What Should We Call Senior Citizens?
Posted: Friday, April 03, 2009
by Fran Larson
http://www.franniesquotes.com/
We all have things to do, people to see and places to go. We're busy as bees; we are like the lightning bugs that dart everywhere and emit their beautiful lights in the darkest night. We can be seen everywhere volunteering, gardening, teaching, game playing, working, working out, walking, swimming and just plain living life to the fullest.
I hate that name with a passion. It brings to my mind someone holding a diploma and wearing a tasseled cap and gown. I know we are not graduating from high school or college. Are we then supposed to be graduating from life? Maybe we are supposed to disintegrate into the atmosphere like a science fiction character. Maybe when we reach a certain number (age), we will be taken to a lonely hill out in the woods and left to die like the Indians did many, many years ago.
The name Senior suggests to me that we are all retired from life. Nothing can be further from the truth.
It is Jim who says, "one senior coffee" or "one senior ticket." The word gets stuck in my mouth and will not escape under any circumstances. (Just between you and me, Jim thinks that I am fighting getting old but I am actually fighting the name, Senior.)
"One reason many older people resent being called seniors is that the term carries a lot of unwanted baggage. It symbolizes the socially reinforced idea that after 55 you move to the sidelines of life where you begin a downhill path of progressive decline and loss. No one wants to be associated with such negative images of aging." ( Ageless Marketing by David Wolfe)
Maybe the time has come for that tedious name, Senior to be changed. Hmm..what should we be called? Prime Timers? Gods and Goddesses? Achievers? Shakers and Movers? Explorers? Adventurers? Royalty? Real People? Do we even have to have a special name?
I'm sure by now that most people have heard of the parents from China who wanted to name their baby @ or that poor little girl from New Zealand who's parents decided to call her Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. Luckily for her she gets a chance to have a normal life with a nice normal name because the judge in her custody case has since made her a ward of the state so that her name could be changed. Unfortunately most people will have to live with their odd names at least until they are old enough to have it changed. (from hubpages.com by Karen N)
I wonder if that judge could also change our name?
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Great article. Well done.The only answer I can think of is simply: identity.
I'll punch the first person who tries to call me a "prime timer." Are you kidding?
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