Seniority
June 13, 2010 * * * * * Posted by: Ginnie 
Surely someone out there reading this will beat me by a mile but not many of you, I'm guessing. So let me unabashedly hoot it up a bit for age and seniority (like Kath just did). And reaching that milestone of milestones (yesterday): age 65.
Did someone say
S E N I O R D I S C O U N T S
Ask Astrid: I HAVE NO SHAME. Some of the discounts started at age 50...like when I became a card-carrying member of AARP. That was 15 years ago when I found out I was NOT one of the Baby Boomers, being too old by one year. Presdident Clinton was; I was not. Cher, Diane Keaton, Dolly Parton, Alan Rickman, Donald Trump, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Sally Field, Susan Sarandon, Linda Ronstadt, Liza Minnelli, Suzanne Sommers, Sylvester Stallone, Tommy Lee Jones---all of them Baby Boomers. All from 1946.
Okay, so maybe the list isn't more impressive when you go back a year to 1945 but who can argue about sharing seniority with the likes of Bette Midler, Diane Sawyer, Eric Clapton, Helen Mirren, Goldie Hawn, Mia Farrow, Priscilla Presley, Rod Stewart, Steve Martin, Carly Simon, Diane von Furstenberg, and a thousand others.
Did someone say
S E N I O R D I S C O U N T S
Years ago when Mom and Dad were still alive but with an empty nest (after 8 kids!), I remember visiting them and hearing how their daily ritual was to drive over to McDonald's for their 10-cent coffee...because they were seniors. You should have seen the excitement on Mom's face when she told me. They were like teenagers on a date.
At 55, wife Astrid was able to put her name on the waiting list for the senior-living complex where we now live here in The Netherlands. Some such places in the States have a minimum age requirement of 50. In England, once you turn 60 you get a free bus pass. At 62 I was able to start receiving my Social Security income. This month, at 65, I'm now eligible for Medicare.
At 65, no one asks anymore what the senior-discount age is: everyone is a senior by 65 and is usually eligible for at least some discount, whether it's for movies, prescriptions, concerts, exhibitions, travel, or you name it. WHO DOESN'T LIKE MONEY! I still bend down to pick up a penny on the sidewalk. And why not! I figure I deserve every cent I can find and save. More left over for the next grand adventure, right? One penny at a time.
Did someone say
S E N I O R D I S C O U N T S
Ask Astrid again: Do I have any shame? Are you kidding me! I will ask for every discount I can get my hands on till they're sick and tired of me. And I will smile all the way to the bank.
By the way, there's a reason why they give us these discounts, of course. Do you ever feel like the Little Engine that Could? This old grey mare ain't what she used to be and sometimes repeats the daily mantra, "I think I can, I think I can." Does anyone know what you get for turning 70? The above steam train was born in 1940 and gave us a dandy little ride when we visited the Steam Festival in nearby Dordtrecht a couple weekends ago. If I look that good 5 years from now, I'll deserve more than a senior discount!
[Yesterday my Dutch wife, Astrid, was our guest blogger here at V&V. Thank you for all the birthday wishes there! :)]
Reader Comments (20)
ARE YOU SURE!!! I never once heard you repeat anything Musketeer...ARE YOU SURE!! I'm so pleased you had a great weekend..Plenty of rest now, as you are a senior citizen you know.
Ohhhh Ginnie - you make me laugh!!! You've got 15..err I should say 14 - years on me. Such an inspiration. I find myself now looking forward to turning 65...when life truly begins in earnest.
Happy Happy Birthday....with many more happy and healthy returns!!!
Congratulations !! You are such a happy Senior, I hope you get a lot of discounts !
You learned from Mom and Dad well, taking grand pleasure in these discounts large and small. I think it's actually more than just the money, I think it's the challenge, puzzle and adventure of it. :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I look forward to that birthday too, in 11 years. :)
Oh, I meant to add, that we saw Bette Midler in "Then She Found Me" last night, and it was fantastic. She and Helen Hunt did an amazing job. See it if you haven't!
Many Happy Returns Ginnie. Wow, you, Helen Mirren and Steve Martin - 1945 was a very good year :)
Hey Ginnie, congrats! we can add Larry to the list as of May 20th !! and that is quiet an impressive list....keep on keepin' on, I say
belated happy ginnie!!!
I LOVE discounts. My girlfriends last weekend were telling me all of the good things they get that I don't .... rubbing it in! I am going to send my darling husband to get the discounts even though he doesn't want to ....
Isn't it fun having a major birthday?
xo
I don't know if I'll have quite the same nerve as you do, Ginnie. But maybe I won't have to ASK for discounts by then (9 years hence) but will automatically be offered them, which is a whole different issue in itself! I still kid myself into thinking I look pretty much the same as I did at, say, 35 - but with white hair!
You have been added to my list of role models for aging with verve and spirit, Ginnie. I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines and learning from your example.
Lovely post on seniority. My father is a 46'er, you just beating him out by 354 days or so. And yes my dad does the same thing already. I did not know that about the social security income. Interesting! I sure hope I have as much pep as you but sometimes I feel like you are already running circles around me! :)
Did I hear you say.... 'Do I have any shame' why does that bring a smile to my face. NO you don't have shame when it comes to money and neither have I, you deserve to get a Seniou Discount, you lived that long,..... so.
A wonderful post again and that shot of the train is a beauty, a Grand Old Lady, still going strong.
Lieve schat you are my trooper and I hope to be able to see us both grow old, it will take me 9 some years before I get my Senior Discount...that will be the day.
I had so much fun last Sunday to be able to say ONE Senior ticket and one 'normal' ticket :) I hope to be able to say that many many times.
ok so i have a ways to go, but maybe by then i won't want to still be living here...don't there are any dispensations whatsoever for anyone older. nope. you'll get called 'mzee'...if you're a man, 'mama' or 'bibi' if you're a woman. but not much else. maybe at that stage j and i might have moved back to europe :)
This really made me smile. You deserve everything that you get at 65 no arguing!!!. I ALWAYS get excited for every penny bargain I get and well you could say I'm still a lad. But seriously, I wish you all the very best in your future. I have never met you but you strike me as one that is strong from within. May you inner strength continue to grow in all you do. God bless. Peace Savo
I hope you had a fabulous birthday, I LOVED this post, it made me laugh and hope that when I get to where you are I can still have that wonderful sense of humor. And yes, you keep asking for every single thing you deserve, why not?
P.S. The first post I ever wrote on my blog was about the day I discovered that I WAS a baby-boomer...up until then I had always thought it was my parents, then one day I was curious and looked up the dates! That was a funny day for me.
I, of course, am a baby boomer and, like Kelly, it took me a while to realize that. Baby boomers are OLD people! (That must mean you are really, REALLY old, Ginnie!) Ha! Now they are YOUNG people! Hope you had the most fabulous day yesterday and even more so on your big day (and sorry I missed commenting yesterday - I was out and about with Bob Towery - photographer extraordinaire).
Now you have just got me wondering if I might find myself some seniors discounts later this year ;-)
Whahaha, I certainly did laugh out loud by reading this!!It is wonderful seeing someone having no problem at all with reaching the 'senior' age. It will take me two years longer now to reach that 'senior' age Ginnie, as our government has decided that I can not retire before my 67th now. No senior discounts for another 19 years!! Bummer!!
Happy belated birthday Ginnie! Haha, I'm 51 and believe me I joined AARP and started taking advantage of every discount I could as soon as the half-decade mark came! Thanks for a beautiful picture and a posting that gave me a good laugh.
Well I can so vividly see you before my eyes Ginnie. I think I will do it exactly the same way when I turn 65 ;-)