Throat punching and other methods of survival.

Okay, I get it.  I'm not 25 anymore.  And I'm back at school.  People might have opinions about that, but seriously, do you really think I want to hear them?  I mean, unless it's supportive, 

 But otherwise, I implore you to please think long and hard before you say something like the following responses I have received.  

1.  "You need a man".  Seriously.  In this century.  I do not now, nor have I ever, suffered from the cinderella complex  Do not even get me started on this line of mentality.  If it wasn't my boss that said that, an admitted sexist, and the fact that at heart I am not a violent person, I would have punched him in the throat. 

2. "Don't you think you should be thinking of retiring?"   Well, if my nest egg didn't look like this, and I wasn't a strong believer in life long learning, I might have given that thought a side ways glance.

3. A colleague and I are talking about a client who has recently gone back to school to do his masters. As the discussion closes, she says " And he's only 23...and how old are you?"  Laughing, she walks away,  saying 'just kidding'   I had no response.  Just a silent stare as my mind struggled with the realization that an innocent conversation had so quickly turned into an insult.

To all of them, and any of you other naysayers out there, I say this. And this and a couple of other things I'll leave to your imagination.

Suffice it to say, though, that you can't bring me down.  You can't make me feel old.  You can't make me feel like I've made a mistake.  Because I have a lot of other people who are on  my side, who believe in me and what I'm doing, and support my decision to take a chance.  And I've already learned some new computer tricks, like blogging.