I used to (0) BE an ordinary member of society running from meeting to meeting just like anybody 1 But then some kind 2 misguided friends laid 3 a surprise birthday party when I was 70. 4 then, they had called me Old Indestructible, 5 I was told, but overnight their behaviour towards me changed. Do you need a chair, dear? Would you like a cup of tea, love? 6 cruel of all, whatever would I do with 7 now that I was retired? My life as an ordinary citizen 8 to an abrupt end. It was as if, in their eyes, I had stepped from the fast lane straight into the slow lane — without ever asking for it.