Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil
About two hours after my wonderfully shocking experience, I was paying the admission fee into a museum and was asked if I qualified for the senior discount. I gritted my teeth and asked what was the minimum age for the discount (hoping against hope that it was 50, or no higher than 55). When he said 62, I was really bummed out. I replied, "Not for another 10 years!" I'm sure he picked up on my irritation.
That brought me down to earth.
I've taken to using the standard response to the question, "Do you get the senior discount?": "No, but if you can reduce your prices for seniors, why not reduce them for everyone?" IMHO, one of the problems with the Older American's Act (the seminal legislation in the US creating entitlements for older adults) is that we've got 40+ years of seniors thinking they are entitled to things just because of age. Frankly, I see this as way outdated, and a dysfunctional element in our social fabric.
On another note, don't let the comment bother you too much. Many, many people are poor judges of age.