DRONE ON, DUDE

A Drone is a male bee. He serves a function in fertilizing the eggs of the Queen and when his job is done he is then either allowed to just "hang out" or is driven out of the hive. Nature loves you as long as you can participate in the preservation of the species. Once you are no longer useful for this reproductive purpose, Adios, muchacho. In human society, we have our own version of Drones. Men who are no longer bringing home the bacon (or honey) even if they have accumulated bacon up the wazoo for decades, are either tolerated or driven out of the hive, metaphorically, by the colony. Your time becomes worthless. You are producing neither offspring nor honey and are therefore irrelevant. We think we are different from social insects like bees and ants due to our brain power. The world belongs to the young in their reproductive years. Whether in Hollywood where there are a thousand Linsey Lohans for every Meryl Streep, or in Hometown USA, we all have to get out of the way for the egg layers and bread-winners.

If you are a senior today, and if you do not have a full time job or are actively involved in the acquisition of more honey, you might as well set yourself adrift on an ice flow or wander into the woods to be eaten by a bear. And it's even worse if other future-Drones in your hive are still building businesses. Their time is "sacred" and uninterruptible while yours is up for grabs for any menial thing that arises. You could be writing the great American novel, or the next "Heartbreak Hotel" lyrics, it does not matter. There is no money in it (unless that was your job all our life and it actually once made money) and is therefore something that can be interrupted by anyone wanting anything.

Then there is the "cave." If it is an artist's studio, or a music room, there are no locks strong enough to keep a honey-do list out. Put in a computer, a bunch of phones, call it an office, and demonstrate the ability to generate income, and all of a sudden it becomes Fort Knox. "Can't you see I am working" is much more effective than "Can't you see I am writing a short story." Changing a diaper is a higher priority than anything that does not produce an income stream. So if you don't want to buzz around fanning your wings and taking out the trash 4 times a day, keep making honey, anyway you can. They don't need it, they just want it. Anyhow, you have no value to the colony unless you do that or you can reproduce, and clearly that ship has sailed. Bzzzzzzzzzzz.