So how old do you think I am? (Don’t answer that!)

After my hysterectomy aged 39 I found my memory and mental agility were completely shot. I visited the doctor (a very young locum) who said "Of course, mental agility does decline with age" . . ???

I do think that if someone offers their seat then the correct response is 'thank you very much' and sit down. To make someone feel silly by rejecting their offer is really a bit of a slap in the face and will probably make them think twice before offering again. I think this applies no matter how young you feel.

i was on the other end of the receiving end. assistant said when you get as old as me. hmm says me .you over 60 then.? she said no i'm 52 , yippee thought me.!!!!! i said i was 61 ,noooo she says .yes says i and i'm wiser and older than you so shut up
haha...

You are what you are.

Appreciate any kind comments.
After all, it wasn’t an insulting remark, just a kindly one.

I am also in my seventies. We are no spring chickens either.

I'm in my 60s so accept I'm getting old. What I didn't like was being counted as old when I was in my 50s - that is pure ageism. An HR Manager at work referred to staff in their 50s as elderly. Several times I had it suggested I could use my pensioner bus pass for ID. My DB and SIL moved house in their mid 50s and were asked by new neighbours what they did before retirement.
Neither was I too happy recently when someone aged 40 thought I was late 70s/early 80s.

Ha !! at a funeral recently I was chatting to an acquaintance of the deceased when a mourner came up and said to me 'It's lovely to see your daughter here'.....the woman was 60 ...I am 70 !!! not sure if this was a compliment to her as he thought she looked young enough to be my daughter, or that he thought I looked at least 80 !!!!!! not offended though ...now she and her family have become 'Hon, daughter.s I l and grandson' and I am now Hon. mum ///but made a lovely new friend from this !!

Quite agree with Maw about driving in Milton Keynes as being built on the grid system all the roads look exactly the same; it's a nightmare!
No way do I feel 'elderly' and I am 74 next birthday!
I am the eldest of four girls and my next sister down has always introduced me as her older sister. She was most put out once when an old friend mistook me for the youngest of the four! I was most gratified!

My EX mother in law kept talking about when we were young, meaning she and I despite knowing my EX and I were exactly the same age, perhaps that’s why he and she are firmly in the EX category and off my Christmas list.

Gonegirl There is 'care' and there is being made to feel 'past it'. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder why not age? Not always correct but as long as it's in my favour can make my day.
I remember my fathers mother when she was the age at what is now my present age. I frequently wear jeans and a M&S leather jacket and in winter my favourite coat is a waxed quilted belted Barbour. I like to shop and have the occasional coffee and a meal out with friends. Gran would have been living with my aunt and sitting in her favourite chair in her black dress and white apron maybe shelling peas ,or peeling apples for my aunt to make a pie.In bed by ten at the very latest. I wonder what she would have made of today over seventies.

Fennel
Regarding your being "a bit offended" about being mistaken for the owner of a walking stick:

Just be glad you don't need one. Some of us would love to manage without ours. Including the children who need walking aids.

You're right, Tilly. The stick in question belonged to a lady younger than me who had had a stroke.
I was being frivolous - sorry. I'm grateful for the limited mobility that I have at my age, and don't want to lose it.

A recent thread talked about being labelled a "vulnerable" adult when we are over 60. A man from a local Church had set up his own charity and had offered his Carpenter to put up my shelves (I had the shelves but am disabled and holding them in place is now difficult) and asked for my daughter's phone number so he could "ask her permission to come into your house and do things". As I have always organised all trades people I needed, including having a builder recently, and having been widowed at 41, so very used to running the house alone, this seemed very silly to me. I said there was no need to do it, I own my house, I have mental capacity and anyway, since being over 60, I had hired many service people to do jobs in my house such as a gardener, a washing machine repair man, British Gas (who know I am disabled), and the electricity company who had altered the meter to put me on a new tariff, and never have had to get permission from my daughter to do something in my own home! I was actually already upset with him because he had been very intrusive about my life. His response? In that case we cannot help you! I was only too glad. I'd rather pay a normal Carpenter!

I called in Boots the other day & asked if I needed an appointment for the flu jab. She said I was in luck as they were only giving it to the under 65s at present. I said I was unlucky as I'm 67. She was surprised & I was delighted. In the end I decided to wait in a very long queue at my GP's.

When you work in a M&S shop you see a certain lot of ladies of a certain age. I suppose she put you in that range.

In bed by ten at the very latest

What has the time one goes to bed, which probably depends at least partly on how early one got up, among other things, got to do with age? I'm usually in bed before ten, sometimes before nine. I get up just after five in the morning though. You'll have heard of larks and owls, I presume? I'm a lark. What are you, shw?

Baggs I also think that many people who are 74 are elderly. However, I don't think of myself, as elderly, at all. I'm 79. How's that for double standards?

I haven't been on the receiving end of patronising remarks yet, either, though I'm sure that I'm beginning to 'look my age.' I think that mixing with a lot of younger people keeps me young 'inside my head'.

I thought it was generally understood that people need less sleep as they age anyway. Or is that just an old wives' tale?

greengran, yet another who thinks looking her actual age is something worth thinking about let alone talking about.

I still don't get it.

Should have said "who apparently rhinks..."

I think anyone who doesn"t want to be thought the age they are is being ageist.

They're making being old/aged something that matters whiel all the while saying it doesn't and that age is just a number.

Doesn't make sense.

Except as twisted ageism.

I think that some people, once they reach a particular age, can feel more sensitive to comments that imply their (actual or presumed) age may be a 'limiting' factor in activities despite evidence showing that is not the case.

Currently I am feeling "old".. for the first time in my life I am suffering from a bad back that is limiting what I normally do. Sitting around more often than usual gives me time to focus on other , probably minor, irritations /aches /pains. I feel like an old , moaning Minnie and have probably worried myself into feeling far worse than I need to. So I feel worse...and so the downward spiral goes... need to jump start myself out of this situation.. anyone got any ideas?

I am one of the nervous drivers and only 55. Age has nothing to do with it, as Monica says.

I agree newgran

No real ideas that would help PECS but hope you feel better soon, having a bad back can really get you down

newgran2019. Yes, I meant to say that when I said I have many friends who dislike driving. It isn't age-related.

Many comments remind me of when I bought a nasal spray, it was before going on holiday in fact and I was over 60. The lovely mature lady assistant said "do not use by under 18s" in a manner as if she meant me! I laughed and said thank you! Then she spoiled it and said, no, she meant not to give it to under 18 year olds......so I promised not to give it to any of my grandchildren.