Growing old gracefully?

I don’t watch a great deal of television but yesterday I happened to see The Weakest Link because I was too lazy to do something else until the next programme started.

For those who aren’t familiar with the programme, the contestants introduce themselves, saying their name, where they are from and how old they are. I’ve often wondered about that last item. How relevant is it and do people find that a problem? Do people tell the truth?

Well, there last night was this attractive woman who said she was 50. After a suitable pause, Anne Robinson asked “And how many times have you been 50?” Various shrieks and protestations followed, but I don’t think we ever got to the final answer though it was obvious she was more than 53 (and that after a protracted effort to remember her date of birth).

So on the one hand we had an most pleasant 50-something woman and on the other we had Anne Robinson who is apparently 60-something but, thanks to the expertise of medical science, looks younger by the day. Frankly I thought the contestant looked better.

I’ve met three people in person who have had facelifts. Two of them are only assumptions, but what else can have given them the look of wearing a mask? One was a famous British author and the other a director of a very large firm, so they weren’t short of a penny or two i.e. you could assume they went for the best available.

The third was the English wife of a Frenchman. He apparently told her that it was time she was thinking about a facelift. My jaw dropped. I couldn’t think of anything polite to say.

Strangely, my husband, not normally afraid to voice an opinion, has never suggested that…..