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Did We Get Old .. and Not Realize it .. or is Something Else Going On?
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ASTRAEA said:
on November 8, 2009 10:04 AM ET
edited on November 8, 2009 10:06 AM ET On Election Day, in response to my question about "What are people in town active with?", one of the other poll workers .. a woman at least in her mid-60s .. suggested I check out the "Seniors Club". I may be a "senior" by AARP's definition, but her implication that I looked like a candidate for the typical "Seniors Club", was like a knife stab! Last night, I attended a performance by comedian Robert Klein (now 67), and chatted with the volunteer usher .. probably in her early 70s .. before the show. She said that she & her husband volunteer at live performances all over the county .. and I should check out the special "Senior Performances" at the Arts Center. Another knife stab! I'm not liking this nebulous "Senior" appelation .. which can mean anyone from 50 upward, but is often thought of as 62+ or 65+! When I went to a local AARP meeting last fall, the average age was 75, so at 57, I sure hope I don't look like I'd fit in with a crowd that age! When I am 65, I'll be happy to be 65, and when I am 75, I'll be happy to be that too .. but now I'm NOT over 60! How do you feel about people (especially strangers) referring to you as a "Senior" .. and does it fit in with your picture of yourself? Do you think it might be a dig by people older than you, to keep you from feeling like that "spring chicken/rooster" you think you are? |
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Even AARP has an identity crisis, because the "R" in the title stands for "Retired" not "Older", and it's time everyone stopped thinking of those terms as synonymous .. AARP included!
I definitely like your correlation of "senior" with some sort of accomplishment!
Senior class - senior executive - senior citizen. All in my opinion identify an accomplishment - the first for academic endurance, the second for career success, and the third for having navigated life to a successful plateau.
I actually thought about AARP standing for "retired persons" .. NOT "senior persons", and I did retire at 50 .. the age when you can join AARP. And I'll go with the government's decision that Medicare starts at 65, so I'll consider that when the they consider people "seniors". So I'll refer to myself as an "early/young retiree", and tell anyone that they can be a "senior" whenever they want .. but I'm not going to be one until I'm 65 & on Medicare! 
I offer that you update your definition of "Senior" to be the kind of person you are today. Someone was merely sharing information with you and you took it as an insult.
your comment made me laugh i felt the same way a few years and i still don't appreciate it when someone at the checkout calls me honey it makes me feel so very old i'm 62,but i feel like i should be 50 or younger so don't feel older than you really feel inside.
Hi Astraea,
I understand your point, and we don't have to think alike, for there is no right or wrong. We each can have different perspectives!
Since I feel that age is not chronological, I don't pay attention to whether a senior is an older or younger. There are some seniors who are vital and still young at 80, and those who are old at 60.
I tend to look at a persons attitude towards themselves and life itself, and to me that denotes their age, but that's me!
If someone wants to lump me into a catagory, I don't want to take offense, because if I get upset, it doesn't hurt them, it hurts me. This is why I let such things roll off my back! Shelby
I know just what you mean! I retired at 50, and joined AARP because they sent me an invitation & I liked the magazine. But when people talked about Social Security & Medicare .. it was 12 to 15 years in the future for me, so I had no personal experience to share! God knows, I won't even start collecting my pension for another 5 years!
The company/retirees have a very odd, half-as.sed system, IMHO. Rather than the company downloading & providing contact info to the official retiree coordinators, it's word-of-mouth that they collect contact data for us. So the list contains about 1,200 names, although there must be at least 15,000 retirees floating around! So yes, we had a list, but it's far from complete.
There are quite a few official/incorporated retiree clubs, based on location, with several around the NYC service territory, several in Florida, and a few in other locations. There are also unofficial retiree groups, based on the departments in which people worked, rather than their current geographic location. The unofficial group associated with the plant at which I worked, met monthly for lunch; purely social. Because it was so close to the plant, occasionally non-retirees would stick their nose in & join us .. which was nice. Where I lived before, it was about 50 minutes north of me; now it would be more than a 2 hour drive each way, and not worth the trouble.
The official NJ retirees group to which I now belong, has 2 or 3 luncheon meetings annually, a couple of business meetings w/refreshments, and several other activities like a golf tournament & family picnic.
It doesn't appear that my town has a "newcomers club"; there are less than 5,000 residents. In looking at the town's website, they have TWO women's clubs .. how much do you want to be that one is for the "young" women, and the other is for the "older" women! There's also a garden club (not my thing) & a historic society .. which I would be interested in.
