Pickles by Brian Crane for February 12, 2021

With the pandemic, I’ve gone a full year without a senior discount.

I try not to think of myself as old for that very reason. And then I walk by a mirror.

Maybe your glasses are little smudged, Earl, and it already mentions the seniors’ discount?

One afternoon I was sitting in a restaurant with an elderly friend. A lot of seniors had frequented this establishment. I was in my 20’s at the time and she was in her 70’s. She looked around and commented. “There seems to be a lot of old people here.” I said, ‘Yeah…well, you’re here." She looked so sheepish at that moment. I had not been trying to be funny or poke fun at her age. To me what I said had been a simple matter of fact. But I knew she had considered herself not old and “one of them”. The truth is there are some older folks who can be guilty of ageism. It is not just young folks who can be guilty of this.

Spouse has white hair, which started coming in when she was in her 20s. Her son has the same thing going on. Once, when they were out together, she got a senior discount by mentioning that he was her son. She was, at the time in her 40s.

Here in Florida, they don’t even ask. They just assume.

But not paying old, right,Earl?

Earl you just blew it … again ;-)

Actually. I’m am really enjoying being old. I get away with a lot of shenanagens that I never could have gotten away with as a young man. It really is a lot of fun.

Old was always about 5 years older than my parents. But that changed in their early 80’s.

Nothing like a nice plate of ‘’Early Birds’’….yum!

One town I lived near, the senior discount started at 80. As my neighbor (91) put it, “The weak ones died young.”

You’re old only when it suits your purpose….LOL

How old do you have to be to get the senior discount in dining in restaurants?

Old age isn’t for wimps!

As my 93 year old dad phrases it, “I’m getting __older!”__

Don’t eat so late.. if you don’t want to stand out you must be done eating before 4:00 PM

I say, “May I have the senior discount?” crabby old man! Last time at McDonald’s drive through, the kid had to ask his manager who replied only on certain stuff. I wonder if they discriminate against our FVWs?

One is about how you feel … the other is about how you exploit the system. ;-)

Many places don’t promote their senior discounts, or apply discounts for seniors automatically. You can’t be afraid to ask.

We have not been out since pandemic. With exception of my sister/husband she wanted to celebrate her birthday, we did outing, and the pizza place we did distance. We did ask for senior discount.

I am not sure about senior discounts, but, I am getting more senior moments.

Earl is right about the senior discount!

I went to a restaurant that I hadn’t been to in a while, because it was a bit expensive; and I was surprised that it was not as expensive as I had remembered. Then I saw that they had given me the Senior Discount, unasked. I was 49 and Not Amused.

Lou and Peter Berryman have a song “Older Than Everybody”

“The desk clerk looked me over and posed a question.He asked if I was old enough to take the senior discount,‘Cause old boys stay for less at Howard Johnson.I said, "If I don’t get the discount, sonny, no one gets the discount,‘Cause I’m older than everybody,Older than everybody, because I’mOlder than everybody in Wisconsin."

At a fast food joint, I was offered the senior discount. I held my tongue, but I was tempted to reply “I’m not yet eligible for the senior discount. I look like this because I used to eat at places like this five days a week.”

Old is 20 years older than I am (I’m 60). I am, however, a senior by the definition of many businesses, and I’ll take whatever discounts I can get – it doesn’t make me old!

When age is just a number which affects the number on the bill.

Big difference between being a senior and being old.

Asking for the senior discount doesn’t make you old.

If it’s a new business where I’m at, I’ll ask if they have a senior or Veteran discount. You don’t know unless you ask.

Is this one a repeat?