I'm Pretty Sure I'm Getting Old.

By TLS

I think I’m getting old. I went to the movie theater the other night and it became shockingly obvious.

I’ve always loved going to the movie theater. Whether the drive-in of yesteryear or the indoor theaters of the past several decades. I just loved going. Lately however, I just haven’t been there much. In fact it’s probably been two or three years since I was last in a theater. A lot of it has to do with the absolute bottom of the barrel crap movies being phoned into production, but also it’s just been a busy past few years.

So we went to go see Sinners the other night. There was some good and some bad, this isn’t a movie review. What struck me like a sledgehammer to the face was when I walked into the building. It was an overwhelming smell and sensation of dirty kids, old sugar, burnt oil, and blue hair. It was quite an assault on my senses.

I don’t think a lot of that was new either. I think it has been there all along, at least to some degree. My long hiatus probably made the experience more pronounced, but it may have actually gotten a bit more extreme too I suppose. I was a little disappointed in myself that I felt like the old complaining codger banging his cane on the rail to drive off the juvenile delinquents.

Perhaps it’s just that time for me. I have always noticed that movie crowds tend to be young, it’s just that before I was firmly rooted in that demographic. Now I’m on the fringe, soon I’ll be solidly outside I suppose.

Yes, seniors go to the movies, but they are certainly a minority. Changes, or perhaps lagging tastes, in movie categories certainly must play a role. But I think the overwhelming, unfiltered, unrestrained, feral kids running around is equally responsible.

It’s too bad too. Going to the movies was always a great escape into a fantasy for at least a couple of hours. And these days that soothing tonic of escape is more greatly needed than ever before.

If you’ve noticed your favorite escapes don’t feel the same anymore, you’re not alone. Aging sneaks up in the most unexpected places, even at the movies. What’s your moment of realization that made you say, “Wow, I guess I’m getting old?” Share it in the comments.