I may have mentioned previously in this column that I am acutely aware that I am getting older and that things are changing. 

Usually, I bemoan the physical aspect of that as I find things I used to do easily have become challenging. For instance, I now note I am actively avoiding having to bend over – thank goodness for slip-ons, right?

But, over the last couple of weeks, some things have struck me that make me realise I am at risk of becoming a bit of a fuddy-duddy. The first is in relation to music. 

In 1978 the world went to hell in a handcart when Blondies “Heart of Glass” featuring the outrageous lyric “soon turned out to be a pain in the arse” was heard, if not on radio, then at least on Solid Gold Hits Volume 24. Then in 1980, our very own Jon Stevens released Jezebel which contained the unbelievable “she wooed me then screwed me, but what the hell” line. “What will they think of us back home?” cried the older generation, who were pretty sure that if you turned the volume down after playing the song, you could hear Western civilisation crumbling around you.

I am now, it seems, part of that older generation. I was driving in to work recently and heard a lovely, bouncy tune by, it turned out Lily Allen, on the radio. It was such a happy tune that it caught my attention, making me listen a bit closer to the lyrics, and dear reader, I had to say I was a bit shocked by the whole thing! I will spare you the details but I must be getting old.

Then only a few days after that, I attended a funeral. As I was putting a tie on, my daughter said “you’ll be the only one wearing a tie Dad”. I thought she would be wrong, and she was. But, of the I’m guessing 300 people there, I was one of only two guys who were. Now I’m not saying this judging the other blokes who didn’t; each to their own I say but it did make me think how very much things have changed.

And, don’t even get me started on tattoos!

I think I need a nice cuppa and a sit down.