ONE OF THE THINGS that happens when you get older is that you discover lots of new ways to hurt yourself. Recently, in France, I was hit square on the head by an automatic parking barrier, something I don't think I could have managed in my younger, more alert years.
As people age, they often find themselves encountering new and unexpected ways to injure themselves. This realization comes with the awareness that physical alertness tends to diminish over time. Such accidents serve as reminders of the limitations that come with age and how one’s body reacts differently to the environment.
In Bill Bryson's book "The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island," he humorously recounts an incident in France where he was hit on the head by an automatic parking barrier. This experience illustrates how even seemingly mundane situations can become perilous as one's reflexes and attentiveness decline with age.
