When are you a Senior?

Or to put it another way, when does one go from boomer to senior? As we know a boomer is someone born between 1946 and 1964. So when exactly does one cross the barrier to being a senior?

While COVID-19 is limiting our lives, in many areas older individuals are being protected through special efforts. One of these is giving seniors a chance to shop for groceries early in the day before the general public can gain access. In the area where I live, a 67-year-old retired gentleman who needed groceries joined the line-up of older people at his local store one morning recently only to be turned away because he was too young. He was told that people become seniors at 70, not before.

            That prompted me to conduct a survey--not especially scientific—to find out at what age people think a person becomes a senior. While some people gave the traditional retirement age of 65 as their answer, others considered that one specific age is not necessarily the right answer because of variables.

            I found some of the opinions very interesting. One of those was that a senior is a senior when benefits from the community can be accessed. So, in other words, the word senior is adaptable. If a person can get a discount at a store, at a hotel, at a restaurant, etc. at age 60, he or she will gladly accept being a senior. Or do you become a senior when strangers begin calling you Sir or Ma’am?

            People can become members of AARP at age 50. Is anyone a senior at that age? I think no one would say yes, yet it’s certainly not too early to start getting benefits from an organization dedicated to helping people in myriad ways as they age.

            Personally, although not at this time of crisis, I take advantage of age discounts all the time and have been doing so for years. Why not? These can add up over the course of a year. Even if senior discounts are not posted, I ask and it has been my experience that merchants and service providers are eager to provide them. They know that loyalty is sure to follow.

            Then there are some people who fight age as long as they can and avoid getting discounts rather than admit they might be closing in on their senior years. It does not change things in any way. It’s simply a way of delaying the inevitable.

            While the moniker senior is just a word, anyone who first hears it in relation to them can be taken aback until they get used to it. I am now in my senior years and have made peace with it. I mean there comes a time when you can no longer get away with saying that you are almost the same age as your children.

Nature, in its wisdom, sees to it.