This is a weird thought I had today while scooting back from town this morning on my scooter. I’m 44 years old yet I mostly travel by scooter. I love my scooter. It gets me around quickly, it is fantastic exercise (I can almost scoot up Wye Cop and my thighs could crush nuts), and it is portable (I take my scooter on the train). I travel by Micro Scooter so it is top of the range (these things aren’t cheap but they are worth every penny). I’ve had it for 18 months and it has started to show signs of wear and tear. This is because I use it every day. I use it to get to Wolverhampton, to get around town, to take the children to school and to pick them up. I use it more than I use my bike.
My trusty, yet battered, steed
But should a 44 year old be allowed to travel by scooter? Surely scooters are for children, and at a push, fit men in their early 20s? Am I too old for a scooter? While scooting back from town today, I tried to imagine my mum as a 44 year old (so when I was about 12 years old, in 1985) travelling around Stafford on a scooter and the image in my head was hilarious. It was almost unimaginable. I’m not saying she wouldn’t be able to have scooted. I’m saying she just wouldn’t have done it. I don’t think she would have wanted to scoot and even if she did, I don’t think she would have actually got on a scooter and scooted.
So the question is, is this because we are different people and I have a much more don’t-care attitude about other people’s impressions of me? Is it because she was much more of a grown-up than I am at that age? I still wear clothes from Top Shop and she used to buy her clothes from much more sophisticated shops at this age. Is it because I have an immature personality in comparison? Or is it a sign of the times? In other words, are grownups getting younger? A 44 year old in 1985 may not have scooted around town, but a 44 year old in 2016 perhaps would. I have heard the phrase ’40 is the new 30′ banded about a few times but what I am asking here is whether ’40 is the new 18, 50 is the new 18 and perhaps soon 60 will be the new 18′. Am I from a generation who refuses to grow up? And how about the generations that follow me? Will those people currently in their 30s, 20s and teens overtake me in maturity or be just as willing to scoot in their 40s as I am?
I’m not sure about the answer here. I seem to be the only grown-up who scoots around Shrewsbury. I haven’t seen any others. Two adult friends of mine have scooters but I’ve rarely seen them out and about on them. I seem to get quite a few stares and comments (mostly positive but occasionally negative such as the young lady of school age who said ‘I’m not bein’ funny or nothin’ but why are you on a scooter?’). Is Shrewsbury perhaps not the most hip ‘n’ happenin’ town in the Midlands meaning that adults scooting here is a rare sight? Maybe there are more adults scooting in Birmingham or Cannock. Is it because I simply don’t care what people think and my fellow Salopians do that means I am the lone adult scooter in Shrewsbury? Should I just jolly well grow up and walk like normal 44 year olds? I think my children would prefer it. They might not be willing to admit it but I think they would prefer me to blend in with everyone else and act my age. Oh well. Sucks to be you, kiddies!
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