The stereotypical idea of ageing assumes a drift to conservatism, but in my experience, old people can be downright reckless and impulsive.  

A little while ago, my 90-year-old mother was doing some weeding in the garden. For reasons known only to her, she couldn’t resist the urge to pull up an enormous parsley plant.  

When it snapped, she tumbled backwards onto a pile of terracotta pots, fracturing four osteoporotic lumbar vertebrae and some ribs in the process.  

After crawling inside commando-style and an ambulance trip to the hospital, Mum was an in-patient for some weeks.