There were 30 new students and 6 faculty members in the classroom of L’Academie de Cuisine, in Maryland, on the first day of the one-year culinary career training program. We were each to introduce ourselves and give a little background on how we got there. 

When my turn came, I said “My name is Chic Cullen. I am a retired navy sea captain, a retired operations analyst and, like Jack Benny, I'm 39 years old.”  The faculty got it but only about five of the students.  The others had never heard of Jack Benny! 

Well, that was 9 years ago, so I am 48 now.

Awhile back, I got the following email from a reader in Switzerland:

Hello: 
I hit on your site and wondered what a geezer is. 
Could you please explain? 
Is that typical USAmerican slang? 

With thanks and kind regards … Eric?”

Here was my reply:

Geezer is an english slang word that is not considered offensive, yet is not quite OK in polite society.

In America, it refers to a person with any or all of the following attributes:

·   An old person
·   An odd or eccentric person
·   A “character”

In the context of this Web site, geezers are active people, retired from the every day grind of working for a living, who are now pursuing new interests and refreshing old ones—all with some self-absorption and with considerable competence.

Youngsters view geezers with a mixture of tolerance and humor, but without malice.

Geezers view youngsters as en route to a better life—if they don't blow it.

Geezers view geezers in the manner of Mark Twain, that is, fellow travelers,  “harmless if not aroused.”