I Start my Day With Zits and Pickles

I've recently added two new comics to my repertoire -- Zits and Pickles.

I'd been searching around, looking to add some variety to my life.  Doonesbury, Dilbert and Rhymes With Orange are great, but I wanted to expand my horizons.  I'd tried "Candorville" and silent "Lio," but they didn't hold me.

Then I noticed the lead comic in my paper is "Zits"  -- teenagers! It's about Jeremy Duncan, a gangly, impatient, oblivious teenager.

And running right below it is "Pickles," for people who are, well,  pickling, getting up in years.

I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle of these two age categories, although technically speaking I'm in what I call "my middle-earlies."

Nevertheless, I'm proud to say I still get the occasional white head, red pustule or blackhead.  I still act out, go all silent and trying to find myself.  And I want to learn how to do it better.  That's why I read "Zits," which chronicles the trials and tribs of your abnormal American teenage guy.

On the other hand, I'm getting a little wrinkled, or pickled.  I get a little stiff after a several sets of tennis and the memory isn't what I used to remember it was as I recall.

And while Earl and Opal Pickle, the stars of "Pickles," seem light years beyond me, it's also true I can get the senior coffee at McDonald's. And I think Earl and Opal set a good example for aging boomers.  They're nice to each other. they kid each other, but in a gentle way. They're not angry people, angry at getting old, at risks not taken.

But then Earl and Opal have always been old.  Ever since they became comic characters more than 15 years ago.  For example, the other day Earl says he's much more sensitive to temperature changes.  Opal informs him euphemistically that his fly is open. They don't get into a fight about it, swear at each other, threaten divorce.  They deal with it and move on.

That's how I want to be as a senior citizen. Mellow. Cute. Gentle.

But I'm not ready for that now.  Not at least until my skin clears up.