Old Folks, Misery, and Joy

One of the funny privileges of working in a restaurant is seeing the regulars. Over the years, I have moved from waiting on exclusively strangers to once in a while waiting on people who have moved closer to the category of friend, even if our relationship will never make that jump.

I have found that most of my favorite regulars are over the age of 60. I think at some point in our lives we all decide whether or not we will be pleasant people. We decide if we respect others. We decide if we take ourselves seriously. We decide if we will fight every battle, every day. We can all hide our decision when we are young, whether it is social pressure, a desire to impress a woman, or inexperience in dealing fully with our emotions. Because we can tolerate a young man's cynicism for only so long and chock it up to fear but who can stand an old cynic? As the case may be, when we get old, we start to settle into who we have become over the years.

And a lot of people, if the truth be told, are really miserable. Maybe they have decided the technological revolution has been too slow to create a robot-waiter or they have not had their lust for control satisfied to the fullest extent but either way, an alarming amount of people are, at their basic make-up, miserable.

Who wants to grow old if that is how we will end?

But the older folks I waited on last night were different. This was probably the 5th or 6th time I have served them and it has always been a pleasure. The old women have hilariously quick wits along with genuinely sweet personalities. The old men may not ever recognize me but they are always polite and expect nothing from me but another drink when they are running dry.

In a world of whiners, back-biters, complainers, and critics, dealing with a happy, thankful people is a cold drink in the desert.

Come to think of it, maybe that's what Paul meant in Philippians when he told the people of God to stop whining and start thanking God for what he has given us. Is there any better place to see this than in the person of Jesus? He came among us and suffered, even died, without complaint. In fact, he did it because he knew that there was great joy to be gained in what he was doing.

The choice lies before us as to what people we will be today. Yesterday is passed and tomorrow is out of our hands.

Will you choose misery or joy?