And fear makes fools out of most people.
So what does society do?
It projects. All that panic, all that internal chaos gets dumped on the elderly. Like a collective therapy session gone wrong.
Why? Because some folks are terrified of old people. Not because they're weird or frail or slow—but because when they look at them, they see themselves in the future.
Brutal? Absolutely. True? You bet your collagen it is.
People imagine retirement like one of those dazzling toothpaste commercials: perfect smiles, white beaches, eternal golf. Meanwhile, reality is just waiting to slap you with the backhand of some heavyweight kickboxer—straight across your aging, aching everything. And after that, it might just toss you into one of those lovely institutions called "Nursing Home" or, in more progressive Orwellian speak, "Geriatric Wellness Center."
And families? They've got a more honest name for it:
"Finally, We Get to Live Our Damn Lives."
Of course, some cry. Some visit daily. Some take care of their elders with love and can't forgive themselves for even needing help.
But some others… well, you know.
I'm not judging. I'm not pointing fingers. I'm just observing. Like a quiet little ghost in the corridor.
As for those on the other side of the door, the ones left behind—they've got only one chance: the Benjamin Button plotline. And let's be real, unless you're on a movie set, good luck with that one.
And now—allow me to step forward. Doña Juanita speaking. Lyrical section activated:
What I fear the most is not death, not even age. What I fear is being erased, devalued, or—worse—broken.
I fear not the number in my passport, but the moment someone stops loving me. The moment they stop listening. The moment they start talking to me like I'm either a toddler or some malfunctioning trash robot waiting for pickup.
I fear becoming not me. I just want to live the way I want. And to me, Anti-aging isn't about wrinkle creams or cryo-chambers.
It's about this one, very basic, very human thing:
Staying myself.
Feeling a little sad now, right? Let's wipe away that nasty aftertaste, that lingering bitterness that made your beer glass tremble in your hand and your pistachios pause mid-air. At the end of every story (but not ours — we're only getting started here), there's a logical finale — or that familiar concept we all know: death.
Throughout human history, every culture has invented a thousand and one ways to say goodbye to the dead, from firing flaming arrows into longboats with swaddled corpses to dancing themselves senseless around a rotting body tied to a chair. It's as if people sat together in brainstorming sessions, whether in the business centers of Canary Wharf or the ziggurats of ancient Assyria, cooking up new ceremonies and bizarre competitions.
Let's give a round of applause to these creative managers! They put in tremendous effort to glorify and sing praises to Death, while somehow skipping over that tiny five-minute meeting that could've been used to remember Life instead.
Because Death doesn't demand anything special from you.
You just have to sit and wait for a blood clot to break loose, a suicide bomber to get you, or some other delightful little surprise to punch your ticket.
But thinking about how you might actually live a few extra decades (or maybe even centuries?) — that's where people just throw up their hands, or better yet, wave them at you like you're some kind of fool.
"Quit mocking humanity! You're part of it too, and you haven't done a damn thing for its bright future either! Criticizing? Then propose something!"
Almost everyone could shout that at me — including you, dear reader. And you'd be absolutely right!
Because there are no practical recommendations here. No magic universal recipe. No "Top 10 spells to erase wrinkles around your mouth and cleavage."
What am I doing here besides verbal diarrhea?
Just reminding myself — and you — to stop daydreaming about "nice things," because those sweet thoughts are exactly what sabotage every supposedly "crazy" but world-changing idea.
P.S. Oh, and by the way — if you stop aging, you'll also put those scammy call-center crooks out of business! Serves them right! Strip the con artists of their dirty income.