Looking Back from Sixty Six

Kirby Urner
10 min readMay 17, 2024

I was one of those endearingly naive souls who thought Philosophy would be a great carefree major, reflective of my nobler nature, and that’s the path I struck out on (yes, I see the pun).

No major is carefree because life isn’t, even if you’re born with billions, and I wasn’t. They’ll take those billions from you, or you’ll worry that they will.

Did a chatbot write all this? Heavens no, can’t you tell?

Seriously, if the only way to enjoy computers and television were to be a king, I might envy royalty and wish I had their lifestyle, but it isn’t and I don’t.

One of my philosophy profs, Dr. Rorty, thought the middle class way was the way to go. The responsibilities aren’t so unrealistic. Royalty and celebs get projected upon too mercilessly by the tabloid channels.

After Princeton, I dove into high school teaching, having come from ISM, or IS (International School) as we called it then, in Greater Manila. The old campus, with its top notch facilities, is now gone without a trace. If I ever get back to Manila, I’ll be sure to visit the new campus, even more opulent than the one I remember.

I’m still in touch with IS folks. Just a few minutes ago, I got a happy birthday from my former guidance counselor, Vicky Herrera, over Facebook. I’m turning sixty six, having been…

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