Golden Age
By Max Burge
February 28: “I feel like we’re in the Golden Age of our lives.” This was not the first time I used this phrase. These words had become a common refrain over the last 18 months. It wasn’t a hollow statement. I truly believed it. Life was great.
After a listless (but fun) post-college period of 2-3 years, I’d slowly awakened to the fact that this was it. Life. You got out of it what you put in. For a few years, I’d felt sorry for myself. Why? Zero reason. I just did. Turns out nobody gave a shit about my grades or how many ground balls I scooped up in the DIII Men’s Lacrosse showdown between Denison and Ohio Wesleyan in 2013. Nobody cared. Except me. A part of me still thought I was in 2013, or 2015, or 2010. I guess I thought that I’d be successful in “real life” because I once was successful in school. Hilarious.
Nope. We’ve all got a clean slate. We have to earn it all over again.
But I woke up. It wasn’t sudden. It just built up over time. Gradually. Started by taking a couple vitamins. No joke. Simple enough. Got back on the treadmill for the first time since 2015. Built a little momentum. Got in better shape. Started meditating. Stopped pouring beers down my pants in public settings for attention. Built more confidence. Lost some weight. Ran a marathon. Got a better job. Moved in with a girl I love. Looked around, and in about 18 months, I had gone from self-loathing to being (a little bit) proud of who I was becoming. I felt like an entirely different person than who I was before.
Hence the Golden Age. You’re on the same page, right? Being in your mid/late twenties is phenomenal. If you’re not in your late twenties and reading this, then you at least remember them (if you’re younger, you have them to look forward to). You feel more comfortable in your own skin. You have 5+ years’ experience in your “career”. You earn a little more disposable income. You have nobody relying on you. You make your own schedule outside of work hours. You spend time with friends and family whenever you want. You fall in love. You grow up, just a little bit. You focus on you.
February 28: “I feel like we’re in the golden age of our lives.” This was the last time I used this phrase out loud. 5:30 PM on a Friday. I sat at the bar inside of Nordstrom on Michigan Ave and drank some red wine with friends. We enjoyed other’s company, argued about nothing, and talked like we had it all figured out. The late twenties Golden Age talk came up. Why? Something was threatening it. Some virus. People were starting to take it seriously. Stock market panic. China was shutting down. Something was happening. It couldn’t affect our lives, could it? Doesn’t this virus get it? We’re in the Golden Age. It can’t come now.
As cities shut down, my living room became my office, and a trip to Paris and Amsterdam was cancelled, I kept repeating the Golden Age story in my head. Chicago will be fine by summer. I don’t mind working from home. We’ll reschedule the Europe trip for this fall. Come on. Aside from no commute to work, my life hadn’t really changed. It’s just like the flu, right?
It first sort of hit when I saw the boarded-up stores. They’re boarding up a Gucci on Michigan Ave? Word?
It really hit when I saw the numbers. That’s when the Golden Age, long live its glory, was put to rest.
· 10 million: The number of jobless claims filed in the last two weeks. 10 million people without jobs and incomes.
· 250,000: The estimated number of American casualties due to Coronavirus. 250,000 families forever changed. 250,000 spouses, parents, siblings, grandparents, best friends, cousins, neighbors. Gone forever.
The “Golden Age” is over. It was never going to last. It wasn’t meant to last. But it doesn’t mean there can’t be another Golden Age when this is all over, right?
