I am very upset

I'm with B on this one. In fact I would go so far as to say I honour my age.
If I didn't embrace my age then it would seem, in a way, to be a dismissal of all my life that has gone before, and I can't and won't do that.

I certainly don't see myself as invisible, and don't feel others do either.

There are always things that rankle Bags but different things rankle for different people.

The up side of being elderly is being invisible. There's far less pressure and I dress to please myself and for comfort.

If people were proud in stead of ashamed of their elderliness there'd be no insult in the word, especially as there's nothing to be ashamed of.

I think it's odd to not mind old but to object to elderly. Both from the same stem. Old is blunt (but fine). Elderly is a gentler word "bordering on old".

I say again, why mind about something so trivial?

Aka

Gally so glad I'm not the only one to resort to playing the 'elderly card' , especially on the phone. When I get a call centre and the person on the other end is hard to understand because of their accent I explain I'm old and hard of hearing (I'm not) and get them to slow down and enunciated more clearly.
It certainly works especially for those whose culture value the 'elderly'.

Watch out for curious toddlers, Ariadne, My little grandaughter was fascinated with one like yours and tried to remove it from the hand of an elderly woman in a shop the other day. She was removed and could still be heard shouting 'mine, mummy!' as my daughter left the shop.

I need a stick from time to time, so I bought a shocking pink flowery one. Why not?

DGD (3 yesterday) has just said to me "Is Grandad old, like you?"

I do not mind being, or being called, old, but somehow elderly grates.
Back to the jigsaws!

I feel that I slipped into the 'little old dear' category when the ambulance paramedic asked "How young are you love?"

If I hadn't felt so desperate I would have hit him!

I'm so glad I said what I said! I was afraid to buck the joke trend and held off for a while, but i'm glad I did. There is strength in not wasting one's age advantage. Go grans!

I got rather upset when my son referred to me as being elderly. So my daughter compromised and refers to me as m'elderly - between middle aged and elderly. I'm happy with that. Although I do colour my hair - if I had nice white hair or even silver I wouldn't, but I don't I have salt and pepper. I don't have the colour as dark as say brown or black just a gentle golden brown. I hate seeing older people with very dark brown or black hair as ones skin tones change and it is not flattering. However, you need to keep the colour even every other month or you end up with and inch of grey hair before you get the actual colour.

Being considered 'elderly' and 'vulnerable' does have its compensations. When dealing with difficult conversations on the phone - gas/BT/insurance/non-delivery or whatever - I use the 'My husband died recently and I am trying to sort out this mess' excuse, and the whole tenor of the conversation changes. The voice drops and softens, condolences come flying through the airwaves and I am sure some of them would bring me a cup of tea and give me a hug if they could and they always end the conversation 'now, you just take good care of yourself'. (I'm only a very junior, active 65!)
I am sure Galen that your taxi driver was just using the elderly excuse to make the young lady feel bad. Hope you have recovered your equilibrium by now

I'd rather have my silver hair and (a few) lines than look like some of those celeb women who stave off the effects of age with thousands of pounds worth of plastic surgery.

EDF have me classed as "vulnerable". This is because I protested that everything has to be done on line and they were no longer sending a meter reader. I do have problems with my sight and reading the meters but I can still legally drive. I laid it on so thick that I am sure that they thought that a guide dog was on the cards very soon.

If they met me they would take me off the "vulnerable" list I think. I have most if not all of my marbles still.

I agree with the last comment - if you don't use your age then you don't deserve it. The alternative to getting old is pretty grim!

My neighbour who is a very feisty 67 year old golf fiend with a lovely (and well off BF of 69) regularly uses the "I'm a pensioner and on my own" tactic when dealing with the Gas Board, HMRC or when we have a power cut or anything where they imagine a sweet little old lady doing her tatting (instead of downing a mug of sherry with me!) Works every time!!

I agree with those who think he was only saying it for effect. I use it whenever it is to my advantage. I think it helps that I am quite small and I have discovered that 'little old ladies' can get away with all sorts of things others can't. DiL was only yesterday reminding me of something which happened a couple of years ago which still makes her chuckle.

I have challenged people who queue jump and got away with it, told off a drunk in the pool on holiday and got cheers from other bathers, its really quite fun.

I thought the usage of 'elderly' was not PC and that 'older person' was now de rigeur. Hobbling around today DD said, oh mum, I don't want you to grow old' when I told her I couldn't easily change the toddlers nappy at present! I often think our children consider us ageless - until something drastic happens of course and then we're a nuisance to all and sundry.

I noticed that on the news the couple arrested for holding those 3 women as slaves were described as elderly . Namely 67 years old. Now what are those called who are over 70 or even 75 or who are still alive at 90?

Obviously 40 is the new 20 and 60 is the new 45, and 67 is the new elderly. After 60 we get onto a sliding scale sliding in another direction.

I use crutches all the time.

I had to use a stick for about a year before having a hip replacement. It never occurred to me that it made me look old, just a bit lame!

feetlebaum - take care, though; Mum went a purler a few times due to her stubborn refusal to use a stick!

What's wrong with looking old?

Minibags calls me old all the time. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. Nor am I ashamed to feel old compared to how I felt twenty or thirty years ago. Why should I? I'll feel even older, comparatively, in ten years time, no doubt. So what? What on earth else should one expect as one ages?

Being 'reactive' about being referred to as elderly only makes people think it's anything of a 'thing'. Ignoring such remarks as simple observations would make them simple observations, unworthy of comment. It's a descriptive term just as young is. And that's all. I don't see the point of being in denial about aging and its processes.

Driver was not being unkind when he mentioned elderliness, so why make a fuss, even jokingly? Better to join in haranguing the inconsiderate other driver and let a couple of elderly people teach them a lesson.

I'll use a stick as soon as one seems helpful and I won't gove a damn what anyone else thinks.

I'll bugger off now. Said my bit.