This morning, I had yet another conversation, this time with a total stranger, about using up one's body parts instead of letting them lie fallow.
I'd been listening to NPR earlier and had learned that Prince, yes the same Prince who for a time was The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, the same Prince who did Purple Rain, the same Prince whose voice and music was part of the soundtrack of my college years, is having a hip replacement.
WHAT!!!!??????
Prince? A hip replacement? Can purple orthopedic shoes be far behind?
I'd walked into a department store just after hearing this interesting bit of information, when what came over the speakers but Let's Go Crazy. Just as the song hit the chorus, a gentleman walked by saying to his companion, "Yup, that's Prince." I interjected, "Yeah, and he's getting a new hip!"
The gentleman and I talked about this for a moment, and we both agreed that it was better to have worn out one's hip from overuse than to have let it go stiff and useless from sitting on one's duff.
It's a trade-off. If you don't exercise at all, your joints stiffen up, and if you exercise too much, they can wear out. A perfect balance seems a bit of a challenge, but I guess until someone really grows usable cartilage in the lab, we'll have to muddle through. For me, as I try to hum loudly whenever I go up stairs so as not to have to listen to the grinding sounds emanating from my knees, I think I'll take some precautions but not too many. After all, I've got a life to live.
Wearing out one's hip for Little Red Corvette and the countless other hits that helped define a generation? Only Prince can determine whether or not it was worth it.
I hope he thinks it was.
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I usually think that large, heavy people who like to hop up and down while carrying heavy objects are the ones who eventually need new knees and hips. But PRINCE??? (I mean, The Artist Currently and Formerly Known as Prince ???). He's about three feet tall and weighs as much as a small bird, and supposedly spends his days rolling around in beds of fragrant flower pedals, a physique and lifestyle not normally associated with persons needing hip or knee replacements. But what do I know.
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