A funny e-mail came recently to hand asking which derogatory names are most likely to offend seniors. This of course is the kind of question that keeps a writer from doing honest work. Let’s see, geezer, old farts and battle axes are definitely not good. Also likely to offend are codgers, duffers, gramps, gaffers, coots, fogey’s, gaffers, fossils, fuddy-duddies, crones, frumps and old hags. Crude, rude and unnecessary appellations for sure, but they do exist.
Other irritating terms include “senior citizen,” “old people, old folks,” “golden oldies” and “over the hill.’’ Even the word “elderly” seems to generate a bad feeling in certain sectors.
Then there are the patronizing words and terms — like spry, feisty, feeble, doddering, decrepit, timeworn, stricken in years or senior moment. In today’s world, any word that might have a chance of offending someone is usually deemed politically incorrect.
Swinging to the other extreme, some master of flimflam went so far as to invent the acronym of JALO, which stands for “Just A Little Older.” Can you believe that? A little older than what – everyone else? That’s the same as using NQY (not quite young); as if they didn’t know. Seniors have been around long enough to realize that politically correct terms are meaningless and only tend to whitewash the obvious effects of aging.
There is an article circulating titled, “Proud to be a Geezer.” In this context, I think the term is actually a pretty good description of later life values. To summarize: At sporting events, old geezers remove their caps and stand at attention during the national anthem. They remember the machine age, the automobile age, the jet age, the nuclear age and the space age. They’ve remember the Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and Vietnam.
Further, if you pass an old geezer on the street, he will nod or tip his cap to a lady, and if you bump into him, he will apologize. He trusts strangers and is courtly to women, holding the door for the next person and always, when walking, makes certain the lady is on the inside for protection.
Old geezers also get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women and children; they have moral courage and seldom brag unless it’s about their grandchildren.
It’s a nice overview of a past generation. While we know that we tend to share common values in each stage of life, older people generally live with little pretext, apology or narcissism. They don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes their way. They also don’t lament on what could have been and are probably the person they have always wanted to be.
So if you’re a senior, you are probably no longer guided by criticism or offensive titles. You’ve become more kind to yourself, even if others are not. You’ve earned all you have, even if that means having dessert every single day.
Posted by Jorg Mardian RHN, CPT 