Wednesday, February 8, 2012
What's in a Name??
Democrat/republican? Teenager? Majority/minority? Baby boomer/Gen X/Gen Y? Married/single? Straight/gay? We all go through life with names and labels, most of which have never had too much meaning to me. But the other day my wife came into my office, set an envelope on my desk in front of me, and didn't say a word... she only laughed as she left the room. Here's the envelope:
I did a double-take... "Senior Citizen Offer"? Me?? Well, I'm 58 years old, but in my minds eye, I sure don't feel like a senior citizen. To my knowledge, this is the first time I've received something in the mail addressed to me as a "senior citizen". What's the definition of a senior citizen, anyway? Sixty-five? Seventy? I must say, my initial reaction was a distinct feeling of being irritated; perhaps a little angry. A little bit of a feeling like someone called me a bad name. So names and labels haven't meant much to me, but this one is a major adjustment and is going to take some time getting used to! Or may be the trick is to not adjust... don't think of myself as a senior citizen; stay young at heart and all that stuff. Thankfully I have someone to share the journey with, bumpy though the road may be at times!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
heh heh. Now you can join AARP and get great discounts!
ReplyDeleteDidn't you get the AARP mail when you turned 50. LOL
ReplyDeleteTee hee... my husband is in the same boat, he looks young yet qualifies for some senior discounts. Growing older has some advantages. :)
ReplyDeleteLife happens! Just go with it!
ReplyDeleteI get those all the time. Specially via email, the latino seniors dating site has my name pegged :)
ReplyDeleteI'm 50, and had one of them last week as well... Well, at times I feel 30, and at other times, much more. Who cares?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for your nice words on our 1000th post. And I absolutely love your header!!! Nice job!
Someone once asked me how old would I be if I didn't know how old I was. I like that. Puts things into perspective for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I look any different when I look in the mirror, well maybe less hair.
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling. I have a year on you, but I feel no different mentally than I did 30 years ago. I am now at that age where many black Africans address me as "tata", which is grandfather in their language. Or young Afrikaners call me "oom" which is uncle, a term reserved for the older generation. I have now learnt to go with the flow - but why must they rub it in :o)
ReplyDeleteIt's never nice to feel that others are putting you in a category. "Senior citizen" suggests all kinds of things, and I don't like any of 'em! :D
ReplyDeleteI hope you threw their "senior citizen offer" away!
I had to laugh here. I define a senior citizen as anyone 10 years older than me :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect, thank you! I'm going with this definition from now on.
Delete