Earlier this week, I took an on-line personality test and was informed (in a kindly, hand-patting way) that my personality category was “Old-Fashioned”. This is a trait that I have long suspected in myself but have been far too tactful to name. The internet has no such qualms.
When I was younger, I was applauded for not being led by The Crowd; for marching to the beat of my own drum; for being strong enough to stand by my own moralistic way of thinking. Somehow, once you age into the grey hair and compression stockings bracket, those same non-conformist characteristics get re-framed. It becomes a bit more comfortable to think of someone as being old-fashioned than it is to worry about them being either trail blazers or individualistic. There’s no marketing data for that nonsense.
I will freely admit that my use of the words gosh and swell and by all means, are billboards that shout my old-fashioned tendencies but based on the results of this personality test, I’m starting to question a lot more than just my vocabulary.
The test indicated that having good manners was a sign of being old-fashioned. Good manners were drummed into us growing up, so holding the door open for someone else (regardless of their sex) just comes naturally to me. So does giving up my seat to an older person or to someone with physical challenges, without being prompted. Saying thank you to checkout clerks or waiters or the bus driver, is second nature. It seems crazy that good manners would mark you as being old-fashioned. How fricking sad is that???
Weirdly, another indicator of old-fashioned behaviour, declared the test, is being self-sufficient. Wanting to get someplace under my own steam or being able to make something with my own hands qualifies me as being old-fashioned. Relying on one’s own self rather than foisting the responsibility onto someone else, or not bothering with the latest gadget to make a job quicker, must have somehow slipped out of fashion when I wasn’t paying attention (which, in all fairness, I rarely do). (Only old-fashioned people admit to crap like that.)
For the most part, I am attracted to items that have character. I’d rather own something that has a history (and that I can operate) than buy something new simply because it is available. The older I get the more reasonable the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” becomes. Clearly, that was coined by someone who was old-fashioned.
Full disclosure: we have a landline in our apartment. I won’t give it up because I find it more comfortable to use the landline’s handset for a lengthy conversation than to use a cell phone. And I am the prime minister of lengthy conversations. I can last for about 7 minutes on a cell phone. Mind you, my cell phone is a flip phone at this point so that might be part of the problem. I will soon have to switch over to a smart phone because our society does not actually accommodate anyone who chooses to lag behind on the latest in technology, but for now I still flip. That’s an old-fashioned trait.
I prefer leaving any personal sentiments like birthday greetings, congratulations, or words of sympathy, to be written down and sent through the post. There’s another sure sign of being you-know-what.
Apparently, I am considered old-fashioned because I make a point of honouring my commitments. This one initially stumped me because I assumed that everybody does what they say they’ll do, but think back to the last time you agreed to meet up with someone at a restaurant or café only to get a text from them squealing that they were going to be late for some reason that sounded suspiciously like it could have avoided if they actually valued your prearranged engagement. If I say I’ll be there, or agree to take on a project, or sign up to be available for something, I can be held to my word. And that somehow screams “old-fashioned”.
Whenever a term or a label is applied to ourselves, out of self-defence we try to see the positive side, and the fact that I now realize that I occupy a fair-sized slot in the Old-Fashioned category by insisting on good manners, largely ignoring technological advances, being almost aggressive with sending hand-written cards through the mail, being self-sufficient, and following through on my commitments, kind of makes me proud to be old-fashioned. In a rebellious sort of way.
As I look back through my life, I can see that I may well have been old-fashioned since grade school. SINCE GRADE SCHOOL! Does that sound like I’m embarrassed? I’m not. In fact, I think I might well be bragging (as uncouth as that is!). My truth is that I refuse to embrace that with which I disagree, and if that earns me a slightly disparaging label, I’m pretty sure I can handle that.
