Dying as young grandpa

I had a classmate who would always tell a one liner story: 'There was a very old aged grandma who died when she was very young.' We would just laugh at it without giving a deeper thought. Perhaps, even he didn't know what it meant. Maybe the story meant, the grandma never let the child in her die. She was young at heart and matured at thoughts.

I have seen some people who live as if they have promised someone that they would never laugh in their life time. They are very serious people. They never act silly, Forget about making jokes, they do not even smile openly when others are laughing out loud for your jokes. They do not speak much. And sometimes, we mistake that way of living as maturity, as a sign of intelligence, as a mark of decency.. so on and so forth. This category of people may think that they would be looked down by others if they speak more, if they crack jokes, if they laugh out. If that’s the case, robots must be the most respected things. Like we get 'lateral entry' to some academic courses, these people must have got lateral entry to 'life'. They skip their childhood and directly become grown ups.

How boring!

On the other hand, I have seen people who over-react, over-thank, over-apologise, over-laugh. In simple, they overACT all the time, everywhere. Just lend them your pen for a minute to sign somewhere, they would say 'Oh.. thank you so much, I will never forget your help' - as if you have given them the second life. You just say 'thanks' when they do a small favour. They would say 'You're welcome. It's my pleasure helping you. Always ready to help you' etc etc.. as if they were waiting to help you for years. Even if you tell them a poor joke, which has been revolving around the world from the age SMS was born and which is still revolving in WhatsApp, they would roll on floor laughing as if that’s the joke of their lifetime. Their common sense clock has stopped running long back, but the body clock has been running uninterruptedly. This mismatch makes them absurd.

How irritating!

I prefer to choose between these ‘How boring!’ and ‘How irritating!’ paths.

It’s okay to be silly with friends. It’s fine to be funny with people close to you. It’s alright to laugh out loud during happy times. It’s good to crack jokes to keep your conversations lively. We just can’t be serious all the time. Try behaving formally with your wife maintaining the same distance you maintain with your colleagues, she thinks either you’ve lightly gone nuts or disinterested in her. Try reversing that. You’ll get a call from your boss for your misbehavior. Everything has a place. Everything has a time. Everything is fair as long as it doesn’t hurt others. I want to die as a young grandpa! May the child in you never die.