Today is my 47th birthday.  This means I can have a midlife crisis, right?  Now I can be a "cougar" and trade in my old beau for a young one, and trade my Subie wagon for a really fast sports car!  Not.

I went to Walgreens on New Years Day to pick up an antibiotic and some syrup with codeine in it for a nasty case of tonsillitis.  Before my prescription came back, I noticed a large sign that said that they carded people up to age 40.  Geez, I thought.  Now kiddies are passing themselves off to be 40 now?  Or are 40-year-olds looking that much younger?  Well, the gray hairs on my head are real enough, I really did earn those.  No problem, right?

Well, the pharmacist saw the birthdate on my driver's license, saw me and my budding crow's feet and gray hairs, and didn't bat an eye.  No problem getting the antibiotic.  However, my insurance company had a problem with giving me the codeine syrup for the pain.  On the handout they gave me, and it's no joke, the prescription was "age inappropriate", and they would not pay for it.  Eh????

Now, if they just didn't feel like covering it for any other reason, I might be more prone to accept it, but age?  When am I old enough to take codeine?  Do I need a permission slip from my mother?  Do I need a hall pass from the teacher?  Do I need some kind of officer to accompany me to make sure I don't just pour the whole bottle down my throat or sell it to one of my young friends?  I'm not a kiddie looking to party up with a prescription - I just want the pain in my throat to go away so I can swallow without yelping, be able to talk and be able to go to work on Tuesday without any trouble.  Is that too much to ask?

I was able to get the syrup anyway, with a little help from my friend who was with me, but really...does this make any sense?

So, perhaps 40 is the new 18?  Does that mean I shouldn't have a midlife crisis until maybe 60 or so?  That maybe I need to wait a bit longer before I can rush out and get a convertible and a 40-year-old?

Sigh.  Whatever.

Maybe I should just go find myself a 70-year-old to fool around with and get myself a Cadillac STS.  That is, if I don't mind competing with 80-year-old women and paying more for gas.  Yeah, right.

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