At What Age Do You Change From Being "Middle Aged" to Being a "Senior"? (psycho, respect)
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Middle aged going by the calendar starts in one's forties ( assuming the average lifespan is into the 70's or low 80's). Senior citizen historically was applied around early to mid 60's when one began drawing SS, pensions and or other benefits tided to "old age".
Senior citizen is a more PC replacement for "pensioner" or other polite euphemism for what once would have been simply the "elderly". That word is now usually reserved for persons of very advanced years. The idea being that while one is obviously older a "senior citizen" was still an active and useful member of the community.
There is a great episode of "Frasier" when that character reaches his 40th birthday and his brother Niles calls him "middle aged". Frasier shoots back that middle age does not begin until one's fifties, and his brother counters "only if you plan on living till you are one hundred.
Location: Prescott Valley,az summer/east valley Az winter
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OOOOPS! missed that middle aged thing. When I was working I always had a crew of first time on a job workers~ was a little older that those high schoolers but not middle aged! When I retired I went immediately to senior and didn't bother me a bit!
We get a senior citizen discount at some restaurants, one retail store and 10% discount at our grocery store. Some start around here at 55, most are 62.
I personally think middle age starts around 40 and being a senior starts at 62.
We get a senior citizen discount at some restaurants, one retail store and 10% discount at our grocery store. Some start around here at 55, most are 62.
I personally think middle age starts around 40 and being a senior starts at 62.
You are right , on a National average both on age descriptions and discounts. AARP is really the entrance to Seniordom, and that starts at 50.....but at 50 I never considered myself "old".. Middle age seems so long ago , that it sounds " old" ! ,but 40 IS the correct number.
What I think is going on here is perception balanced or unbalanced with "official" terms , not necessarily " old Age". The one term I dread is the one thats coming up sooner than we may think , and its " elderly". or commonly used as "the elderly" , those in the " home" or assisted living kinda thing. When I think of those terms of endearment I think of my mother-in law, assisted living, and she just turned 93.
I was mindboggled when I saw the previous posts citing discounts beginning at age 55. I remember being surprised that one of the store chains starts theirs at "only" 62.
The "senior" property tax discount programs usually start at 65 no matter what state you live in, so I guess that's as official as it's likely to get, lol. Even my local library's "three free photocopies for seniors" doesn't kick in until that age. ;-)
[quote=StressedOutNYer;34078407]My personal theory is that if it gets me a discount on something, then I'll classify myself as a senior, LOL
I never really thought about the age tipping point though. I know someone in her 80s who I've never thought of as a "senior". Yet through a teenager's eyes I probably qualified as a senior as soon as I hit age 60.
A long time ago I read something in a book long forgotten except for one line which was spoken by an elderly woman. "I'm 96 years old and I'm dying...But how can that be? because in my heart I still feel like I'm eighteen."[/quote]
That reminds me of something my mom told me when I was 15. She was just 30 at the time...not my 'birth mom' but raised me since age 4...and I asked her "How does it feel to be 30??". She thought about it for a bit and then said, "The same as it did to be 15". I thought, yeah right, but when I hit my 30s I understood where she was coming from. I'm 71 now and not sure how my age SHOULD look/act, because nobody has ever been able to tell me, but I know I'm really only 35.
I guess I started thinking of myself as a "senior citizen" when I became eligible for Medicare. Although I still find myself thinking that "old" is at least 15 years older than I am at any given time.
I do use my AARP discount for motels when I do road trips but otherwise I never even think about it. Maybe if I shopped more, ate out more, etc., I would.
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When you start
