The Senior Citizen Discount

I turned 60 this past year and it messed with my head. At my birthday party, a few hours before people started to arrive, I found myself feeling very anxious.

I've never been an anxious person so this experience was new to me and it sucked.

I turned to my three kids and said, "I don't think I can do this". They asked, "do what?"

I said, "play host and barbecue for everyone"

My son stepped right in and said, "I gotchu dad"

His response is another story for another day, but it was pretty magical, what transpired...he knocked it out of the park.

After a couple of drinks, I was fine

Fast forward a few months and I decide to go to Costco one Saturday morning.

If you know Costco, Saturday is not the day to go, so I got there early...about 9:45 for a 10:00 opening.

I figured I'd be one of the first people there and I'd coast in and out before it got crazy busy.

As I parked I started to notice that some people were standing outside seemingly waiting for permission to go inside, but others were just going in without any resistance or opposition.

Then it dawned on me...

The people who were going in were all older people...

When you first realize that YOU are a senior citizen, it takes a sec for it to settle in...

Unless I'm looking in a mirror I still feel like I'm in my 20's most of the time.

So I looked in the rearview mirror in my car and the dots got connected

I got out of my car and decided to take my chances. What if the age of qualification was 65?

I walked up to the guy checking Costco cards, who looked older than I, and said, "how old do you have to be to get in early?"

He said "60, how old are you?"

I replied, "well fondly enough, I'm 60"

He said, "come on in"

Didn't even card me.

All of a sudden, for a brief moment, 60 felt great. I was special.

It gets better...

I push my cart in the entrance and notice immediately that I can move faster than almost everyone in there...haha.

I went up and down every aisle and got everything I wanted in what felt like 5 minutes, went up to the checkout counter and I was back in my car before 10:00

My work is done for the day and I still have a full day left

I couldn't help but smile as the "youngins" watched me leave fully loaded before they could even get in.

To be able to find joy in simple things is a gift I got from my dad (who's 93 and still chuggin along, thin, dumb and happy)

On the ride home I thought about how I felt on my birthday and how horrible it felt to be 60 that day. Then I reflected on it a bit and concluded that it wasn't just being 60. It was also the heightened level of uncertainty that is our lives amid the Covid pandemic and the heightened unrest around the world.

I'm also pretty sure it was a wake up call to be in the second half of my life and realize that I likely have more years in than I have left...and more funerals to attend...

At the end of the day, it makes me appreciate that we all have hardship and worry and that the key to happiness is how you look at things more than what those things are.

And that if you can find gratitude in your daily life, there is no room for resentment, anger or any other of the negative emotions that waste your time and get you nowhere.

Senior discounts are a part of my life experience now and it's cool to pay $20 for a $50 ticket.

As long as I can keep myself in good shape, I can get in and out of Costco on a weekend before most people can even get in.

That is both meaningless and magical at the same time.

As the world continues to be upside down, try to keep your perspective, appreciate the gifts that God has given you and avoid whining about stuff that just isn't that important.

Peace

Mark