flexagon | City, subway, decades

Great conversation on the subway tonight. On the way home from acroyoga I heard these two women across from me talking:

I had boots like that in the 70s.
I remember those.
It's amazing how they're in again.
I was just a little too young but my sister had them.
Really? How old are you? You look like you're in your 20s.
I'm 41.
I'm 51.

I was smiling and pretty obviously listening, and at that point I had to look up. Both these women looked great for their ages; I would never have guessed Ms. Forty-One to be over her thirties. They asked how old I was, guessed 20s and I said barely 32... so it was just perfect, we were almost exactly a decade apart from each other. What happened was basically a rapid-fire conversation about stages of life, with 41 saying she'd never go back and do her 30s again. Possibly the part about marriage was funniest:

51 to 41: Did you marry? (no ring on 41's ring finger)
41 to 51, regretfully: Yeah, yeah I did, what about you?
51 to 41: Nope, I've always been a spinster.
41 to 51: Yay!
32 to 41 and 51: I did, I got married.
51, looking pained: You DID? Ooooh...
32: Yeah. But he's nice, and I'm not doing the kid thing!

Although it sounds like something a woman's magazine would do, I think it could be really neat to set up a dinner with women spaced 10 years apart from me but extending much further... a 22, me, a 42, 52, 62 and 72 at least. I just want to do it for myself, but hell, there's almost a business idea in there. It's like a dating service: join my website and I'll set you up with a roomful of such people who have one or two major things in common with you.