Reddi Wip

Age, up to this point, has never bothered me. It was just a number. I’ll be turning 65 in about two months and trying to figure out how I got this old so fast. No physical problems except for the normal aches and pains that accompany getting older. I sometimes feel like my wife and I are supporting the people that make Ibuprofen all by ourselves. In our minds we don’t even feel old enough to utilize the senior center in our little town. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people joking that I’m older than dirt. Well I am older than a few things, that I didn’t realize I was older than, but dirt isn‘t one of them.

I have been the breakfast cook of the family for as long as I can remember. Due to dietary concerns and common sense we try to limit my big breakfasts to twice a week and special occasions. I have even cooked a breakfast buffet twice for the entire family when we celebrate Christmas together, usually the Saturday before the 25^th. Two of the families favorites at home are blueberry waffles and chocolate chip pancakes. A couple of us have even taken to cutting up the waffles and pancakes and putting a squirt of Reddi Wip on each little piece.

What a shock when I found out the other day that Reddi Wip was invented in 1948 a year after I was born. I may not be older than dirt, but I am older than Reddi Wip. After doing a little research I found many things, we now take for granted, that I am older than. Other things invented in 1948 were the Frisbee and Velcro. Passenger jet airplanes and cake mix in a box were introduced in 1949; 1950 brought the credit card; 1951 super glue; Mr. Potato Head in 1952; tea bags in 1953; fish sticks in 1955. I could go on and on, which I’m very good at, but I’m sure you get the idea by now.

Was there a purpose in all of this rambling? For me there was. The next time someone comments that I’m older than dirt I can come back with, “No, I’m not, but I am older than Reddi Wip. I can’t wait to see the expression on their face. It might even get them to think about what they’re older than. What are you older than?