What would you say to someone who was 57 years older or younger than you?
We are all at different points in our life, and there is no better way to put that in perspective than by watching a conversation between a boy and a man.
In “57 Years Apart,” a young boy and an older man talk about life and how they feel about it, and the results are surprising.
Some answers are exactly what you would expect.
When asked, “What’s the worst thing about being young?” the boy responded:
“Well, you get lots of homework.”
It is safe to say that thousands of children around the world would agree with that statement. In response to a similar question, the man said that the worst thing about being old is:
“Not being able to do things that you could do when you were young.”
This is also something those of his age will likely agree on. It is clear that the young boy does his best to try to understand how the man feels, asking if he means that he can’t bend over as much and trying to get clarification.
The two conversationalists seem to quickly build a rapport with each other.
The boy seemed genuinely impressed that the man used to play cowboys and Indians. “That’s what I play!” It is great to see such connections across generations. In fact, they had built up such a strong connection that when it is time to say goodbye, the child went in for a hug at 4:19 that even seemed to surprise his conversation partner.
We were also able to get all sorts of insights into life, such as:
“The great thing about being young is that you have more time to do things, like play games.”
There are also some truly precious moments, such as when the boy explains that it will be fun when he has babies, even though he’ll have to change diapers.
In the interactions, you can see how surprisingly mature the young boy is.
At 2:53, he looks genuinely sad to hear that the man did not get married because his partner died.
In fact, the two had already built such a connection at this point that the boy’s response was to tell the man, “I’m going to cry.” At 3:03, it seemed as if his prediction would come true, but the man was able to offer comfort.
It is amazing to see how quickly the relationship between these two strangers turns into one similar to a grandpa and grandchild.
The man gave the boy advice we should all take advantage of:
“We had very good memories, very good memories. And you live, a lot of the time you live in your head with those memories. You can remember all the good things, and that’s the important thing.”
It would do everyone well to keep that life advice in mind when we are facing hard times. We will always have our memories of the good.
To end the conversation, they gave each other some important advice.
The man shared:
“You don’t have to be rich to be happy. Do the things you like doing that make you feel good. Because when you’re happy yourself, everybody else is happy.”
Clearly, he has put his decades of experience in life to good use and learned what we can do to live a better life.
Final words of advice for the child 57 years younger than himself?
“Be yourself. Don’t let other people tell you what you should be. Just be as you are.”
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