We met at a restaurant to celebrate one of those big-O birthdays.
We are old friends and conversation is always easy. But to be on the safe side our hostess wrote breezy conversation starters.
“If you had your choice,” one question asked, “what time in the past or the future would you choose to live?”
One guest opted for the Gilded Age. Another mentioned WW II. The Fifties in America and the Twenties in Paris got one vote each. But when someone suggested visiting the future five hundred years from now, the group shuddered.
It’s surprising that people who have benefited so much from the past 500 years of progress would fear the future. We’ll live to see our 90s and still have our teeth. Isn’t it possible that, if we keep our minds open and our fingers crossed, the next tipping point could tip in our favor?
We sang to the happy birthday girl as the desert was brought out. We proceeded to devour that molten-chocolate cake like there was no tomorrow.
