Commentary: Happy 100th birthday to Mel Brooks. I'm not sure I want to be around that long

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Set us as preferred I’d like to congratulate Mel Brooks on making it to the age of 100, but I’m not sure I want to duplicate his achievement.I try not to focus on aging, not that there’s anything wrong with getting older.But sometimes I feel exhausted by the daily trials of modern living, and I’m not sure I can manage 27 more years of it.I’m writing this having just gotten off the phone with a tech assistant who was trying to help me get into my expense reporting system, and things did not go well.

You need to get a code from your authenticator to access what might be the most poorly conceived expense reporting system ever created, but after 48 minutes of trying, the tech couldn’t figure out the glitch.He said he would get back to me, but he’s very busy, and “it might be tomorrow morning.”Fingers crossed.Generally speaking, I’m not a grouchy old man stuck in the past.I don’t think I am, anyway.

I’m out in the world, even if I’ve retired from standing in line for a cup of coffee, and I can download a photograph onto my wristwatch.But increasingly, I find myself getting bugged by a lot of things, no matter how trivial they are in the grand scheme.On some days, I’d like the option of putting a quarter in a meter rather than having to download a sixth parking app.

And I wish everyone would stop using the word “perfect.” Movies From ‘Springtime for Hitler’ to Yogurt’s merchandising pitch in ‘Spaceballs,’ here are the many sides of a filmmaker who reinvented on-screen comedy.I’ll check in at a restaurant, for instance, and a receptionist will ask my name.I respond, and the receptionist says, “Perfect.”Really?What time was the reservation for, the receptionist might ask.6:30.“Perfect.”Imagine my luck.

I showed up with the right name at precisely the right time.Do I get a free co...