Thirty Something

A while back, I did something I haven’t done in ten years or more—went to bed before midnight! That may seem late to a lot of people but for a guy who usually stays up until 5:00 or 6:00, it was quite early. The reason for going to bed at that time? Well... I’ll get to that in a minute.

Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I went to bed so early; it may have been longer than ten years ago. I am pretty confident of the ten years though because I’ve been on the night shift for that long. Weekends and vacations I still maintain the same hours. If I didn’t, Mondays would be very tiring. And when driving a truck, tired is not the thing to be.

But even before I started this shift, I rarely went to bed before midnight. It just isn’t me. I’m a night person. I remember the days of getting up at 4:30 am to go to work, and I still went to bed around 12:30 or 1:00.

Even as a kid, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning—and then went to school. In fact, this has been my lifestyle for most of my life. Lucky for me, I don’t require much sleep.

My dad once told me that consistently staying up late would eventually catch up to me. He said I’d look old by the time I was thirty. (Okay, he said that more than once). But of course, I didn’t listen. Lately though, I have to admit, he was right, it is definitely starting to catch up with me, though I’m long past age thirty!

Switching gears slightly now. The other night, I gave a ride to one of the drivers at my job whose truck had broken down. I didn’t know him because he just recently started working there but the guy was very talkative and asked a lot of questions. I answered his questions, telling him about various things, including my grandchildren. After a while, he looked at me and said, “How old are you anyway?”

“Forty-eight.”

He shook his head. “I thought you were about thirty.”

I laughed a little at that. It’s been a while since someone mistook me for a thirty-year-old.

“You must have a very healthy life and get plenty of sleep,” the guy said. “That’s hard for a truck driver.”

I laughed again. If you only knew... I’ve never been accused of being healthy or getting plenty of sleep in my entire life!

I’m not sure if the guy really thought I was thirty or if he was just talking. He’d been up a while and it was dark so his perception may have been way off. One thing I do know, I certainly do not look, or feel, thirty—unless, this is how my dad pictured of me at age thirty. I’ll have to ask him.

Oh, I said I’d give the reason for going to bed so early. It’s really quite simple, it was my day off, and I was tired! ~

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook and paperback on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords.  Amazon Profile - http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.

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