RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29271, 1 August 1960, Page 19

RANDOM REMINDER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

For the very young, birthdays are extremely exciting affairs. It is the day that indulgent elders restrain from commenting on the personal hygiene, lack of social graces, and general undesirability of their sons and daughters, younger brothers and sisters. And there are presents, and the dizzy awareness of being a year older, practically grown up. This stage lasts, as a rule, well into the twenties. After that, birthdays were acknowledged with father more diffidence. It is alleged that some women then begin counting back-;

wards, but they are not alone in their consciousness of departed youth. This is the feeling which persuades the occasional man to grow his last genuine strand of hair as long as possible, so that it may be doubled to and fro across the expanse of baldness three or even four times. Some men begin taking classes in calisthenics. Others join clubs where they find colleagues in their age group they can address in the terms they used in school days. But later in life, there is another change. Maurice Chevalier in one of his recent films sang convincingly about his satisfac-

tion at not being young any more: “the fountain of youth,” he suggests, “is dull as paint”, adding that Methuselah is his patron saint. This may be going a little far, but certain it is that the years bring with them a sense of perspective and a serenity which can compensate quite satisfactorily for ineligibility for rock'n’roll contests; memories are as cherished as motor-bikes, and not so noisy. The wine, women and song sought<by youth all seem to improve with age; and with it all must come a sense of accomplishment, as someone says “well done.”