What age is old?

 I don’t think about my age and so I am surprised when other people go out of their way to mention their age. I was talking with a man the other day and out of nowhere (or my mind might have wandered), he said he was 70 and felt pretty good for his age. I agreed and continued the conversation, but I noticed that many people tend to want me to know their age. I am not sure if it is because they are proud or because I have white hair and so they are trying to figure out how old I am.

When old age starts may also partly depend on how you view ageing. What age do you think counts as middle age? Forty to 60? Fifty to 70? Somewhere in between? It probably won't surprise you to learn that the answer people give to this question depends on how old they are at the time they are asked it.

When half a million people completed an online questionnaire in 2018 the participants who were in their 20s and 30s said on average that middle age began at 40, while old age started at 62. By contrast, the over-65s didn't think old age began until the age of 71. I think, if you ask someone who is in their 80s old age does not start until you are in your 90s.

It's evident what is going on here. No one really likes to think of themselves as getting older, so if you are 60 you relish articles that proclaim that 60 is the new 50. Likewise, people in their 70s are buoyed by suggestions that with advances in nutrition and health care they are barely out of middle age. Also, we tend to want to disassociate ourselves from any group that is stigmatized. This means we resist being designated as old when we see elderly people portrayed as frail, sedentary, ill and even a burden on society

Of course, old age is a reality and older people should be treated with respect and dignity. If you refuse to consider yourself is this delusional In fact, it turns out it might be a sensible strategy, one that can be self-fulfilling and life-enhancing.

In 2003, the researchers carried out a wide-ranging study in which participants were again asked the question: when does old age start? Answers varied of course, but what they found was that those people who thought old age began earlier were more likely to have had a heart attack, to be suffering from heart disease or to be in poor physical health generally when they were followed up six to nine years later.

So, how could the number you give to old age starting possibly have this great an impact on your health?

One idea is that the answer to the simple question of when old age starts actually provides a lot more information about a person than you might think. It might be, for instance, that the question prompts people to think about their own physical health, and if they have underlying health issues or a poor lifestyle, they might not feel that well and are moved to think old age is coming sooner.

People who think old age starts later in life may be more conscious about their health and fitness

People who say that old age sets in at an earlier age may also be more fatalistic and less likely to seek help for medical conditions or to adopt healthier routines, believing that decline is inevitable. They may, for instance, assume that older people are frail and so deliberately start walking more slowly and taking it easy when this is exactly what they shouldn't be doing for the sake of their physical and mental health. 

I believe it is better to have a positive attitude about ageing. I also believe that anyone who is 10 years older than me is starting to get old. I believed that when I was 20, 30 40 and I believe it today. Old is a state of mind, so stay young at heart and enjoy the time you have here. As a friend of mine says to me "It is better than the alternative."

Act your age part 2

I have blogged about this before but I think it is important. One of my friend's daughters was celebrating her birthday when he was travelling with us. He wanted us as a group to sing happy birthday to her which he would film and send to her on messenger. We agreed. On the day of her birthday, we were in a very small restaurant and I remembered our promise to sing to her. (She is in her late 20s) so I said let's do it. My friend said no because he did not want to be embarrassed in the restaurant. He said that we should not do it as we were not acting our age. There were six of us and our average age is 74. In addition, all of us look wise, as we had white hair and wrinkles that come with age and wisdom. 

We were talking and joking around and told our friend that his daughter would appreciate the message and that the people in the restaurant would probably applaud and cheer at the end of the birthday song if we did it right. So, we sang the song, the waiter recorded, the restaurant cheered, his daughter thought her dad a bit crazy but loved the message,  and we acted our age.

When I was younger from time to time adults would say to me, "Royce act your age." meaning that I should act older and stop behaving like someone who is much younger. I am sure you may have heard this or similar phrases as you were growing up. Here are some phrases that have been used:

• Boys, act your age, please!
• You need to grow up and act your age!
• You're too old for silly pranks like this. I really wish you would just act your age.
• Come on, act your age! That food is for eating not for playing with it!
• Just act your age and apologize to her!

Now that I am older, people use the phrase to try and get me to behave in a way suitable for someone as old as I am.

Stop being silly and act your age or other such phrases are insulting and meant to be demeaning. 

Asking someone to act their age is a form of bullying. It is also a way for the user of the phrase to get someone to conform to their idea of how a person should act at a certain time of their life. What does acting your age mean at 21 or 30 or 14 or 75? Society has set up expectations about behaviour, which are sometimes meant to be broken. 

A subtle form of ageism is seen on TV from time to time. It usually is in the form of a feel-good story such as:

• The oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest is Yuichiro who did so at age 80. Yuichiro, who is Japanese, had completed the feat previously at age 70 and again at age 75.
• In Britain, one centenarian is helping to improve and support her community. Ethel volunteers at a thrift store every Friday and Saturday afternoon. She started volunteering there at age 78 and hasn’t missed a shift in 21 years
• Nola became the oldest college graduate in 2007 at age 95. Nola completed her Bachelor of General Studies at Fort Hays State University in Kansas and fulfilled her lifelong dream of earning a degree. However, she didn’t stop there. In 2010, at 98 years old, she became the oldest person to receive a master’s degree. She hopes to encourage people to keep on learning and tells her grandchildren, “If grandmother can do it, you can.”

These wonderful stories of accomplishment are seen as a way to encourage others who are growing older to make the best of what life has to offer. They are also a subtle form of ageism. If Nola was 40 and a grandmother, it would not be as big a story. If Ethel was 48 and had not missed a shift in 21 years it would not be a story that would be published. Yuichiro is to be commended on reaching the summit of Mount Everest, but if he had first attempted it at 25 then at 30 and then completed it at 25 it would not be as big a story.

Don't let other people force you to act your age, because they have bought into society's norms, have fun, experience life and enjoy living in the moment. Laugh, play and have fun because however you act, you are acting your age.

What we do for fun in the winter

Winter is coming so here is a fun thing to do in your down, name the plow. It has been done before so see if you can be more original than the lists below.

In Salt Lake City the city's divisions of Transportation, Engineering & Streets announced the winners of the contest to name the snowplows. The names chosen were:

·         Sled Zeppelin (the overall winner)

·         Flake Effect

·         Snowy McSnowface

·         Rudy Snowbert

·         Jon Bon Snowvi

·         The Notorious P.L.O.W.

·         Ice Eccles

·         Snowbi Wan Kenobi

·         No More Mr. Ice Guy

·         Sugar Plows

Calgary did the same:

A partial list of winning names can be found below:

·         Abominable Snow Plow

·         Beluga

·         Big Friendly Plow

·         Blizzard Blaster

·         Blizzard of Oz

·         Blizzard Wizard

·         Bob

·         Bonhomme Déneige

·         Brinestone Plowboy

·         Calgary Plower

·         Calgary Snowflames

·         Chinook

·         Chippy

·         Darth Blader

·         Double Trouble Shovel

·         For Your Ice Only

·         Frostbite

·         Kóónsskoyi (snow covered)

·         La Charrue (plow/blade)

·         L'échasse-neige (snow chaser)

·         Let It Snow

·         Lizard Snow Grabber

·         Marda Scoop

·         You Didn't!

·         Pickle

·         Plow Patrol

·         Polar Patroller

·         Princess Sleighia

·         Road Zamboni

·         Rocky Mountain Snow Plow

·         altbertasaurus Rex

·         Schneepflug (snow plow)

·         si’kssopo (Chinook)

·         Sir Snows-a-Lot

·         Sled Zepplin

·         Slushie

·         'no Problem

·         Snow Angel

·         Snow Buster

·         Snowcone

·         Snow Destroyer

·         Snowy McSnow Face

·         Sparkles

·         Sprinkles

·         Supertruck

·         Susie Snow Plow

·         Plow

·         You're a Blizzard, Harry!

·         YYC Plowers

As did Vermont and here is a partial list of names;

·         Astro

·         Wolf Tracks

·         Salty

·         Snowpez

·         Barnet Storm Breaker

·         Snow Destroyer

·         Eye of the Tiger

·         Snowy the Plow

·         No Snow

·         Yogi

·         Frosty's Demise

·         Stardust

·         The Maple Machine

·         The Snowlebrator

·         Blizzard

·         Snow Day Crusher

·         Midnight Monster

·         Scrapes the Snowplow

·         Homeschooling Students        Ripton William Scrape-speare

·         Hyde Park Elementary School            Hyde Park       Snow Hawk

·         Ice Will Pay the Price

·         Maple Snow Racer

·         Hot Cocoa

·         PAWS

·         Bob the Plower

·         Luke Snow Walker

·         Wildcat Winter

 

Reading at a grade six level?

This was written by Jim Gath

I wrote this the other night:

“According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of U.S. adults 16-74 years old - about 130 million people - lack proficiency in literacy, reading below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level.”

And that got me thinking……

If one reads below a sixth-grade level, one never attains an acceptable level of critical thinking.

Think about reading & reading comprehension up to the sixth grade. We learned words, the different parts of speech, and how to craft sentences & paragraphs. Our history books, probably the most complex of our school reading materials, consisted primarily of facts. The ‘why’ of things happening & the complexities of the issues just weren’t there at that early stage.

It was only later, in what was then called junior high school (grades 7, 8 & 9), were we assigned or read on our own, more complex literature. Our eighth-grade class read ‘To Kill A Mockingbird. And, every day, after reading our assignment as homework, our teacher had us put all of our chairs into a big, round circle.

And it was there – in that circle – that many of us began to delve into the complexities of the many issues that that book held. The various sides of the same issue - & why those were what they were. We discussed things like bigotry & the law & parenting & the wide range of issues & emotions contained in Harper Lee’s work.

We were beginning to learn critical thinking. We were learning to gather all the facts about an issue or issues & then, & only then, could we make a somewhat informed opinion. And that lesson & many more – through reading & understanding – taught us the importance of truly thinking for ourselves & making educated decisions in life.

That’s just one example.

Oxford defines ‘critical thinking as “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment”.

If one doesn’t develop critical thinking, one doesn’t analyze or evaluate an issue. One makes his or her decision based on feelings or emotions. And, often, non-critical thinking people will gravitate to that which feels good, not necessarily what is good.

Non-critical thinking people are all too often drawn to others with like-minded views. Why? Because it’s comfortable. And it makes them feel that their views & decisions are somehow justified – because if others feel that way, it must be right. It’s a form of herd mentality.

But it’s a herd mentality that has been developed by either: a) others who are also lacking in critical thinking, or b) those who understand the group’s lack of critical thinking & exploit it for their own uses.

And then, it all begins to feed on itself. And it grows.

Just as we’ve seen it grow over the past few years.

That’s why having 130 million people in this nation who are, for the most part, somewhat devoid of the skill of critical thinking is a recipe for ill.

How does that change?

Well, this country would have to make its children’s education the highest national priority. It would have to begin to drastically upgrade its educational system & bring it to the forefront of the twenty-first century. It would have to begin to consider the teaching profession as having the same importance as the medical profession & others like it. And teachers would have to be treated & paid accordingly.

Will it happen?

No – at least not in my short remaining lifetime.

Maybe, if you’re younger – a lot younger – perhaps. But only through back-breaking, heart-breaking hard work over a span of years, if not decades.

And, quite honestly, I don’t believe that we’re up to the task