A Water Bottle to Keep My Hot Mind Open...

Me and some makeup brushes
chilling out in the zeitgeist.

I've never been on trend. In fact, I've spent most of my life being the exact opposite. Whether that's because my childhood fashion choices were limited to the clothes of the neighbours' hand-me-downs, or because I preferred to hide my post-puberty body in baggy t-shirts regardless of fashion, I'm not sure. But all that's changed. I'm now current. Part of the zeitgeist. I'm relevant.

Why? Well, it seems I've entered my peri-menopausal years at the exact same time as the world's started collectively talking about the menopause. The likes of Davina McCall, Lisa Snowdon, and a variety of menopause specialists have made a concerted effort in recent times, to raise understanding and knowledge of *whispers like a Victoria Wood character* THE CHANGE. There's even been a recent Channel 4 sitcom on the topic. 

Obviously there's still shed loads of work to do. But as businesses begin to introduce menopause policies and GPs start to get wise to the full range of symptoms, the timing has been perfect for this hot and grumpy forty-five year old. Hot in a good AND a bad way, these days. Like I said, I'd never felt part of any current trend, but recently, I have. I've made it. I am a contemporary socio-cultural phenomenon!

That is, until something knocks me off my perch. Last week I bought my niece a birthday present. She'd requested it and my sister sent me the link. It was for something that all the cool kids are into. Apparently it's sweeping the nation. It's a socio-cultural phenomenon all on its own. It is... drum roll please... an air up bottle. 

Have you heard of it? Do you know what it is? Are you in the know? If, like I did, you're drawing a blank, I can now fill you in. An air up bottle is a water bottle. Except it's more than a water bottle. It's a water bottle with the option of putting a flavoured pod around the top so that you can smell your choice of aroma whilst drinking the water. Then your brain tricks you into thinking you're drinking flavoured water. Ta-daaaah!

First of all, this post is not about air up bottles nor the menopause. Nope, this post is about being part of the zeitgeist. Or, rather, it's about how discombobulating it was to hear of my niece's present request and have absolutely NO CLUE what it was. That feels decidedly non-zeitgeisty to me.

Not having kids is great for a million reasons. And not teaching any more is great for even more. (Solidarity with the teachers!) But both those life-choices would keep me in the loop for longer. This whole water-bottle debacle is the first time I've felt so alien to what's popular with people younger than me.

Water bottles aren't the issue. I know that. And it doesn't really matter if I lose track of teen trends and fashions. But my worry is that it's a slippery slope. What else is going on that I don't know about? When did I retreat into a middle-aged bubble that had lost the plot on what was happening elsewhere? More importantly, I need to do everything in my power to avoid the stereotypical lurch towards right wing politics and irrational fear of difference as I get older. (It doesn't happen to everyone, but the last General Election showed a definite trend.) That's my real concern. One minute it's spendy water bottles, the next it's tutting about 'young people today'. Or commenting on someone's non-white ethnicity, or non-cishet gender identity, whilst being completely ignorant of what's acceptable. I will NOT be that person. I cannot let it happen.

But what do I do? How do I fight what might be an inevitability? As the years pass by, it'll be more than water bottles I've lost track of. Do I do a Steve Buscemi and infiltrate a school? Do I keep an open mind and listen to young people when they share their opinions and discuss the world around them? (NO and YES are the answers to those questions.) Or do I just keep an open mind in general? My peri-menopause is on trend. I don't need anything else to be. But that doesn't mean I'll allow things to slip towards bigotry either. 

Steve Buscemi showing us
one way of staying aware.

So, Young People! Enjoy your water bottles, and everything else fashionable that gives you joy. I will be fanning myself through a hot flush and cheering you on. Even if I've never heard of what you're into, and don't get really it, I'll want to ask about it. Purely in a bid to keep my mind open and any old-aged ignorance at bay. Thank you in advance for humouring me. 

Have a lovely week, folks.