'Old age was sitting in my wardrobe in a blue box:' Bernard O'Shea on turning 40

I turned 40 and suddenly swapped my jeans and trainers for chinos and shoes — and sandals! 

Bernard O'Shea: The day I bought sandals was the day I bought old age.

I’m beginning to think a tiny incendiary device went off in my head on 25 March 2019 when I turned 40. 

Two weeks later, Lorna asked me, in an almost worried tone, ‘Why are you wearing khakis again? You’re wearing a lot of beige these days  — that’s going to stain quickly.’ She had a point. I noticed that I’d stopped wearing jeans. I didn’t consciously decide to do it, it just happened.