Getting Older - Being a Pre-Senior
Every day, in one way or another, I am reminded about getting older. I "feel" young, but chronologically, I am 56. I am about 20 years older than my father was when he passed away. Someone told me that I am "middle-aged". Unless I live to 112, I think I am a bit past the middle. My older brother retired a few weeks ago and is enjoying his idle time. At least two of my closest friends are now retired, or close to it. I have about nine more years of working my butt off before I retire, although I do think about it every day as I live vicariously through those that have made it.
I was prematurely grey, so people always thought I was older. Now, I am prematurely white, so there are few mysteries to my age. I married a woman five years older than myself, who looks five years younger than me. I have developed a few health concerns common to older people, like arthritis and high blood pressure. My little patients often call me "Grandpa", which is really okay, since I am a grandpa.
At least ten years ago, I was given a senior discount at Taco Bell. The pimply guy behind the counter was really sweet.
"You people deserve it," he said. I accepted his offer of the one dollar discount.
When I was fifty, I qualified for AARP. Remember, my wife is five years older, so I was able to join through her. This week, I found out that I could get a 5% discount on my car insurance if I completed a Mature Drivers Course. I did it. It was quite an experience.
Age 55 is the earliest one can take this course, so it is appropriate for people 55 to 105. It is designed that way. This thing took nearly 8 hours to complete on-line. This was my choice since I did not want to sit in a classroom all day with really old folks like Earl or Mildred. They would most-likely be asking the teacher to speak up, or tell long, boring stories about driving their father's Model A or something. Being new at being old, I didn't think I would fit in with the classroom setting at the retirement village (where it was held). I do not need additional reminders that I am getting older.
Some parts of the course were really interesting; others were not. I was particularly amused at the pre-driving check list that included the ability to look over the steering wheel or to have enough distance between the belly and the steering wheel for the air bag to deploy. Even with my pot belly, I qualified. It did make me think of all of the slower cars on the road that do not seem to have a driver. As you pass them, you often see a little, white-haired head peaking out over the lower edge of the window. I don't know how they can see the road at all. Other check list items include making sure you have gas, or that your tires are inflated. This is basic information, but important nonetheless.
Reaction time slows as we age. If someone rudely cuts me off now, I still want to flip 'em the bird, but I don't. Not only would this obscene gesture incite road-rage, they may be one of my patients. In my mind, however, my finger has proudly risen.
There is a lot of debris that ends up on the road, such as tire skeletons, boxes, fireplace logs, or chunks of metal. My reaction time must have always been slower, since I have hit my share of these things. Just last year, I hit a large chunk of scrap metal that fell off of some goober's pick-up truck. It caused some considerable damage and could have killed me if I swerved. Twenty years ago, I hit a dining room chair standing prominently in my lane as I traveled through a tunnel. Being younger then, I chased down the truck with the other three, poorly-tied chairs to make them pay for my car damage. Surprisingly to all of us, the wooden chair that I hit did not cause one scratch on my car. When the people denied it was their chair, I told them to count the ones left in the truck, and handed over a piece of matching wood still hanging on my bumper. I accept their apology for being idiots.
The last part of the Mature Drivers Course involved knowing when you are too old to drive. Many elderly drivers are in denial and end up hurting themselves or someone else before they give up their license. At 56, I should have another 25 or 30 years behind the wheel before this becomes an issue. Unsafe drivers come in all ages, of course. When you hear about an elderly man driving through a crowded intersection, you realize that it's everyone's responsibility to inform our aging friends or relatives that they are no longer safe behind the wheel. I wonder who is going to tell me some day.
I am not a true senior citizen yet, but I will accept those senior discounts when offered. As an honest man, I won't ask for them until I am age-eligible, but I will certainly not turn them down if someone thinks I deserve it. A buck is a buck.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: healthy aging, senior drivers, AARP, retirement
I was prematurely grey, so people always thought I was older. Now, I am prematurely white, so there are few mysteries to my age. I married a woman five years older than myself, who looks five years younger than me. I have developed a few health concerns common to older people, like arthritis and high blood pressure. My little patients often call me "Grandpa", which is really okay, since I am a grandpa.
At least ten years ago, I was given a senior discount at Taco Bell. The pimply guy behind the counter was really sweet.
"You people deserve it," he said. I accepted his offer of the one dollar discount.
When I was fifty, I qualified for AARP. Remember, my wife is five years older, so I was able to join through her. This week, I found out that I could get a 5% discount on my car insurance if I completed a Mature Drivers Course. I did it. It was quite an experience.
Age 55 is the earliest one can take this course, so it is appropriate for people 55 to 105. It is designed that way. This thing took nearly 8 hours to complete on-line. This was my choice since I did not want to sit in a classroom all day with really old folks like Earl or Mildred. They would most-likely be asking the teacher to speak up, or tell long, boring stories about driving their father's Model A or something. Being new at being old, I didn't think I would fit in with the classroom setting at the retirement village (where it was held). I do not need additional reminders that I am getting older.
Some parts of the course were really interesting; others were not. I was particularly amused at the pre-driving check list that included the ability to look over the steering wheel or to have enough distance between the belly and the steering wheel for the air bag to deploy. Even with my pot belly, I qualified. It did make me think of all of the slower cars on the road that do not seem to have a driver. As you pass them, you often see a little, white-haired head peaking out over the lower edge of the window. I don't know how they can see the road at all. Other check list items include making sure you have gas, or that your tires are inflated. This is basic information, but important nonetheless.
Reaction time slows as we age. If someone rudely cuts me off now, I still want to flip 'em the bird, but I don't. Not only would this obscene gesture incite road-rage, they may be one of my patients. In my mind, however, my finger has proudly risen.
There is a lot of debris that ends up on the road, such as tire skeletons, boxes, fireplace logs, or chunks of metal. My reaction time must have always been slower, since I have hit my share of these things. Just last year, I hit a large chunk of scrap metal that fell off of some goober's pick-up truck. It caused some considerable damage and could have killed me if I swerved. Twenty years ago, I hit a dining room chair standing prominently in my lane as I traveled through a tunnel. Being younger then, I chased down the truck with the other three, poorly-tied chairs to make them pay for my car damage. Surprisingly to all of us, the wooden chair that I hit did not cause one scratch on my car. When the people denied it was their chair, I told them to count the ones left in the truck, and handed over a piece of matching wood still hanging on my bumper. I accept their apology for being idiots.
The last part of the Mature Drivers Course involved knowing when you are too old to drive. Many elderly drivers are in denial and end up hurting themselves or someone else before they give up their license. At 56, I should have another 25 or 30 years behind the wheel before this becomes an issue. Unsafe drivers come in all ages, of course. When you hear about an elderly man driving through a crowded intersection, you realize that it's everyone's responsibility to inform our aging friends or relatives that they are no longer safe behind the wheel. I wonder who is going to tell me some day.
I am not a true senior citizen yet, but I will accept those senior discounts when offered. As an honest man, I won't ask for them until I am age-eligible, but I will certainly not turn them down if someone thinks I deserve it. A buck is a buck.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: healthy aging, senior drivers, AARP, retirement
6 Comments:
Really cute article. Although I have now graduated to Sr. (68) I still can relate to my pre Sr. years. I called them 'the in-between years' as there was no dicount, no Medical benefits, etc.,---just a waiting time before the "percs".
Ann
Good and honest article. Reflecting your true self as a senior. Grow old gracefully.
Really appreciate your article - most observant and accepting of the inevitable. The same issues seem to affect us all, even in very different countries.
Write another one soon!!
Claudia (New Zealand)
You go Rod. Your articles are always so enjoyable. Being a senior citizen of your age plus about 10 and being female I also still get the urge to flip some idiot the bird but have learned to restrain myself mostly because of having lived in Central Florida so long where road rage seems to be a normal attitude for many people. My BF of another 10 years of age still gets the urge on occassion. We both have days when we feel our ages but we still also have days when we deny, deny deny and go out and have fun. He still works (and I am looking again) and will probably die on the job; plays golf most weekends and may still teach me how. At one time, I had decided to stop having birthdays and yet, age (on paper, anyway) does have its perks so I decided I'd just go with the flow and enjoy it as much as possible.
Well, you know I always thought the middle ages were between 40 and 60, but let's not debate that. I am 57 now and just starting to feel old lol. Maybe it is because I've had six colds in as many months and I feel decrepit.
We just cannot escape the aging process. I am now 60 going on 61. My happiness is being myself and happy at the same time. We may be from different cultures and time zone but Father Clock gives us an equal share of 24 hours to us to manage how we live our life. Take care my friend.
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