of those days

i love the phrase "in those days". for a long time in my life, i never felt qualified to use it though, but everyone older than me seemed to use with such pride that it made the phrase itself assume greater meaning than the sum of its words. it was not only used to reminisce, but also used condescendingly. whenever you said something factual yet unpalatable to someone who was older than you, and they lacked the authority to slap you across the face, they would resort to trying to sting you by starting the next sentence with "i don't blame you, in those days...". unlike many people around me, i had the good fortune of starting school early and never failing a single class. which meant that compared to many of my peers, i was often quite young for my class later in life. by the time i finished law school i was 24 and my dad could not stop oggling at all the other classmates during my call to bar ceremony. i vaguely remember him telling my mum and i on the drive home, that they need to change the name of the school to "nigerian law institute" considering how elderly everyone but his son seemed!

so, as soon as i was let loose from school and the race for life began i was constantly reminded in court and in board rooms that if it wasn't for the falling education standards, i would not dare to be in the same room with some slightly older lawyers, much less have a contrary opinion. whats funny about it was that the really senior lawyers who were entitled to put me down, spent all their time trying to lift me up. telling me how great i was and how much prospect i had and how i should speak up and speak out. and this is when i learned my biggest lesson...that those who find the need to remind you just how much you don't know or why you should be seen and not heard, are not trying to keep you humble....they're threatened by your capabilities. and that should make you speak louder but i digress.

so just recently, i found myself talking to someone and in my normal manner just letting them run free with their thoughts and their tongue. dude had criticized everything from my haircut to my opinions and i engaged him freely on many issues, encouraging him to keep going. after the conversation, he started talking about how late he felt in life and how he's 24 and hadn't done this that and the other. i just reminded him that 24 was not anywhere near the end of life and that everything will fall into place...plus there was no need to swear affidavit to lie about his age just to get ahead in life etc. after everything, he goes: "well, you're not qualified to say that to me, cos look where you are at your young age".

i know i should have been flattered maybe, but i found myself saying a lot of "when i was your age", "ive been around a long time" and the dreaded "in those days". and thats when i froze and it occured to me that slowly and steadily, i have become entitled to use that phrase. needless to say, he now calls me sir or bros for no apparent reason. excitingly, i can now also lay claim to days gone by and bump my head to music while young people around me wonder if "give me... your unconditional love" by Donna Summers (who?!) is actually a song? LMAO. oh my, growing old is such fun.

i know many of you reading this are wondering what song i'm talking about so play the video below you new generation kids. pardon the clarity, it was the best technology we had in those days:

and so, as i formally become a middle aged man tomorrow - i'm 33 - here's a toast to the greater difficulty of getting out of bed, the dancing to music the rest of you dont get and above all, to the longer speeches that start with "in those days". yes, no matter what school you go, and how much you have, and how many age declaration affidavits you swear - you cannot remember what you didn't experience (voltron, sesame street, terrahawks, donna summers). i can...and i tell you, those were the days. infact, in those days...