# Defining "Senior"



## imp

I usually figure 55+. Some places use somewhat different thinking for purposes of "Senior discounts", etc. This got me thinking: Do we have any accurate tabulation of the numbers of Members who are Seniors, vs. the number who are not yet? 

A lady just joined who is, I believe 51. This forum might be the ideal place for a youthful scholar to compile a thesis, perhaps, based on differences perceived about Seniors' mores, attitudes, beliefs, etc. Just sayin'.......imp


----------



## AZ Jim

We run the gambit from 90's to 50's.  That is a span of 40+ years.  I like it that way.


----------



## hollydolly

Well I think,  as in the real world...you have to mix with all ages to get a rounded view of life...and here we have aged 50 right up to over 90...that's 40 years of experience that we ''youngsters''..50's and 60's we can learn from...none of us are ever done learning are we?...and equally the elders are finding that we _youngsters_ think very differently in many ways as to how they did when they were our age, and learning in many ways from us too... I am 60..just past..but I'm always told in real life I look 10 years younger...and that's fine by me, but also I think regardless of linear years if your young in thought you'll never be deemed to be ''old''.


----------



## AZ Jim

hollydolly said:


> Well I think,  as in the real world...you have to mix with all ages to get a rounded view of life...and here we have aged 50 right up to over 90...that's 40 years of experience that we ''youngsters''..50's and 60's we can learn from...none of us are ever done learning are we?...and equally the elders are finding that we _youngsters_ think very differently in many ways as to how they did when they were our age, and learning in many ways from us too... I am 60..just past..but I'm always told in real life I look 10 years younger...and that's fine by me, but also I think regardless of linear years if your young in thought you'll never be deemed to be ''old''.




You're still just a bubble gummer.  A kid....*an old kid*.....running like hell.....


----------



## imp

Funny thing, I thought about _being _old, someday, when I was a young adult, then crossed the meaningless milestones, 30, 40, etc., all the while feeling "young". I once even calculated out that I would be 57 when the century turned over, and thought I would be really fortunate if I lived that long!

Nothing occurred along the way to make me feel "not young" anymore. Now, gradual deterioration of physical ability, fingers and hands stiff and ache, shoulders too, these things are killing my "youth". Damn them!

(One of the functions REAL dear to me, still works most acceptably well, a fact that overshadows the losses mentioned!)       layful:    imp


----------



## Ameriscot

The only time I thought I was actually getting old is when my oldest son turned 40.  I was only 59.  I thought uh oh, am I supposed to be mature now?!  

I still feel quite young.


----------



## hollydolly

AZ Jim said:


> You're still just a bubble gummer.  A kid....*an old kid*.....running like hell.....




LOL...today after almost 13 hours on my feet I couldn't run after you even if your last name was Clooney.... so yer perfectly safe today... layful:


----------



## hollydolly

Ameriscot said:


> The only time I thought I was actually getting old is when my oldest son turned 40.  I was only 59.  I thought uh oh, am I supposed to be mature now?!
> 
> I still feel quite young.



My daughter is 40 next birthday Annie...and she always gets taken for 10 sometimes 15 years younger than she is... no-one ever believes she's almost 40..so she's inherited her mamas' genes.. :yes:


----------



## AZ Jim

She wearing your genes, what are you wearing?  Oh...you didn't say Jeans....


----------



## Ameriscot

When I was in my gym a couple of years ago someone asked me if I had kids.  I said yes, my oldest is 42.  About 4 of them jaws dropped and they asked 'you have a child who is 42???!!'.  They were surprised I had a bus pass.


----------



## Lon

My Third Great Grandson Ephraim will be two years old on the 24th and I remember thinking when he was born "Lon, where did all the years go".


----------



## hollydolly

This is me taken on my 50th Birthday...


----------



## hollydolly

This is my daughter, ...


----------



## applecruncher

Holly, your daughter is a cutie. :yes:

One of your avatar pics in a red dress and straw hat....was that a recent pic?


----------



## Cookie

Senior discounts depend on where you live.  Our transit tickets are reduced by about 20% for seniors, and some big stores have a seniors day where everything is reduced by 20% as well.  Movie tickets are reduced starting at 60 years of age. The nice girls in the drugstore always ask if I qualify for the seniors discount, isn't that sweet?

Holly, your picture looks great at 50 and your daughter is lovely.  I think 50 is the new 35 and 40 is the new 30!  But what is 65, the new 45?  Maybe for some.


----------



## hollydolly

No AC...the red dress photos were taken 5 years ago when I was 55...


----------



## Ameriscot

Cookie said:


> Senior discounts depend on where you live.  Our transit tickets are reduced by about 20% for seniors, and some big stores have a seniors day where everything is reduced by 20% as well.  Movie tickets are reduced starting at 60 years of age. The nice girls in the drugstore always ask if I qualify for the seniors discount, isn't that sweet?
> 
> Holly, your picture looks great at 50 and your daughter is lovely.  I think 50 is the new 35 and 40 is the new 30!  But what is 65, the new 45?  Maybe for some.



Well, at 63 I physically feel like I'm 40.  Don't look like it though.  layful:


----------



## hollydolly

Cookie you're so right about the 'new age' thing..in many people. I have a photo of my granny when she was the same age as I am now.. and she looks the equivalent of a 90 year old today..( not falcon) LOL


----------



## Ameriscot

hollydolly said:


> Cookie you're so right about the 'new age' thing..in many people. I have a photo of my granny when she was the same age as I am now.. and she looks the equivalent of a 90 year old today..( not falcon) LOL



I have a photo of my grandmother holding me as a newborn.  She was 57.  She looked about 80. She always said to me 'don't get old, it's hell getting old'.  Hmmm.  She was always heavy though and diabetic.


----------



## AZ Jim

Ameriscot said:


> I have a photo of my grandmother holding me as a newborn.  She was 57.  She looked about 80. She always said to me 'don't get old, it's hell getting old'.  Hmmm.  She was always heavy though and diabetic.



It's just the luck of the draw as to how we age.


----------



## applecruncher

At 50 I certainly didn't feel like a senior citizen. But AARP starts sending things when 50th birthday is approaching.

Welllllll, I'll have to get myseld a red dress like that and sashay up and down the street! I don't have blonde hair, but I have a hell of a tan! :tongue:


----------



## hollydolly

MY granny was neither overweight, nor ill, nor did she smoke or drink alcohol. I think she wore herself out by having so many children and doing hard physical work..all her life. She was always a happy soul tho' and the life and soul of the party but in photos she always looked so dour!!

At 82 she died , but she had looked that age for the previous 30 years.. ( sorry granny if you're listening to me wherever you are..)..


----------



## Ameriscot

AZ Jim said:


> It's just the luck of the draw as to how we age.



Genetics is part of it, but it's also how you treat your body.  Can't imagine my granny cycling or jogging or lifting weights.  Ever.


----------



## AZ Jim

hollydolly said:


> MY granny was neither overweight, nor ill, nor did she smoke or drink alcohol. I think she wore herself out by having so many children and doing hard physical work..all her life. She was always a happy soul tho' and the life and soul of the party but in photos she always looked so dour!!
> 
> At 82 she died , but she had looked that age for the previous 30 years.. ( sorry granny if you're listening to me wherever you are..)..



I started drinking early in life and I think it has somewhat preserved me as I look young for my age too.


----------



## applecruncher

My mom looked great - you saw the pic - (smoked, drank beer, had lots of kids) until her early 50s. Two bad strokes, then several years later cancer (colon and liver). When she died at 61 she looked a LOT older. 

I never drank much alcohol, don't like beer, but smoked for 45 yrs. - until Sept. of last year. Doctor said he is surprised it never caught up with me...that we know of...yet. (fingers crossed)


----------



## Ameriscot

My gggrandfather who was born in 1819 lived until 1910 - just before his 91st birthday.  And he left Ireland at the end of the potato famine.  One of his daughters lived to 95.  

3 of my grandparents all lived to 86.  The other died in an accident.


----------



## Ameriscot

AZ Jim said:


> I started drinking early in life and I think it has somewhat preserved me as I look young for my age too.



Are you saying you are pickled?


----------



## Cookie

I think Jim is well preserved.


----------



## AZ Jim

Ameriscot said:


> Are you saying you are pickled?



Probably.  But cute.


----------



## AZ Jim

Cookie said:


> I think Jim is well preserved.



Thanks Cookie.  You are a sweetie.


----------



## Ameriscot

Cookie said:


> I think Jim is well preserved.



Yep.


----------



## hollydolly

Ameriscot said:


> Genetics is part of it, but it's also how you treat your body.  Can't imagine my granny cycling or jogging or lifting weights.  Ever.



..but annie, I don't cycle or jog or lift weights either ..


----------



## Lon

hollydolly said:


> This is me taken on my 50th Birthday...



Great Pic            There are good genes in your family.


----------



## hollydolly

Thank you kind sir.. :love_heart:


----------



## hollydolly

applecruncher said:


> My mom looked great - you saw the pic - (smoked, drank beer, had lots of kids) until her early 50s. Two bad strokes, then several years later cancer (colon and liver). When she died at 61 she looked a LOT older.
> 
> I never dank much alcohol, don't like beer, but smoked for 45 yrs. - until Sept. of last year. Doctor said he is surprised it never caught up with me...that we know of...yet. (fingers crossed)



AC you're right, your mum was beautiful , and I'm sorry she suffered so much so young..such a tragedy.


----------



## RadishRose

Holly, you and daughter both are very lovely!


----------



## applecruncher

Thanks Holly (the  in my post was supposed to be  .  I fixed. )


----------



## hollydolly

RadishRose said:


> Holly, you and daughter both are very lovely!



Thank you so much Rose... I'll pass that onto my daughter too...


----------



## ndynt

I feel younger than a senior....but, my body just does not get the message LOL


----------



## imp

Hey, folks, don't forget I was "cute" once, and look where it got me! In the doghouse everywhere I go!       imp


----------



## AZ Jim

imp said:


> Hey, folks, don't forget I was "cute" once, and look where it got me! In the doghouse everywhere I go!       imp



Give it a little time IMP, you just got here, maybe you'll grow on us....*smiling*


----------



## imp

Flirting.....dang me!    imp


----------



## Manatee

I think it was back in the 80s that AARP proclaimed that 50 year olds are seniors.  I always presumed that it was because they wanted to sign up the Boomers then rather than wait until they really were seniors.  They changed their name to the acronym AARP so that they wouldn't have the "old people stigma".

My definition is either retired, on Social Security or over 62.

You can get a lifetime senior pass to the National Parks for $10 at age 62.


----------



## Linda

Hollydolly, you and your daughter are both pretty and look young for your ages.  I like your couch too.  I've went to all leather furniture because I HATE to vacuum.


----------



## Capt Lightning

When I was 50, I was showered with advertising leaflets fron 'SAGA'.  Not sure if this is just a UK company, but they provide holidays, insurance and other services for over 50s.  And they're expensive.
When I was 60, I got my bus pass (or entitlement card as it's called)  and a 'senior' card from B&Q (a large DIY chain).
My 65th. birthday was 4 days ago and I've been swamped by documents about pensions, tax, banking etc...

So, it looks as if all my significant birthdays are celebrated with an excess of mail!

Since we're all showing off our offspring, here are my daughters (taken at the BBC last year) .....


DD1 (left) is a senior university lecturer.
A Friendly Dalek (Middle)
DD2(right) is a qualified solicitor, but works as an insurance underwriter.


----------



## Capt Lightning

On the subject of B&Q.  I heard the story of a British couple who toured the US and were delighted to find that they could often get 'senior citizen' discounts by showing their B&Q 'discount card'.  They were only once asked what B&Q stood for- they said "Bush and Quayle" !


----------



## Ameriscot

Capt Lightning said:


> On the subject of B&Q.  I heard the story of a British couple who toured the US and were delighted to find that they could often get 'senior citizen' discounts by showing their B&Q 'discount card'.  They were only once asked what B&Q stood for- they said "Bush and Quayle" !



Wondered what that stood for so I finally checked.  Store was started by two guys named Block and Quayle.  Wonder if the eejit Quayle in the US is related?


----------



## fureverywhere

It's funny but just our perceptions perhaps, but do you remember your grandparents at the age you are now? I don't know about you but I feel I'm a hootie of a lot " younger" than they were. Then again the idea of running and daily exercise and what they called health food didn't get real popular till the 1970's. I think the late boomers especially are trying to hold on to our youth. For me it's an ironic Ramones t shirt. The sad ones are the folks who go all gung ho with stopping time.

I suppose Botox has it's medical uses. But I see so many women around here who have identical frozen faces. Then the other end of the socio-economic spectrum...long platinum blonde hair, a cut off denim jacket, skintight shiny leggings, a low neckline tank shirt...wrinkles and skin like a leather jacket. Eeek you're scaring small children. That being said I think senior should start at fifty across the board. It's too confusing when some discounts and benefits are 50, 55, 65...

I'm 53 and the state has job services for seniors. But you have to be 55 to be eligible. It would probably be a helpful resource but I can't wait two years. Better that all programs make senior services fifty plus.


----------



## AZ Jim

You remind me of a kid wanting to be 16 so they can drive, or 21 so they can drink, take your time, trust me.....it's coming faster than you can imagine.


----------



## imp

Nice!     imp


----------



## Manatee

At my age my grandparents had been in their graves for 10 years.  My mother made it to 91, but my dad was gone at 65.


----------



## Capt Lightning

My uncle used to say, "When you're young, you wish it was tomorrow.  When you're old, you wish it was yesterday".


----------



## AZ Jim

Manatee said:


> At my age my grandparents had been in their graves for 10 years.  My mother made it to 91, but my dad was gone at 65.



At my age my Grandparents have been gone for 50+ years.


----------



## jujube

Senior citizen = anyone a year older than me.  I don't know how long I can pull this off.....

My mom just turned 90.  People think she's in her 70's.....there's hope for me yet.


----------



## Pookie

I'm 54. I figured it might be okay to be here since I'm retired...

Retired. What a word! 

I figured I was eligible to join here because my idea of a good time is curling up on the couch with the dog, a few cats, a good book, and classical music playing.

Woooohoooo! Party on! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......


----------



## Manatee

Elderly is someone who is 15 or more years older than yourself.


----------



## Pookie

Manatee said:


> Elderly is someone who is 15 or more years older than yourself.



LOL! My 97-year-old aunt would smack me with her cane if I called her elderly. She calls it "experienced."


----------



## SenseiPapa

hollydolly said:


> This is me taken on my 50th Birthday...



What a beautiful woman!  I will turn 70 soon.  I work out daily, and still practice my karate, although my old knees and hip joints don't handle the stress so well.  I don't feel 70.  I don't look 70.  But I know that no matter how hard I fight Father Time, he will win in the end.  But I will look good at my viewing!


----------



## Pookie

Being senior is when you....ack! I forgot.


----------



## Manatee

I will turn 70 soon.  I work out daily, and still practice my karate, although my old knees and hip joints don't handle the stress so well.  I don't feel 70.  I don't look 70.  But I know that no matter how hard I fight Father Time, he will win in the end.  But I will look good at my viewing![/QUOTE]

For my 70th birthday I was in the hospital getting my right knee replaced.  The left one came a few years later.  They both still work, but some other things not so good.


----------



## imp

SenseiPapa said:


> *What a beautiful woman*!  I will turn 70 soon.  I work out daily, and still practice my karate, although my old knees and hip joints don't handle the stress so well.  I don't feel 70.  I don't look 70.  But I know that no matter how hard I fight Father Time, he will win in the end.  But I will look good at my viewing!



She is beyond belief, is she not? And, to my perception, at 70 your interest ought to exceed mine at 73!

We are all aware of Father Time, small wonder they did not use the female gender to describe the concept! Nonetheless, I can still fully appreciate, and, well,......REALLY appreciate someone like HollyDolly!

Blood pressure pill time......imp


----------



## Linda

Cookie said:


> I think Jim is well preserved.




I agree.


----------



## Pookie

Being a senior means you can fart and not apologize.


----------



## Linda

Capt Lightning said:


> When I was 50, I was showered with advertising leaflets fron 'SAGA'.  Not sure if this is just a UK company, but they provide holidays, insurance and other services for over 50s.  And they're expensive.
> When I was 60, I got my bus pass (or entitlement card as it's called)  and a 'senior' card from B&Q (a large DIY chain).
> My 65th. birthday was 4 days ago and I've been swamped by documents about pensions, tax, banking etc...
> 
> So, it looks as if all my significant birthdays are celebrated with an excess of mail!
> 
> Since we're all showing off our offspring, here are my daughters (taken at the BBC last year) .....
> View attachment 22268
> 
> DD1 (left) is a senior university lecturer.
> A Friendly Dalek (Middle)
> DD2(right) is a qualified solicitor, but works as an insurance underwriter.


Your daughters are pretty and have beautiful smiles.  They look like they'd be a lot of fun to hang around with.


----------



## imp

I regret to say my own offspring cannot here be shown. However, if they ever did, the pics might be thus:


----------



## SenseiPapa

Pookie said:


> Being a senior means you can fart and not apologize.



Being a senior means:  Never pass a bathroom, never waste an erection, and never trust a fart.


----------



## Warrigal

At 55 I was officially a 'senior' with a seniors card that conferred certain discounts and concessions. In my church I was an 'elder' but age has little to do with this elected position. We had a couple of elders in their twenties. At work I was considered to be a 'wisdom figure' because I carried a lot of corporate history and culture in my head.

Now at 72 I own the word 'old'. I am an old woman, afflicted with some painful joints and needing regular medication to keep my heart and arteries from disintegrating. My mind however is still active and eager for exercise. I still have purpose in my life and something to offer to my community. I'm not ready yet to shuffle off this mortal coil but I could be ready tomorrow if that is what fate decrees.


----------



## Linda

SenseiPapa said:


> Being a senior means:  Never pass a bathroom, never waste an erection, and never trust a fart.


 I guess you tell it like it is, don't you?   I'll have to read that to my husband when he wakes up from his nap.


----------



## imp

Linda said:


> I guess you tell it like it is, don't you?   I'll have to read that to my husband when he wakes up from his nap.



Will he have had "enough" rest?  

imp


----------



## SenseiPapa

Warrigal said:


> At 55 I was officially a 'senior' with a seniors card that conferred certain discounts and concessions. In my church I was an 'elder' but age has little to do with this elected position. We had a couple of elders in their twenties. At work I was considered to be a 'wisdom figure' because I carried a lot of corporate history and culture in my head.
> 
> Now at 72 I own the word 'old'. I am an old woman, afflicted with some painful joints and needing regular medication to keep my heart and arteries from disintegrating. My mind however is still active and eager for exercise. I still have purpose in my life and something to offer to my community. I'm not ready yet to shuffle off this mortal coil but I could be ready tomorrow if that is what fate decrees.



You hang in there Warrigal!  The world needs "old" people like you


----------



## Pookie

imp said:


> I regret to say my own offspring cannot here be shown. However, if they ever did, the pics might be thus:




Cool! Kid pics! Here's mine:


----------



## Manatee

SenseiPapa said:


> Being a senior means:  Never pass a bathroom, never waste an erection, and never trust a fart.



Medical advice: never take a sleeping pill and a laxative at the same time.


----------



## Manatee

My grandson that I used to pick up under one arm is now taller than me and graduates from college in two weeks.  I am 6'2".


----------

