2030_ The Real Story of What Happens to America - Albert Brooks [108]
In one week Brad would board The Sunset and his life would take a new direction. He had to admit he was getting excited. He not only kept the worn-out brochure close by, but he watched the short movie about the ship and how great a life it was. The movie made it look so wonderful. People were happy, had great food, enjoyed activities, breathed clean air, took long walks, and had a constant change of scenery. Each day looked like an adventure. The movie had interviews with older couples and singles who had been retirement cruising for years, and all of them said they would never go back to the other life. Of course, these people were in the movie, so what else would they say? And maybe because Brad wanted to like it so much, or maybe because it was true, it was starting to look like the only life he could imagine. He thought of meeting a woman and falling in love and both of them cruising the world for the rest of their days. He didn’t bother with details in his fantasy, like that the actual cruising time was only three months out of the year. But so what? The ports still offered adventure, and when fantasizing about love, none of the details are important anyway.
The one thing Brad had to admit was that in his old life, the one in which he lived in his condo and saw the same friends day in and day out, he never met women. He wasn’t someone who liked dancing or other activities where women congregate, but now, he thought, he would be only a deck away from all kinds of activities women usually loved. Maybe he would meet someone by one of the five pools. Five pools! He wondered which pool he would like the most. So, as departure day came close, he was eager to board the ship. And it was mutual. His son and his daughter-in-law couldn’t wait to get him out of their cramped house.
As he lay in his cot the night before he left, Melissa talked to him in the dark. “Grandpa, are you excited to go on your trip?”
“Yes, honey. I am.”
“Were you as poor as Daddy is when you were his age?” What a strange question. He wasn’t expecting it, had never heard it before, and didn’t know how to answer. So he was honest.
“No, honey. I had a very good job when I was your father’s age.”
“Will I get a good job?” He didn’t know how to answer that, either. This time he didn’t want to be truthful because he didn’t see the prospects being very good for her or anyone in her generation. Even worse than his son’s, he thought. So he lied. There are times when the truth does absolutely no good and people who tell it then are just mean.
“You will do fine, honey. You’re going to have a good life.”
“How do you know?” He wished she wouldn’t ask him any more questions. He didn’t know how long he could keep this up.
“I just know, honey. I feel it in my repairable bones.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s a joke. They’ve just come up with something that people my age can take if our bones hurt.”
“Do your bones hurt?”
“Only my eyes, because you won’t let them close.”
“Grandpa, I hope you have a nice trip for the rest of your life.”
What an interesting way to phrase it.
“Thank you, honey. And I’m telling you the truth; you are going to make a lot of money and be very successful. I’m rarely wrong about this kind of thing.”
“Did you ever say that to Daddy?”
“Never.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Max and Kathy watched the presidential speech in a restaurant in Dallas, after several hours of sightseeing. Max was irritated. He thought that if the Chinese were going to start taking money off the top, it was going to leave even less for people, especially the younger ones. Kathy thought it might be an interesting idea. She had always romanticized Asia and wondered what Los Angeles would look like with its influence.
After dinner they took a walk, and on their way back to the hotel there he was. Sam Mueller. And his son. They were standing near the front entrance