This thing about being young at heart has always surprised me. I mean, you hardly ever hear the young wanting to be 'old at heart', so why is it the old who hanker to not be what they are? I can understand, yes, to want to be 'young in body'; who really likes arthritic knees, dimming eyes, slack muscles, laboring lungs and all that? Who likes having to take tablets before meals, after meals and, sometimes, instead of meals? So, yeah, 'young in body' is to wish for but 'young at heart'? What is it, some sort of consolation prize for the body giving way?
Such is the pressure, though, from peers that I was hypnotized into thinking that it was a good thing to try and see if I was 'young at heart'. So there I went, starting off to read Young Adult fantasy in a bid to see whether my heart was not as ossified as the rest of my body.
I knew there were some things that would, now, seem weird to me. All those hearts fluttering at the sight of a slight smile from the significant other; the flush of jealousy when you find someone else seeming close to him/her/them; the depths of despair when you find coldness or anger...yup, all that did seem silly. But, then, I have replaced that silliness with the silliness of allowing my emotions to ride a roller-coaster in tandem with the movements of the stock-market, so what do I have to feel superior about?
Anyway, THAT was not what made me wonder about whether I could qualify for this 'young at heart' thingy which seems such a desirable thing to be for most people. Nope, there were too many other things to worry about.
For one, there is this peculiar behavior of the heroes when they first meet up with a being powerful enough to swat them like a mosquito. And with far more accuracy than you or I can swat a mosquito. It is, perhaps, the fact that I am old at heart that makes me feel that any half-way sensible person would adopt a diplomatic attitude till such time as it is clear that the relationship will be inimical. But, no, what appears stupid to me probably counts as heroic for the young. Our hero will start off snarking the being with snappy lines like "Is black some sort of uniform which all evil beings have to wear?" It is age that makes me feel that this guy should be sent to bed without supper, I suppose. Alas, young at heart seems a distant dream for me.
A friend suggests that, perhaps, it is not all about being young or old. That a culture whose leaders adopt the 'Look before you leap' philosophy would have young adults lauding heroes of a more sensible bent of mind. Where the leaders adopt the 'Leap first. Look after, if you at all want to' philosophy, though...Perhaps there is a modicum of truth in that. I mean, Harry Potter did not give the urge to spank him every time he opened his mouth but a lot of YA fiction from across that ocean kept my hands twitching. But, yeah, perhaps it is all wishful thinking on my part to keep myself in contention for membership in the 'young at heart' brigade.
But, no, there are too many other things. Like, when the house is on fire and someone finds a way to get the hell out and screams, "Follow me! Run", I feel that one should do it. But, no, the Young Adults of the fantasy pick that time to argue about how a person of that age/gender/race/color always assumes that he has the right to give orders. Yeah, I know that's an issue worth the debate but am not young enough to think that THAT was the right time to start debating it.
But debating is something that the Young Adult assumes is worth it at ANY time. Going by these YA fantasies, that is. I mean, there they are in the middle of a battle, surrounded by enemies and about to be slaughtered, when one of them suggests a course of action to escape. Again, being the old fogy, I assume that you either have a better alternative or you act on that suggestion because to linger on there would be certain suicide. But, no, to be young at heart means that you will start asking, "But what if this happens...or that happens..." There are times when you HAVE to leap, there are times when you can have cozy fireside chats about the pros and cons of an action and, I am afraid, that the way I tend to choose those times conclusively prove that I have no claims on being 'young at heart'.
Or, perhaps, it is just that I am not 'Young Adult at heart'. Must try my hand at reading children's fiction from now on!
