# Wonderin' what in your eyes is an "Old" person?



## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Moon River's post "Darn Old People" got me thinking what do people think is old, is it people in their sixties, seventies, eighties, etc.. or is it their physical appearance, or the way they are dressed? What????

With me, when I was a youngster surroundings made people old - an adult standing next to a teen made that person "old". Even as I got older "old people" were judged by what was around them or in some rare cases on how haggard they looked. But as I have gotten older it has become more and more physical appearance than anything else...
I even think that person in the mirror is sometimes "old", but that for the most part is just a fleeting moment.......


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I think it's all perception. I mean when I was in my teens, I thought people in their 50's were OLD....now that I'm in my 50's, I think 50-ish is pretty young.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

To me, you're old when you finally throw in the towel. You sell your place in the country. The place that you've loved and made memories in for many, many years. The place that you might have referred to as "Paradise."

You then hire an auction house or have an estate sale. They sell all of your tools, chainsaws, guns, tractors, lawn mowers, ATVs, canning supplies, old vehicles, wall paintings, collections, and most of your furniture and kitchen supplies.

Then, you go buy a condo or town home in the city where one or more of your kids live. You spend the rest of your life dreaming fondly of the "good old days."


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

I thought it was Cabin Fever until I realized I was older than he is.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

When I was in my late 20s, I couldn't tell the difference between a 50 year old and a 70 year old. They were just old. Now I can tell a 55 year old from a 65 year old.

People in their late 60s that call themselves "middle aged" are overly optimistic.

Maybe when you don't have sex 4-5 times a week, is a measure of being old?


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## ydderf (Dec 15, 2018)

Being old is attitude more then anything else.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Lots of old people I know are actually young in years. IMO it is your attitude towards life that makes you old or keeps you young. I think you are old when you are inflexible in your opinions and unable to even think about accepting new ideas or ways. And enough with the constant and immaterial complaining.


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## Meinecke (Jun 30, 2017)

In my eyes people are old when they behave like that...
Slow, stubborn, backward minded
Or when they lost the FUN in life...
So it can happen with mid 20 or on the slide into the grave...
I really dont care about the outside or physical appearance...
Have a 95 year old neighbor making jokes like i do and just because he is not able to chase the girls around anymore does not make him less young in his mind...
The eyes often tell you how old or better how little light is left...


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Old to me is not an age, but when someone becomes physically infirm and whines about it with a huge case of the "I can't do that".


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I would say it's age related, but not age specific. Some people are old at 60, while others aren't at 70.

Go to a grocery store and watch how people park, get out, and walk into the store. Whether disabled or not, you can see how brightly the fire is still burning.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

just yesterday as my son was leaving he said "mother you'll never get old" I do hope he's right.


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## D-BOONE (Feb 9, 2016)

since I am older than the trees but younger than the dirt it makes the rest of ya a bunch of spring chickens


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I see 30 years olds who I consider old. Whinny, over weight and park in handicap spots to get close to a store. That includes 30 year old women too.

Cabin Fever may have it right for some but I'd just soon walk back in my woods step in the hole I have dug there and put an end to it rather than move in to a stinky noisy city.

Nearly all my friend are from 65 to 80 Except Mike the baby of the group. Not a lazy bone in any of their bodies. they do not whine about sking in to a coyote stand in -30 below weather.

 Al


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

I 


Wolf mom said:


> Old to me is not an age, but when someone becomes physically infirm and whines about it with a huge case of the "I can't do that".


was going to say something very similar. I may have left off the whining part. I think "whining" might just be a case of talk to me, notice me, care about me. Old might be lonely.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

My neighbor is 65. I told him I was going to be doing a 20 mile hike thru a national forest next month or so when things cool a bit and he got excited and asked if he could go.
He is physically fit and he will be able to handle the mountains.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Someone who is "old" is usually about 20 years older than me.....

...And we're running out of them QUICKLY!

Mon


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## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Just read an article bout aging and:

Center for Retirement Studies asked Baby Boomers, What age they considered someone "old".
17% said between 70 and 79.
15% said between 80 and 89.
And 52% said it depends on the person......

So I guess looks and actions are the determining factors..... Who woulda thunk that.....  cept most of us here.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Too Old to Cut the Mustard
Ernest Tubb
Too old, too old, he's too old to cut the mustard anymore
He's getting' too old, he's done, got too old
He's too old to cut the mustard anymore
When I was young, I had a lotta pep
I could get around, didn't need no help
But now you're old and a gettin' gray
The people all look at you and say
Too old, too old, he's too old to cut the mustard anymore
He's getting' too old, he's done, got too old
He's too old to cut the mustard anymore
I used to, could jump just like a deer
But now you need a new landing gear
I used to, could jump a picket fence
But now you're lucky if you jump an inch
Too old, too old, he's too old to cut the mustard anymore
He's getting' too old, he's done, got too old
He's too old to cut the mustard anymore


But I'm young enough to lick the jar!




geo


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

'Old' as a physical condition,
When you can't do for yourself the basics.

'Old' as a mental condition,
When you can't or won't learn to do something new EVERYDAY.

'Old' as a crutch,
When you don't talk about what you are doing or have planned to do,
But instead endlessly bore people to death with every little medical issue, real or imagined.

'Old' in 'Social Media',
Anyone over 30 or has a full time job with benefits, doesn't soak their parents for money.

'Old' in the job place,
Been there long enough to know when the new owners/second generation-owners kids are making a HORRIBLE mistake...
OR,
Your retirement is ALMOST vested, so you get fired and two 'Newbies' hired at half your salary/benefits for both.

Any of this sound familiar?


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

hard to say really what I think is old because I've been around so many people in their 80's late 90's that I would never think of them as old.(I married one of my husbands when he was 81. he was sharp as a tack and more active than I was(if only he hadn't been so miserable) my bro for instance who is soon coming to visit will be 89 next birthday. he never stops. he was looking after his granddaughter all summer.

he travels in his car all over nfld, NB, up north summer and winter. when he comes up here I put him to work in my gardens, in the house, out in the country helping me with brush and whatnot. he still has a big garden in nfld.

I wont get any rest at all now when he comes. we'll work in the garden mornings or do a bit of housework then we'll take off for used book stores and whatnot . whole family into books. some times i'll have to say "For god's sake david go on over to the mall and talk to your friends for awhile(he's made many since he's been coming here) and let me have a little peace". 

I have another bro who is a year younger same way. yet I know some people in their late 50's early 60's who seem old to me. they aren't sick or anything they just don't seem to have any life in them. me, I have life. ~Georgia


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Who is old? Me! It's not a bad thing or good thing, it's just how it is.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

I'm 69 and feelin old this mornin.


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## pixiedoodle (Sep 24, 2014)

WHAT I SEE IN THE MIRROR IS DEF OLD & WRINKLED & GETTING THIN ON TOP...LOOKS STINKING OLD TO ME.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

haypoint said:


> When I was in my late 20s, I couldn't tell the difference between a 50 year old and a 70 year old. They were just old. Now I can tell a 55 year old from a 65 year old.
> 
> People in their late 60s that call themselves "middle aged" are overly optimistic.
> 
> Maybe when you don't have sex 4-5 times a week, is a measure of being old?


 Didn’t you mean day ?


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

OLD ?

LOL 
Anybody older than me!


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

certainly not my brother who will be 89 in march. he had I/2 hour nap after his long trip yesterday and I practically had to force him to do that. then he helped me finish the autumn decorating. we stayed up until 1am talking over old times.

he's up there now making breakfast for us. then we are going to a flea market and on to a fundraiser for Feed nova scotia. tomorrow he plans to rake and clean up the garden and median.~Georgia


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Georgia, will you give your brother my address? 

Mon


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## NewEnglandMTNcat (Jul 21, 2018)

Strange here. I was petrified of turning 40. When I was in my teens I couldn't believe that the Year 2000 would be something ever available to me. But 40 was that "old age" thing - my housemate and I even threw a party to make the transition go better. 

I'm now nearly 66, and it is 2019. 

I don't feel elderly, not at all. But I do feel the fleeting of time, and that it is time to divest myself of a lot of things. I do feel mortal, without feeling "old". 

I feel that it is now time to make sure I can really LIVE, while I can. 

Been feeling this a bit anyway, but learning yesterday that one of my best friends since college (my age) passed away Friday... I'm so sad for her, so many things she planned to do... you don't have to feel "old" to feel "mortal". 

I came back here because this is dearly what she planned to do: homestead. Because of various situations, she didn't get the chance even to start. Just to plan.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Yes in the 60s the urge to live your dreams is becoming overwhelming


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## Witch's Broom (Dec 23, 2017)

So long as the individual has their wits and mobility about them, I don't se them as being old, just _ol-der_.

Dear husband and I know many who are in their 50's and 60's (look like they're still in their 40's), and they put today's younger generation to shame.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

I think that it is important to remember that "old" is used to cover a wide range of ages but old is very different at different stages of aging. A 65 year old is nothing like an 85 year old just as a five year old is nothing like a 20 year old. 

A lot of aging is physical and mental but also emotional. I think isolation harms older people the most. When you are a young old person in good health you can do a lot and be with a lot of people. As your physical health changes it is not so easy to get about so loneliness is a terrible trial.


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## TraderBob (Oct 21, 2010)

Old people used to be "30"
Then it was "50"
Now it's "80", but even some of them seem younger than me


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

My Grandfathers died young. My father died at 61. I did not expect to live to be 88, yet here I am planning next year's garden and admiring 45 year-old women. I notice a pronounced decline in my physical abilities,(dammit) but not in my ambition.

Carry on; you all may live to be 100 or so.


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## markt1 (Dec 15, 2013)

Science says that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. Since we're all made of that same dirt, we're all exactly the same age.
4.5 billion years old!


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## NewEnglandMTNcat (Jul 21, 2018)

Old? 

I am 66 years old as of early last December, and I don't feel old yet. Yes, I have pins and a plate in my right ankle (an injury that could have happened at ANY age) and two bad knees -- but I am not old yet. Parts of me are limited, but the rest of me... NO NOT YET!


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## snowlady (Aug 1, 2011)

I worked in nursing homes for years so my idea of old was skewed. I always figured 88, don’t know why. My inlaws are both 88 now. I was right.


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## gleepish (Mar 10, 2003)

It's a sliding scale... the older I get, the further it slides...


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## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

snowlady said:


> I worked in nursing homes for years so my idea of old was skewed. I always figured 88, don’t know why. My inlaws are both 88 now. I was right.


I also worked in a nursing home - before I retired - and for the most part very few of the residents looked their age most seemed older than - to quote markt1's post - dirt.......


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## Burntfinger (Aug 28, 2013)

Some decrepit old geezer gets in front of me when I look in mirror some mornings but I have no idea who he is.


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

It depends far more on the attitude presented rather than their actual age. I am 54, and still very thin/active, but some my age are ready to die, they've given up, and look like it as well.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

for sure. most i started with are long gone. i didn't get much done last summer when i had the kidney stone but that's all over now. i got tons of energy back and i can't wait for the frost to be gone from the ground so i can start digging. i just finished painting under the sink. yes i know it's 12am but i'm weird~Georgia


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