fear of future (Copy of original)

Friends gathered in a suburban bistro to celebrate one more in the relentless march of unavoidable birthdays.

They were old friends and conversation among them would come easily.

But to be on the safe side the hostess, the birthday girl, handed out breezy conversation starters.

“If you had your choice,” one of the prompts asked, “what time in the past or the future would you choose to live?”

One guest opted for the Gilded Age and the layers of clothes that came with it. Another mentioned WW II. The Fifties in America and the Twenties in Paris got multiple votes each.

But when one guest suggested visiting a future five hundred years from now, the group shuddered at the thought.

It’s surprising that people who came of age in the most prosperous of times and in the most stable nation the world has seen would look to the future with dread.

Even though many of the guests will be here well into their 90s, and still have their teeth, not one of them suggested that the next tipping point would tip in our favor.

The group sang happy birthday to their beloved hostess as the desert was brought out, and proceeded to devour the killer molten-chocolate lava cake she had selected as if there were no tomorrow.