I drive in the carpool lane with my son...

...in his car seat.

I often wonder what would transpire if I was ever pulled over. The lane explicitly says "2 or more persons." I am a person. He is a person. That makes 2, right?

Somehow, I don't think that they had mommies in mind when they made carpool lanes. My feeling of rebellion got me thinking about the standard of age. I am a person, as he is a person, so why did I think that someone might not think he counts?

The definition of the standard of age is ambiguous at best. It is so set, that we (in English) don't have a word that specifically refers to it. We have person. We have young. We have old. So, what are people in the middle (let's say, roughly, the 3 decades between 20 and 50) called? We are not middle-aged (not all of us, not yet!). We are just people. We are the standard. Everyone who doesn't measure up to that standard is either 'old' or 'young.' Interesting...

The lengths people will go to measure up amazes me - young people dress older, get fake IDs, and long to be 'old enough' to benefit from the privilege of measuring up to the standard. Old people do their darnedest to look younger - some get botox to fill in wrinkles, some spend stupid amounts of money on anti-aging 'this' and wrinkle-free 'that,' and some hit the gym like there is no tomorrow. All this to keep the privilege granted to those who measure up?

Who decided that aging was a bad thing? In many cultures, it is revered!

Age is an interesting standard because everyone has experienced the oppression of youth, everyone eventually measures up, and everyone who lives long enough experiences the oppression of the aged.

It's ironic, really. The oppressed become the oppressors, who then become oppressed by those they had oppressed. Talk about vicious circle!