Two Words: "Senior" And "Age/Number"

ClassicRockr

ClassicRockr

Well-known Member
How do you feel when you are called a "Senior"? How do you feel when your age is brought up?

My wife turned 70 this past January and she doesn't like hearing her age brought up in anything. She will look at me and say "wait until you turn 70, then you'll know how I feel about hearing my age".

This morning she had a very hard time getting up to get ready for work. It really seems like it's getting harder and harder for her to get up. She told me that she had been sleeping hard. I told her that age can have something to do with that.......harder to get up in the AM for work. She let me know that she didn't appreciate her age being brought up again. Her age was brought up in a discussion on how hard work is for her right now. She has been assigned a number of things to do. I told her that by 70 years old, many Seniors are retired. Until we move, she doesn't want to retire. Even with the workload she has, she really likes working.

So, how do you feel about those two things.........hearing the word "Senior" and/or hearing your age brought up in some kind of conversation?​
 

Rockr, is there an age difference between you and the wife that bothers her? 70 is not that old these days but some are more sensitive than others so do not want to be reminded.

While you really don't see many 70 year olds working if she enjoys it then why complain about it. When do you plan to move? Will she quit work then or is she using her work as an excuse not to move?
 
Fortunately I look young enough for no-one to bring my age up...except kids of course who think I'm old... if anyone talks about my age it's me, when everything aches...

However you're right your wife works full time, and at 70 that's a lot to do.. so she's going to ache and hurt, and feel very tired, but she's doing her best to keep an income coming into the house since she's the only wage earner, so the only thing you can do Cody, is not mention her age..just congratulate her on how well she's doing..be prepared to do everything for her ( I know you already do the chores)..but just be complimentary to her all the time, say she look and acts young, so age is not a factor.. and that you understand she's tired, and show her appreciation for everything she's doing for you both..
 

ClassicRockr said:
How do you feel when you are called a "Senior"? How do you feel when your age is brought up?

​
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Senior?
Like it
spells discount
respect

Age?
Usually from younger folk
they should be so lucky

'Geriatric' is the word that still gets to me
Geri...effing...atric
has a feeble ring to it

I usually, after a facial Tourette, throw down on whoever uses that defamatory reference around me
 
I remember being really upset to be 40. I just really hated that and it felt so OLD. Now that was over 20 years ago and age hasn't bothered me since.
 
36 was the one that bothered me. It was because on all those things where they ask your age and it generally goes 18 to 25 then 25 to 35 and then it takes that big jump 36 to 50 and I remembered thinking 50 is old. How silly.
 
I don't have any problem with being called a senior, that's what I am and it's much better than the alternative. I don't have my age brought up to me very often, my husband is 2 years older than me and we both retired early. Maybe your wife should consider retirement for her own sake, and enjoy the rest of her golden years.

I seriously suggest that you don't continue talking about her age when you discuss these things, I can see where that would be very annoying and depressing coming from a loved one. I don't think she has as much of a problem with her age being mentioned, but when it's done frequently and in the context that you're using it, it may really be affecting her in a negative way emotionally and mentally.

Just a suggestion, and food for thought for you. Do you think you can count to ten and bite your tongue for at least a month when you're tempted to throw her age up at her when she's feeling down, because that's the way she's taking it? Who knows, she might just stop working on her own if she's not pressured all the time. Good luck, best to you both.
 
I don't like it. I remember the first time I was offered a discount for coffee at Jack in the Box, I was appalled. Lol
Yesterday a friend and I were putting away purchases from Target in the car from our carts in the parking garage
(she's 61 with salt and pepper hair and I'm almost 70) and her cart almost got away from her. A younger woman
who was passing by with her cart asked if we needed help. We thanked her and said, no. Then the two of us
just looked at each other but didn't say anything. Sometimes words are just not necessary. :p
 
Mizzkitt said:
Rockr, is there an age difference between you and the wife that bothers her? 70 is not that old these days but some are more sensitive than others so do not want to be reminded.

While you really don't see many 70 year olds working if she enjoys it then why complain about it. When do you plan to move? Will she quit work then or is she using her work as an excuse not to move?
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1 1/2 years difference in our age. We are both early Baby Boomers. She was born in early 1948 and I was born in mid 1949. I guess, to a point, turning 70 isn't that great........hearing the number, that is. She is pretty sensitive to hearing the age and the word "Senior", so I MUST remember that. But, like any other "human" thing, "remembering" certain things can be hard.

We have made plans to visit the area this summer that we are looking at moving to. Our current plan is to move in May of next year, but that could be pushed up a year, due to finances. Both of us hope that doesn't happen.

She will quit her job and, once moved and settled in, try to find a part-time job as I will also. However, neither of us want to work any weekends.

Oh, she definitely wants to move, but also knows, once she quits her job, our income will definitely change. But, yes, she does want to move.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I don't have any problem with being called a senior, that's what I am and it's much better than the alternative. I don't have my age brought up to me very often, my husband is 2 years older than me and we both retired early. Maybe your wife should consider retirement for her own sake, and enjoy the rest of her golden years.

I seriously suggest that you don't continue talking about her age when you discuss these things, I can see where that would be very annoying and depressing coming from a loved one. I don't think she has as much of a problem with her age being mentioned, but when it's done frequently and in the context that you're using it, it may really be affecting her in a negative way emotionally and mentally.

Just a suggestion, and food for thought for you. Do you think you can count to ten and bite your tongue for at least a month when you're tempted to throw her age up at her when she's feeling down, because that's the way she's taking it? Who knows, she might just stop working on her own if she's not pressured all the time. Good luck, best to you both.
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Yes, I MUST watch it. No, she will not automatically stop working, until we move. If the company she is currently working for was to lay her off for some reason, she would go to work for a Agency, until we move. We have already discussed that.

She does tell me, quite often "I wouldn't know what to do if you were working a job and not able to do all the things you do while I'm at work". Oh, she appreciates what I do, that's for sure!
 
Seems like people are always complimenting us on how we look, by saying "you sure don't look that age (or, that old)". Guess it must be that we don't act as old as we are, however old someone acts that is 69 or 70. Looks wise, a lot of folks in our age bracket have gray hair, but we don't. We both use hair coloring. Hers, her entire head and mine is my mustache and temples.

I've got a classmate that I graduated with in 1968 and him and his wife actually look old enough to be our parents. Totally gray hair and, for some reason, just "old" looking. Some Seniors aren't bothered by their hair being totally gray at all, while others, like wife and I, don't like it at all.
 
Timetrvlr said:
I'm tired of being a Senior. In a couple of weeks I turn 80 and I'm looking forward to becoming an "Elder". I like the thought of being elderly better.:D
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Never knew that?? An elder?? I crossed that bridge a few years back and never realized it;). And the age thing has never bothered either my wife or I. Both in our 80's now, we're just happy to still manage to chug along. Unfortunately, most of our old friends, that we grew up with, have dropped by the wayside, and the color of their hair, or if they even had any didn't seem to make a difference.
 
I like the sound of "elder" better, though "senior" doesn't bother me. I do remember being horrified once when I was about 60, when a bus driver told me I could qualify for a senior fare. But that was then.

I guess I look a lot older than I usually feel, because complete strangers do sometimes offer to "help" in stores, etc. I don't need any special help any more than when I was 30; I'm perfectly able-bodied though a little bit slower than I used to be. Maybe it's my gray hair that invites all this "help?"

Classicrockr, your wife may be a little depressed, nothing to do with being 70. 70 is nothing! I live in a retirement community, independent living for people 55 and over. Some of our residents in their 70's, 80's, and even 90's(!) take part in golf, tennis, various kinds of dancing, exercise classes, swimming, bike riding, you name it. Even our Baby Boomers are now in their 60's and 70's. Age is a state of mind; if you refuse to think of yourself as an old person, you aren't one, at least in your own mind.
 
ClassicRockr said:
1 1/2 years difference in our age. We are both early Baby Boomers. She was born in early 1948 and I was born in mid 1949. I guess, to a point, turning 70 isn't that great........hearing the number, that is. She is pretty sensitive to hearing the age and the word "Senior", so I MUST remember that. But, like any other "human" thing, "remembering" certain things can be hard.

We have made plans to visit the area this summer that we are looking at moving to. Our current plan is to move in May of next year, but that could be pushed up a year, due to finances. Both of us hope that doesn't happen.

She will quit her job and, once moved and settled in, try to find a part-time job as I will also. However, neither of us want to work any weekends.

Oh, she definitely wants to move, but also knows, once she quits her job, our income will definitely change. But, yes, she does want to move.
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A few people have asked me if I needed help in some instances, too, and I was thinking it was about how old I look now. I'm not sure if that's why they offered though.
 
I consider the term senior to be a patronizing euphemism. Call me old; call me elderly; call me geriatric; they're all fine, but don't patronize me by calling me a senior or an elder. People do not deserve respect because they are old. An individual of eighty deserves respect based on the same criteria as an individual of twenty.
 
Being a senior, O.A.P. old age pensioner in the UK, etc
are fine by me.

Unfortunately the youth and the not-so-young of today
have no respect for older people whatsoever, not even
in some families.

Mike.
 

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