Bob Mount: Thank God for ‘Old Geezers’

A friend of mine knows I belong to an organization of distinguished gentlemen known as the Order of Geezers, which meets each week-day afternoon at Hardee’s on Marvyn Parkway in Opelika. He forwarded me a copy of an essay someone wrote on people who fit the definition of “Old Geezers.”
Following are excerpts from the essay.

“A recent survey found over 70 percent of our elected officials (are ignorant) of American History. I guess they’re not Old Geezers.

“Old Geezers are easy to spot at sporting events; during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner, Old Geezers remove their hats or caps and stand at attention and sing without embarrassment. They know the words and believe in them.

“Old Geezers remember the Depression, World War II, Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy, and Hitler. They remember the Atomic Age, the Korean War, the Cold War, the jet age, the moon landing, and the 50 plus peacekeeping missions from 1945 to 2005, not to mention Vietnam.

“If you bump into an Old Geezer on the sidewalk, he will apologize … Old Geezers trust strangers and are courtly to women … Old Geezers get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women (or) children and they don’t like any filth on TV or in movies …”

(The writer failed to mention their abhorrence of Internet pornography and vulgar lyrics in rap music.)

“It’s the Old Geezers who know our great country is protected not by politicians, but by the young men and women in the military serving our country.”

The writer concludes by stating, “This country needs Old Geezers with their decent values. We need them more now than ever before. THANK GOD FOR OLD GEEZERS!”

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Campaigning for the presidency, Barack Obama stressed the need for change. We badly needed a president who would bring about a change in policies related to the environment, and his actions thus far lead me to believe he is far more concerned about environmental problems than George Bush ever was.

Surely, he recognizes some other changes are warranted. The problem of illegitimate babies being born to teen-aged girls poses a continuing threat to society. The number of illegitimate children being born has increased 400 percent since 1970.

A coarsening of our culture is believed to be a major factor causing promiscuous sexual behavior in juveniles. Brent Bozell, in an article in Middle America News, January edition, provides evidence of how coarse it has become. He cites a study by the Parents Television Council revealing the following:

The f-word aired only once on prime time TV in all of 1998. It appeared 1,147 times on prime time in 2007. The s-word appeared only twice in 1998; it aired 367 times in 2007. The lawyers for the Hollywood vulgarians argue their clients are exercising their freedom of expression. Shame on them.

Bob Mount is emeritus professor of zoology and entomology at Auburn University and writes a weekly column for the Opelika-Auburn News.