Calling Someone the ”S” Word

A couple months ago when checking out at Ace Hardware I, …yes me, …for the first time, was asked if was eligible for a “senior discount”! I was like, What, do I look like a senior citizen! The clerk couldn’t tell if I was being serious or not, and frankly, I was a little bit in shock and wasn’t sure if I was being serious or not either. Anyway, she said, well, you never know. I thought well thanks a lot, and asked well how old do you have to be to get the discount? She said 55, and I frowned and said sarcastically, do I look like I’m 55!? (I’m actually 60, but people are usually surprised to find that out so I play it for all it’s worth.) She says, well, you never know and starts to defend her action by saying people get mad at her for not giving them the discount. At this point I thought I should let her know I was just playing and with a wink and a smile said, Well, I might as well start taking advantage of senior citizen discounts then, shaking my head in disgust, and said, you can be the first to give it to me! I actually saved a couple bucks but honestly I felt a little insulted and couldn’t wait to get back home to take a look in the gym mirror and assess what this woman was seeing that made me look like I could possibly be a senior citizen.!

That said, I just came across this article:

Push to stop using the term 'senior' for someone over 50

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- You may want to take a second before you use the 's' word: senior, or senior citizen when referring to someone over 50.

There is a push to get rid of this term, because some argue its dehumanizing.

Deb is a 60 something year old with 42 years in a career in sales. Call her professional, boss, the life of the party but you better not call her a senior citizen.

"For ages, we had a stigma. In reality, aging gives us experience. At AARP, we don't think we should be defined by age," says Alex Juarez with AARP. "For a couple of years we have been using the term 50 plus. That's important because we don't want people to be identified as seniors."

Some say it creates barriers, especially in the workplace with many people not even realizing their doing it.

"The way that the brain works is interesting. Human beings get so much sensory input that we try to label things to make it easier for us. When you have a term like senior citizen, what people are doing is trying to make a short cut to understand that person by putting them in a category," says Jennifer Ward, president of the Arizona Employer's Council. "There is no way for us to turn that off, it's going to exist because that is the way our brains work."

"We are in a period of transition, many people are changing jobs, finding new ways to live and today we are living longer," says Juarez.

The Journal of the American Geriatrics looked at the way people talk about seniors, encouraging authors submitting research to change their style and words when referring to people over 50.



This article is based off a scholastically vetted association: The Journal of the American Geriatrics research:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgs.14941


So what do you think about calling someone or being called a “Senior”?

 

Seniors do start getting shorter, as well as slower, but ...no.

 

I don’t know. If one becomes over-insouciant about their appearance and abilities as they age it seems a sure sign they have chosen to let things go. If the 60s are supposed to be the new 40s then with that wouldn’t there be certain expectations to at least try to maintain a more youthful persona? As a measure of how we're doing wouldn't you be concerned about people dropping you in that "S" category on a regular basis rather than expressing their surprise at your age-defiant nature. Hmm?

 

...or maybe dye your hair?

I'll take that...especially if they believe it.

I'd say for youthfulness boosting some iron on a regular basis will help set one apart from the pack of those willingly looked upon as pococurante Seniors.

 

Not a fan of typical AARP politics but would consider they are in line with JAGS on this one.