Several years ago the Des Moines Register published a photo of a young guy skating at a skateboard park in the metro. The cutline identified the young man as a 25-year-old.

My first thought was, “When I was 25 I was so busy working I couldn’t have gone skateboarding even if I could skateboard.”

Back in the 1960s some of us grew up quickly. By the time I was 22 I had a good (albeit low-paying) job, was married and my wife and I had purchased our first house. By the time I was 24, I was a father.

From the time I was a late teen I ran with an older crowd. Most of my friends were in their 20s and a few of them had already been discharged from the military.

What I’m saying is that while I still did some stupid things back then, I was a hard worker and had quickly become a responsible (boring) family man. And I was fine with that.

When I was 33 I was promoted to advertising director of the Sioux City Journal. Some of my older co-workers told me I was the youngest person ever to be named to that position at The Journal. I can’t prove that and it makes no difference because I didn’t think I was all that young.

Half of my sales staff was younger than I was and the other half older; most of them were close to my father’s age. I soon discovered that the two groups were motivated in different ways. When it came to sales incentives, the younger crowd was most easily motivated by money. The older guys were motivated by time off.

My younger employees enjoyed more active after-hours activities and frequently invited me to join them.

Several times I did join them but I was seldom comfortable doing so. I remember joining the younger guys for an after-hours time at a new night club in town. Club management aimed at the younger crowd. The music was so loud conversation was difficult. One of my salesmen was a handsome young single guy and he was kept busy with sweet young things vying for his attention. I finally excused myself and went home and enjoyed supper with my wife and two kids.

On another occasion I accompanied the younger guys to a night of dog racing in North Sioux City. I gave myself a betting limit of $20 and when I had won that back I quit gambling.

One evening a WWF (now WWE) pro-wrestling event was scheduled for the Sioux City Auditorium and the young guys invited me to join them. I had never witnessed such and thought it might be fun.

Everyone met at my house where the wives spent the evening and we guys crammed into my bus-sized Dodge Royal Monaco station wagon. We drove to the auditorium, found a good parking place and enjoyed an evening of “wrasselin'” with lots of beer-enhanced cheering and jeering.

When we left we discovered I had parked in a place from which it was difficult to exit. One of the guys said, “I’ll take care of it!” He exited the station wagon and began directing traffic as though he was in charge of traffic. With his help I backed out, he jumped back in the car and away we went.

On the way back to my house we drove on the three-quarter mile Gordon Drive viaduct on what was then U.S. Highway 20. With a car full of employees I was driving unhurriedly in the right lane. Another car was about to overtake us in the left right lane. One of the young guys exclaimed, “They can’t do that.”

He promptly stuck his rear end up to the window, dropped his pants and mooned the occupants of the passing car. I suddenly realized how old I had become and worried that the occupants of the passing car might recognize us or my car. Everyone got a good laugh and, admittedly, I did too … later in the evening.

I did join the younger team a few more times before I moved on but none were as exciting as a night of pro-wrestling at the auditorium.

Soon enough I turned 40 and officially became one of the old guys.

Arvid Huisman can be contacted at huismaniowa@gmail.com. ©2025 by Huisman Communications.