The silent old man having a pint
You know that silent old man having a pint by himself? Who is he, and why do I want to be him?
NO EARPHONES. The man sits, mostly staring at nothing, listening to nothing and thinking…..what the fuck is this cunt thinking! Forgetting the noticeable cultural and technological differences between this man and myself - he won't be bringing out his phone to discreetly check how hot his newest tinder match is or the dreaded phantom vibration/loneliness indicator. He is content in his thoughts or, at the very least, appears so.
Fictional characters like Tony Soprano and Don Draper loooooooooooooove the strong silent type, and in this mental health-conscious era, why are these traits still so enviable? It's not that I wish to ignore my thoughts and feelings. I want to be the sole trader of my mind- I decide what thoughts remain and what reviews are placed in the spam box. It's the gall of the silent old man at the pub, a gall he is unaware of and a gall that I want. I repeat, NO EARPHONES. Whatever the fuck is going on in his head, he is NOT blocking it out.
He is raw but not vulnerable.
Perhaps, I am uncharacteristically optimistic. Am I charitable to men that drink away their feelings? A pint of Stella to clog their ears? Or even a sense of interpersonal comfortability that only comes through age and experience. Is the silent old man just simple? Loves a drink? A combination of all of this?
A closed-off generation interpreted by an overly stimulated generation. One that is not left to their own thoughts as one fears them. The 'overthinking phenomena' where tackling your own mind is overwhelming to the point of literal and mental exhaustion. Our generation jumps with joy and buries our worries. As that leap grows and the hole deepens, the silent old man can be found right in the middle- grounded. Oh, what a life to have.
The silent old man is calm. No social expectations, no aesthetic self-consciousness. When I grow up, I want to be the silent old man- a subdued mystery.
Cheers