Losing Speed

I've been fascinated with this short video ever since my friend Dave sent it along. Dave and I have been sharing bits and pieces since the eighth grade. That's more than fifty years! If life's arc boils down to age then we've been on the same graph line for a long time. In the early days we would hold conference on sex and girl friends and whether or not to skip school. In the last few years we've conferred on things like when to start Social Security and where the best place to live out those last years might be. I laughed like hell when I first watched this clip. Actually, I still laugh each time I view it. But now I'm wondering if Dave isn't sending me a subliminal message and that message is—don't lose speed. One thing you notice as you get older is that you begin to lose your quickness, your ability to react. I think back to those days when I had two good knees and could juke and dodge, or spin out of control and get my feet back under me again. Then I think about a few years ago losing my nerve on a single track, going too slow and, as a result, flying over the handle bars of my mountain bike. The fact is that you need some speed in this life. Speed will carry you over some ruts and some bumps. You have to keep your speed up. You have to keep moving. Watch the video again. This old gent (I'm going to take a guess that he is early seventies) approaches the escalator. Granted, it is somewhat odd that he carries an old style sachel briefcase while wearing shorts and what appear to be running shoes. There is no one else in the security camera for the entire forty second sequence. There's no other human appearing anywhere in the frame. So, I'm going to guess that he's one of the old folks who go to the mall early to walk for exercise. Probably has his jacket and a book in the briefcase. He's probably ridden the escalator a hundred times. Why, then, does he lose speed on this day? Why does he lose his nerve? Why does he just stand there waiting for the escalator to tip him over? Why doesn't he move forward aggressively? Instead, he stands on that first step, letting the machine do the job. He even fails to keep his weight forward and the first step emerging out of the ground spills him onto his back. He does fight back. He isn't completely passive. The knockdown wakes him up. He holds onto the railing, manages a spin move, gets his feeble legs downhill and begins to recover as we lose sight of him. Hopefully, no one was there to witness his humiliation (if you don't count the 5725 people who've watched this on Youtube). I like to imagine that he had regained his composure and a standing position by the time the escalator made it to the next level and that he briskly stepped off the contraption and began to stride quickly around the mall perhaps setting a personal record for most laps walked. Hopefully, it was a reminder to him, as it is to me, and maybe to Dave, and possibly to anyone reading this to keep our speed up as high as we can avoiding the possible ignominy of starring in a widely circulated video. As my Aunt Peggy is fond of saying, "Old age ain't for sissies." As this old guy has taught us,  if you can't go fast, at least lean forward.

Comments

[Dave Andersen]

You are absolutely right about this little clip being a metaphor for life
and aging. Youth will only see a good belly laugh; Age will identify with this elderly gentleman alone on the escalator of life with his little brief case full of life experience and a sandwich. One must approach life with resolution. Life continues on: it's whether or not you chose to go with it. If you lose your resolve and focus, life will continue on without you, even spill you on your ass. But if you step up briskly, pay attention, and go with the flow, life will happily carry you up to the next level.

[Noble]

I know what was in the briefcase: "Escalators for Dummies."

[jeres]

@andersen, your words are enough. I am enlightened. Thanks

[Reo]

This is a good one. Bookmarked. Will check out more. Keep posting sir.