear so that they can clip lem on and off easily. I was foolish enough to depart from that shoe store in a sort of huff, but when thought it over and cooled out, perceived that the shoe salesman wasn't really to blame Lit was myself that was to blame for getting into the middle-age class and taking on ! that congress gaitery look! So went back to the shoe store and bought my shoes there. Congress gaiters? Not , much! l bought pair of buttoned pat ent leathers-d'ye think I'm going to permit them to naturally force me to be middle-aged by their implications that have reached that stage?
 ''I began to notice too, awhile back, that a great many of the young fellows with whom came into business or so- cial contact-chaps of from 25 to 3O-- were falling into the habit of calling 1 me sir hate to own up how much that | distressed me when noticed It. knew that held no exalted station that would entitle me to the sir business from | anybody, and then 1 was reluctantly- great scotti how reluctantly-forced to the conclusion-beyonda all doubt the correct conclusion-that the only req son why these fellows of 25 and 30 were addressing me as sir was that they wanted to evince proper respect toward me as middle-aged man! After sir ring me these same fellows would right in my presence, rollickingly address fel- | lows of their own age by their first names It makes me feel like one. out of the picture-like one dished. I had 1 passed that queerly indefinable line of demarcation between the young fellow and the settled man. without knowing 1t or appreciating the significance of the change - and then, when I was forced to think it over, the knowl- edge of it came sweeping in upon me like an avalanche-I had reached the middle age and joined the settled crowd all unawares! I'll get used to 1t in time, no doubt-I'l have to | feeling at first. sfell .o wondering whether, in my utter misrepresentation of l the fact that had attained or was verg- Ing upon middle age, had gone on act ing too much the part of the young fel- low, thus giving people the chance to crltlclse me for trying to keep up the bluff that still possessed the youth that < had slipped away from me without my knowing it. The thought of that cha grined me- l hate to see middle-aged