You wake up one day and realize you’re ten years older than you were the previous night. Beyond the initial shock, how does this development change your life plans?

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This notion encompasses a vast area. There are stations in life where an extra decade might be beneficial.

I knew a person working as a locomotive electrician for the Southern Pacific. He hired on with a full beard, causing him to appear older than his mid-20s. When there was an expensive solution for repairing a broken train – bad fraction motors, defective dynamic braking system, erratic controls – they seldom questioned his diagnosis. However, a year down the road he shaved off his beard. The reaction to his troubleshooting became conversely proportional to his apparent age. Almost always management dispatched another electrician for a second opinion. Four months later, when his beard began filling in, they regained confidence in him.

There are other instances where another decade would not be beneficial.

A jet fighter pilot, having awakened a decade older, might find himself automatically culled from the gaggle.

A quarterback for the San Francisco Forty-Niners could start warming the bench, or coaching.

Someone about to purchase a life insurance policy would not be delighted the premium.

A combat veteran might not be able to stay alive.

However, politicians, corporate CEOs, and used car salespeople would hardly feel the effects of aging.