Post 653 - The Romans Had a Number for That!

OK, we detest the passage of time, not merely for its relentless, single-direction, but for the implications of age expressed in the randomness of a "year."  21?  30?  50?  Oh the mental gymnastics and the physical contortions we endure to belie the implications of age.  So why not Go Roman?  It's useful for more than expressing copyright dates, right?

For Example:

Up to 10, just do the basics:  I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX

Teenage years, they're just rated X, because there's always more imagination before you experience an X rated film, which is so anticlimactic. So to speak

The 20s?  XX! As in Dos Equis! You can legally drink!

30s?  XXX - Triple X - Whatever you haven't done yet, it still has some allure, but it takes work, and may even teach a lesson or two

40s - XL - as in XL-ent!  The last gasps of youth, the harbinger of moyen age, if you will.  Or if you won't.  It doesn't matter.  You're in your 40s, you should know better by now.

50s - a simple L-series here.  Like the old Saturns - reliable, mileage may vary, enough contours to face the onslaught of 

60s - LX - the Luxury series, the Lincolns, the Cadillacs, the sweet tinge of royal vintage

70s - LXX - you've LXX'd it, you've entered the rarefied air, the ultimate strata of delicious relevance

80s - LXXX - The L of triple Xs!  You've made it the way your wanted it.  If the world doesn't like your song, pull out your hearing aids and you can't hear their whining.  The delight of apathy.

90s - XC - as in "I'm too XC for my pants, too XC for my shirt, too XC to change my socks."  You're too XC for Willard Scott's birthday greetings, too, but accept them with grace and straight shots of whatever you want.

100s - C! As in Si! Or, in French, Oui! (pronounced WHEE!) - the world is your bathroom, and you have likely outlived any-and-everyone who could contradict your recollections of a lifetime of adventure.  Make your reality and just giggle at the nay-sayers. 

All time is the right time.

(c) 1988, Jim Middleton, The Animating Apothecary