It amazes me how the wheels beneath us not only define who we are but also in which phase of life we are entrenched. As infants, we are wheeled in strollers and baby carriages of one sort or another. Many modern examples of such mimic SUVs with large knobby wheels, while others appear more refined and sophisticated with smaller wheels that swivel.
As infants become children, the wheels that carry them migrate to tricycles, and eventually bicycles. In the teen years, bike wheels are likely to be traded for automobile wheels. In adulthood, wheels tend to follow a pattern that includes sport cars, minivans and crossovers before eventually returning to sedans.
As we age, electric scooter wheels often replace automobile wheels when we are too frail to be trusted behind the wheel of a car. As our geriatric years progress, we may find ourselves enslaved by the wheels of a wheelchair pushed by an attendant.
There’s a definite “wheel type” predictive bell curve that corresponds to human growth and aging. I’ve observed this progression in my own father. He was a “car guy”. I have stood witness as his “wheels of life” transitioned from performance sedan to family van to old-man sedan.
Along the way there were 4WD wheels, RV wheels and even motorcycle wheels, all of which defined a point in his life more clearly than his pay cheque or waist size.
Now there are only wheelchair wheels to define him to those that don’t know his “wheel life” story.
As infants become children, the wheels that carry them migrate to tricycles, and eventually bicycles. In the teen years, bike wheels are likely to be traded for automobile wheels. In adulthood, wheels tend to follow a pattern that includes sport cars, minivans and crossovers before eventually returning to sedans.
As we age, electric scooter wheels often replace automobile wheels when we are too frail to be trusted behind the wheel of a car. As our geriatric years progress, we may find ourselves enslaved by the wheels of a wheelchair pushed by an attendant.
There’s a definite “wheel type” predictive bell curve that corresponds to human growth and aging. I’ve observed this progression in my own father. He was a “car guy”. I have stood witness as his “wheels of life” transitioned from performance sedan to family van to old-man sedan.
Along the way there were 4WD wheels, RV wheels and even motorcycle wheels, all of which defined a point in his life more clearly than his pay cheque or waist size.
Now there are only wheelchair wheels to define him to those that don’t know his “wheel life” story.