A rant about age
 

Hi Pals.
I feel a rant coming on.
I recently turned 51. I didn't say anything to anyone last year because I didn't want anyone to make a big deal about a number just because it ended in a zero.

I didn't want to get those stupid cards that made bad jokes about old people forgetting where they put stuff, and not being able to see or chew or whatever.

I'm not old.

Why is 50 considered old? Suppose I die at age 80. That means I spend 30 years being "old??" That can't be right. Somebody spends over a third of their life being old??? How can that be??

If you had a dog (ok, I know certain breeds die younger than others, but suppose you had a medium sized mutt dog) that was 7 or 8 years old, would you say it was "old??"

I know people who are my age who describe themselves as old. I don't know why. If it's at all true that "what you think about you bring about" then I don't want to think that I am bringing about negative things associated with being elderly. There are positive things associated with being elderly, but those are not what my friends are talking about when they describe themselves as "old."

I have lost a few friends, friends who died at around my age. People would say "oh, they were so young...." But....they mean these people were so young to die, not for anything else. Now how can a person be in the "old" category and at the same time be "too young to die." Pick One. I say if you're too young to die, you're not old yet.

I don't want to hear any more of those stupid "old people" jokes or get those stupid cards. Why is it any different from ethnic slurs that we all know are in poor taste? It might be "all in good fun" but I don't see where the fun is.

Oh- I'm not talking about anyone on 3FC; just people out there in general society that I'm picking up this "old people" stuff from.

I don't feel old. Yet.

End of rant; comments welcome.

Thanks,
jo

I suddenly feel like going outside naked in a rain storm.

I believe age is just a number. You're only as old as you choose to be.

Seriously, Jo, I know exactly what you mean, but in a different context.

I'm the youngest of 4 children and my parents are 72 and 63. Does that mean they're "old?" I don't think they're old. At what point does one BECOME old? To a 16-year-old 30 is old--well, now I'm 31 and I know people well into their 80's that still drive and go out and do things and just generally get along well on their own.

I think "old" is a mind-set, but one we establish to judge OTHERS--not ourselves or those close to us. I actually think AGING is the more... appropriate... term. We are all aging until we die. We only become "old" when WE feel as though we are.

Girl, I'm 2 years older than you and I'm definitely not old!!! Age is only a number and a state of mind just as you said. I wouldn't go back to any age under 50 because there is a wonderful shift in attitude you acquire as you age. I feel so much more relaxed and self assured than I've ever felt. What's that saying: you're old enough to know better, but young enough not to care. So, say that to whatever idiot makes a deragatory remark to you.

4 Myself -- Yes, it is what one FEELS like that is important, but just wait till you get to be MY age;)
and get things like an invitation to play some old tunes this weekend in a "geriatric" hippie band..... I am not geriatric, whether it's all in good fun or not.
:mad:

Thanks, Deedee - i just hate the stereotypes!

When I turned fifteen, I couldn't wait until I was 40 years old. I am a writer, have been all my life, and thought that by the time I was 40 I would have so much to write about and so many experiences.

When I turned twenty-seven I got very depressed because I was so old. Yes, I was ancient and old enough that I should get the senior discount. I felt like ym life was over and figured I had better pick out my funeral clothes.

When I turned thirty I felt like my life had finally started and didn't see anything that could stand in my way of living. I am not old and I am not young, I am just in my thirties and ready for what life throws at me. I have the experience of my yesterdays and the dreams of tomorrow.

I totally agree with the "over the hill" cards and jokes ... none of them are really that funny.

I also don't understand people (usually women) who lie about their age. I'm 37, frequently get told I look much younger, so I proudly announce my age when I'm asked!

Two phrases come to mind ...

This one I'm paraphrasing but I think I read it somewhere here on 3FC (but I can't remember where): you're not "old" until you've lived beyond life expectancy.

This one I saw on a bumper sticker once: "Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the h3ll happened". :D

When I was 5 then 10 was old. When I was 10 then 16 was old. When I was 18 then 25 was old and 30 was ancient. As I turned 30 I felt a little old but knew that you weren't really old until 40. At 45 I started trying to "ease" into the year I would turn 50. Well that passed 3 years ago. Younger people think I am OLD....older folks at church think I am YOUNG.

The cards and comments don't bother me...heck I feel lucky to have lived this long! :)

I don't really feel old...unless you count trying to get up after sitting so long....ohhhh ~ ouch..... these damn old bones......;)

I definitely don't think 50 is old. Whenever I tell my parents a story (Mom is 55, Dad is 57) and I say "blah blah blah this old guy cut me off in traffic blah blah blah" my mom always thinks it's someone around "her" age and I have to say no way, like 80. But, even 80 isn't old to me, because my grandparents are in their mid-eighties and I don't think they are!

Like dixiedieter said, you're only as old as you want to be!

Hey Spiny, happy belated birthday, age is just a number....kinda like those things you see on that device called a scale. :hug:

When I was working at Mastercuts, I felt 'old'. I'm 41 and the girls I worked with were all 25 and younger. Most of them weren't even born yet when I started to work at Penney's in 1984!! BUT, they made me feel old, but they also made me feel grateful to be the age I'm at. I wouldn't want to be in my early 20's again for ANYTHING! So DRAMATIC over men/boys, shoes, 'what should I wear'...TWO girls slept with the boss's boyfriend. Gawd...all I wanted to do was go home and make a potato salad and be a normal 'old' person.

On the other hand, they also made me feel younger by association. Such as, things in my life started to become 'wicked cool' and my daughter would say, "Mom?" as if to say, "You're too old to talk like that..."

My problem is that when I was a teenager, I was a professional at it, meaning I was VERY happy with being a teenager and wallowed in it and went to football games and hung out with friends, etc. When I became around 24 or so and all my friends graduated from college and got jobs and spouses, I felt so deserted and found my self on the beach looking for my friends having a campfire and found the 'little kids' had taken over. I had a long time in my life where I felt very old but mostly in my later 20's and 30's. I was very depressed for a long time.

BUT, to make a long story short, I 'grew up' and realized I'm not old, but a grown up and should start acting like one. I got married and had kids (actually, I had kids, THEN got married - just a technicality) and learned how to cook. I'm SO enjoying my 40's. I actually feel younger now than when I was in my 20's.

When someone asks me how old I am, I say 21...with 20 years of experience. And, I feel like I'm a younger 41 year old because I compare myself to my mom when she was my age and I am SOOO much younger at heart and way more hip than my mom was at my age. Age is just a number...how old you FEEL is important and that it totally up to the individual.

Oh, and by the way...I'm so 'grown up' now that I decided that 41 is the perfect age to open my own barber shop/beauty salon. My DH and I are in the process, as we speak, of renovating an old storefront into a salon. I went to the Small Business Association in my county and a very nice lady took me by the hand, showed me all the steps I had to take and got me started adn we should be open October 1!! God willing and the creek don't rise, that is!! Keep your fingers crossed adn say your prayers for me that I'm successful!! I feel so grown up!!

Love that one! I'm 41, young to some people, ancient to my kids. But many days, deep inside I still feel like a kid playing like I'm a grown up!