As I was walking through the playground during the younger grades’ recess, I had to pass through the basketball court. The second graders were playing, and as I approached, one of them said: “Watch out! Old man coming through!”
To my knowledge, it is the first time I’ve been called that. I thought I should record it for the purposes of documentation.
This is a picture I took later for the purposes of the post. None of these kids called me Old Man.
This is merely a problem to be solved:
http://static.tumblr.com/e059c56636ece3b493c3eac2b0b1d86e/wcxohgw/KlVmtpq4z/tumblr_static_kevinmalone.png
Yeah, I tell people that being called ‘Mom’ doesn’t bother me, but ‘Grandma’ gets me a little. The worst, though, is ‘Grandpa’. That has happened more than once.
Congratulations, sir! You are now officially old enough to be called an old man by your students! Embrace it!! It should get you a few perks once in a while, such as “Please bring me such-and-such so I don’t have to get up to get it myself.” or “I’m sorry – would you mind repeating that? I’m afraid my hearing aid wasn’t properly adjusted.”
My personal favorite? “Humor the old person and just do it for me, will ya’?” (Believe it or not, that is occasionally effective!)