Winter has well and truly set in across Europe. That means cold, damp weather — the sort that gets into your bones and is hard to shake off — on most days. The older you get, the more you feel the cold.
I used to think it was just one of those things doddery old folk used to say. As my Hour Miles mount up, I have learnt first-hand that there is more than an element of truth to that. Yes, I feel the cold more.
Yes, I don’t think I’m ageing. I’m just collecting hour miles. I am now in the Silver Circle of the club and, as an old television advert tagline used to say, membership has its benefits.
When I was younger and hadn’t as many Hour Mile points, I didn’t qualify for so much. Now that I’ve turned 60, my lifetime accrual is starting to show. I get senior discounts on a lot of things. I just can’t wait to be standing on a crowded train or bus again after this pandemic and some junior member of the club will offer me a seat.
Membership has its benefits
And won’t I have hit the jackpot if it turns out it’s one of those seats designated for people with needs. It doesn’t seem like it was too long ago when I was a junior member and abiding by the rules and offering up my seat to the occasional Silver Circle member and the obligatory Gold. Like they say, membership has its benefits.
I didn’t quite understand that bit of the club the first time my membership of Hour Miles was applied to me — and I will admit it took me completely by surprise.
I was in Houston, Texas, eleven years ago, out with my late wife and her friends who were engaging in a bout of retail therapy at a local shopping mall. It was contagious and I caught the bug — the need to search out a denim jacket of the sort I had when I was at the Teen level of the Hour Mile club. Come to think of it, I can’t actually remember filling out a form to join but it does seem like I’ve been in it forever.
In the Silver Circle
I did find what I was looking for — it even fitted me. That’s another strange thing about the club. We all get uniforms but they seem to be different quality, wearing differently. I’ve met some Gold members who don’t look like they’re even in the Silver Circle. But don’t ever make the mistake of wrongly accusing people — particularly females — of being in at a more advanced level than they have attained. It never ends well. And likely won’t begin either.
I headed to the cash register to pay. No, I didn’t collect denim points. Yes, I was paying by card. And no, I’d prefer not to give my telephone number or email.
“I’ve included your senior discount in the total,” the girl said.
What? I was stunned into momentary silence. All my years of living up to that point had come to this — a seniors discount.
“Seniors discount?” I managed to say in utter disbelief. “I. Am. Only 49.”
“Oh,” she offered a rightly contrite retort of embarrassment. “When do you turn 50?” she said without missing a beat.
“Next month, September 25,” I confirmed.
“I’ll give it to you anyway,” she said. “Our policy is to apply the senior’s discount at 50.”
Like I said, membership has its benefits.
Mick O’Reilly is the Gulf News Foreign Correspondent based in Europe
