The picture of Peter M

When I was younger... a lot younger... I recall sitting in parties in a cider-fuelled haze pondering many key issues.

And some were far reaching.

Like, when I got old, would I still dig Deep Purple, or transfer my tastes to Frank Sinatra?

Easy. I still perk up when I hear 'Hush' on the new Jag ad, but now also get very mellow when old Blue Eye's voice meanders from the speakers.

Hence I remember where I was, savoured what I liked, and have added to my life experiences as it has progressed, leaving little I appreciated behind as I progressed.

However, I am stumped by a few things I come across now, usually prefixed with the word 'Old', now that I am.

'Old boy networkism' and 'Old fartism' are at the top of that list.

When I was young, and keen, and passionate, had a world ahead, and to save, the single greatest obstacles were old farts and the old boy networks they inhabited.

But now I have got here, and am one of them, I am confused to find that nothing has changed, almost as if I haven't either, but all around me have.

Now I am old, and keen, and passionate, with a world still ahead, and to make better for my kids, the single greatest obstacles I face are old farts and the old boy networks they inhabit.

Thing is, most of them were at those cider-fuelled parties with me. What the heck happened?