Young At Heart

Sometimes we say things we do not mean without lying. Take one of the most common birthday wishes/advice: “age does not matter, just remain young at heart.” I have no doubt that a vast majority of this is uttered in perfect sincerity. The problem is when the birthday person at, say, 50 years, starts acting young like a 25-years old, the well-wisher would be shocked and abhorred. This reaction does not automatically mean that it is a lie but rather that the speaker has no comprehension of what he has just said. In a way speaking without comprehension is perhaps worse than lying. Lying requires a certain level of attention. Lack of comprehension betrays a total lack of thought. One means to lie but does not give a damn when uttering clichés. I think the one on the receiving end should immediately take the advice and bum some money off the speaker, use it to buy brews, and hit on his wife. Ah, the beauty of youth.