In 8 years the AARP will hunt me down and make me join up in what I imaging to be a Logan’s Run-esque manner.

When that day comes I will happily take my Senior discount especially if, like now, I am still getting ID’d for alcohol.  I believe the beautiful Ms. Thomas said it best, "I love buying a senior ticket. It tickles me. It’s like a scam because I feel like I’m 26."

Sigma?  I’ve been an AARP member for ten years, and I’m a frequent blogger in many of the groups on the AARP.org community website. 

I definitely do not agree that there is a ‘stigma’ associated with being a ‘senior’.  On the contrary!  When I turned 50, I felt I had finally earned my entry into adulthood.  In fact, I would not trade being 50+ for 25-, although I wish I had the [physical] energy and stamina as I did in my younger years.  As for senior ‘discounts’, I enjoy them … because they are well earned. 

Senior discounts??I’ll take them.

I remember the first time I asked for a senior menu at Denny’s I could hardly get the words out, I was so embarrassed, amazing how fast I got used to it. 

I’ve been a member of AARP from the time I reached 50, and now my son, who joked about it, is a member. And, of course, I  take advantage of   lower rates for seniors. Why not? Museum fees are high for many of us seniors on fixed incomes, and we earned this acknowledgment of our age. To me, that is a positive sign that the ageism I experience elsewhere is turned into a benefit.

 For years, I wasn’t conscious of these reductions, but in London, where I’d go regularly, a museum attendant automatically gave me change when I paid, and told me she had applied the discount. I was delighted.

 I do notice  older women  who seem self-conscious and apologetic about being asked whether they  eligible. It’s not an insult; it’s a compliment and a sign of respect. And, I am impressed with those younger who will give me a seat on a bus or train. I’m not senile, but standing in a crowded, moving vehicle is sometimes daunting, and  I am grateful that someone recognizes that.

To me, it is the social contract we live by. We are different, and we did that for others when we were younger. Of course, we deserve kindness and generosity at this stage. As for reaching 4 score, I’m amazed every day, and the question isn’t why do I look old, but how did I get there and how am I managing. 

Every year I exchange birthday cards with an old friend, and inevitably her message is based on her horror of growing older which began earlier than 50, because looking younger was her priority; I feel sad, because she is loved as she is, but she cannot accept herself. Of course, looking into the mirror in the morning reminds me of my mother and father, and each measure of aging reminds me I am connected to them.

Years ago, an issue of the New York Times Magazine concerned aging, and yet all the advertisements were of much younger people! The contradiction and denial revealed our national fears about what is inevitable—the pitiful urgency to remain adolescent remains strong, doesn’t it?. 

Forgot to mention: Last week on a visit to the Museum of Art & Design, I had just paid the senior discount, and a woman beside me was asked by the cashier whether she wanted to do the same. The woman hesitated, looked startled, so I said to hr: "It’s worth passing," for I realized she was embarrassed to be reminded that she was probably more than 62. She replied: "It’s only $3.00," minimizing the advantage, and after she paid and entered the elevator, I told her, " I didn’t mean passing it by." She nodded and said, "I know."

Frankly, afterward the $3 I saved helped pay for a fine lunch.