How the hell old does he think I am?

Oh dear, think he needs to go on a PR course

And, I'm only 66 Ash Tree!

Oh dear , really put in your place. Just how old is your butcher? We recently had a problem with our central heating and when the engineer came he grinned and said " is your mother upstairs"? When I didn't get it he said "I was told there were elderly people living here. I was really insulted that he felt he could pretend to make a joke . However I took the moral high ground and laughed with him.

Well, 66 is 'older' - no getting away from it!

Although I appreciate that we all fondly believe hope we don't look our age!

Did he look about twelve?

You could have asked him how his work experience was going.

merlot

The opposite happened on a train I was on to London. A lady, I would have said in her late 70's or even older with a wonderful head of white hair, presented her Senior railcard along with her ticket when asked. Her face was a study when the collector said (mock sternly)" now I have to warn you that it is an offence to use another person's railcard". She started to protest and he went on " this clearly belongs to your mother, young lady, and you are very naughty to borrow it." The rest of the carriage just burst out laughing as did she. How come he didn't accuse me of the same?
Nice to meet a "human" official with a bit of a sense of humour, I thought.

When I had my Bus Pass for the first time I was hopeful that a driver might say.
"This can't be yours - you look much too young!"
It never happened

I realise this is a light-hearted thread, kitty, and I like your humour, but it has made me sigh, as this kind of thread always does. It has also, which is new, made me make a resolution. I have only ever made one resolution in my life before, which was that I was never going to apologise for the state of my house. I made that when I was in my early twenties and I've kept to it. I value comfort and interest (my interests and those of who I live with) more than trendiness or looking like something in an estate agent's window. That's a slight digression. Where was I? Oh yes, my second resolution: I've resolved this morning never to care a single jot how old anyone thinks I am or what assumptions they care to make based on how old they think I am. What do they know?
The answer is nowt.

As you were. Thank you for that

The thing is bags, that I don't really care but it made me smile! I'm 66 and that is all there is to it!

When I got my first iPhone 5 years ago ( when I was a mere 63) at the end of the ' induction ' the 12 year old young man who had served me said that it was wonderful to see an old person so enthusiastic about having an iPhone and learning about all it could do.

Yes, I know kitty, and that's how I've resolved to be. There are too many complaints about people minding being thought old so I liked your humourous take.

humorous

I always get that wrong. Bloody English spelling

Yes I always get that one wrong too, thatbags. Bloody English spelling indeed. Why does humorous lose the 'u' but favourite keeps it?

Don't know, AshTree. Could that be a question for Susie Dent? Wouldn't it be good to have a Question and Answer session with her? HQ - are you listening?

You get a discount at Boots for being still alive old. The first time I got the discount, the assistant said, 'I don't suppose you're entitled to the Senior discount?' I thought that was very tactful. I look my age!

When I was out for the evening with DD a couple or so years ago an older chap started chatting to me when DD had gone to fetch us drinks. When DD came back he turned his attention to her (he was quite sleazy!) and said 'is this your Mum?' She said 'yes', he said 'that's nice of you to take your mum out, I take my old mum out for the evening sometimes, she's 83'.

I was about 65 he was 60 if he was a day!

What really gets my goat, rosequartz is the immediate assumption that your DD was taking you out. It couldn't possibly be the other way round, could it? Not once we get to a certain age. Oh no, we're not capable of running our own lives now, are we? We rely totally on the kindness of our children to 'take us out, give us a bit of a break'. Poor old things, we'd just be looking at our four walls otherwise wouldn't we? Wishing someone would come along and brighten up our day.

lol Ashtree
And poor old DH and I had managed to get the 12,000 miles there all by ourselves too! (in fact DH and SIL were somewhere around too, but chatting somewhere quieter.)

When we were still going out in the evening it was always up to me to go to the bar to order food ,buy drinks etc as DH would have forgotten what we wanted by the time he got there and one time a very noisy ,slightly merry, group of well dressed men were monopolising the bar area. One of them got into some chat with me as I was ordering a bottle of wine and told me I reminded him of his Old Gran. His mother would have been bad enough but his GRAN.He was at least 55!! I tottered away feeling 100.

When I was with ex no.1, we were staying at a holiday cottage. A man, who had been chatting to my ex the day before, came to the door and asked to speak to my father!
Ex and I were in our early 40s!

annsixty

What made me laugh on our night out, however, was that Mr Sleazy commented on how good the band's young singer was, did we know who she was, so I said casually 'oh yes she's my DD as well!'

Rose