The Washington times., 1936-08-12
THE VOICE OF
Broadway
BY Louis SoboI-
Paue Off the Calendar!

Page Off the Calendar!
This is a day that comes only
once in a mans life.
1 will not concede that 1t Is .
happy day.
Somewhere, the sun is shining
I am sure Of that because the
shades are up, the windows are
open and the sidewalks appear
whitishly bright. They only appear
like that on a sunny day.
Somewhere happy little girls
and boys are frolicking gaily.
Older boys and girls are frolicking
too, no doubt, in the more roman
tic but carefree fashion. Youth
bubbles and sings and dances
for this is the world of the young
and the old can only sit by the
open window and sigh as they re-
call the days when the blood ran
swift and fiery through the veins
and impulses were deliciouSly mad
and ambition hung higher than
the goose.
Yesterday we were thirty mine
Today we are forty.
Chant me no roundelayS
theming lfe's rebirth at forty. To
morrow, yes-I'll join in the chorus
and sing louder than the rest
but, today, there is no Tilt to my
song. Yesterday I was throbbing
youth, fitting carelesSly at life's
windmills-brazenly boiSterously
believing my boastful babble.
There is no conceit like youths at
thirty-nine. George Bernard
Shaw was so right when he cliched
the wonders Of youth-but so
wrong when he smartened up the
banality with the tag-"it's
shame to waste it on the young"
Forty has no right to youth.
MY hair is no thinner today
than it was yesterday. What re-
mains of it is unStreaked by the
tell-tale gray. The three Jagged
lines in my forehead have been
there for yearS-the pouches
under my eyes are the trade
mark of late hours, little sleep,
irregular habits. My waiStline
hasn't varied in Is years.
The brand Of 40 isn't visible
to the naked eye. 1t has been
stamped on the soul and the
spirit. On a bright, warm,
cloudless day in August, page
is ripped off the bulky calendar
pad-and the sun goes out Of
life.
The seventeen that was mine
yearned restlesSly and impatiently
for twenty-one-and manhood.
Twenty-one, eager to win a way
in the world. nursed a Scraggly
few hairs on the upper lip to con-
vey the impression of thirty.
Thirty. cropping and ambitious, set
a course for itself and blindly as
sured itself that it would race
swiftly over the 10 long laps in
the relay of success to the wait
ing forty. But forty is here and
can't resist the temptation to look
over it's back to the course just
run and wish it could start again
from thirty's take-off. It's such
tragically short leap and a bound
to fifty.
Yesterdays thirty-nine by
brushing its hair carefully, shaw
ing its face cIeanly and forget
ting tOmOrrOw'S calendar, could
mingle on the equal terms Of
elastic youth with restless
twenty. They had so much in
cOmmOn-Or it could convince
themselves they had. Weary
forty can no longer kid itself. 1t
Is thin, baldiSh, dull-eyed-the
lead o. age clogs its veins. its
heavy soul chants jeremiad Of
futility. Thirty-nine springs i'm
petuouSly forward on Mercury
winged feet, unmindful of Life'S
little ShOveS-fOrty ShuffleS
along or. leaden choppers, eager
ly seeking excuses to tarry-
and turn back.
There is no age quite so distress
ing as forty.
At fifty, you are, or have been
definitely failure or success. IL
is an age of adjustment-you know
exactly what to expect for the re-
manning years. Fifty fortifieS it.
self with a philosophy Of accept
ance. It is no longer restless.
Sixty knows that its course prac-
tically has been run. It is the age
of memories. of thorough and rich
experience. Sixty is placid, con-
tent, amiably restful. 1t shrugs its
shoulders at the years to come
good or bad. It has no resentment
even its regrets are mellowed.
But forty! Forty Is Old-but
not Oldishly old. Forty is young
but not youngishly young. 1t
is neither fish nor fowl. Forty
resents its mistakes, but it no
longer has the optimism Of
thirty-Or the hopes. Forty is
still restless, but it no longer
has the inspiring fire. 1t is too
old to start life completely anew
it is too young to accept
philOSOphically what life has
handed out and be content. Its
memories are SparSe-itS expert
ences still in the experimental
stage.
VOTE AMERICAN
Na\u Riehon Naroad