Stop Calling Me Senior Citizen—I’m Grand
Society, at least western society, tippytoes around some words in the most disrespectful way. Case in point, senior citizen.
A nasty euphemism if ever I heard one. It reeks of condescension. The whole concept is like a beacon for ageism. I’m like to think I’m not the only one offended and prefer the word grand.
I mean, just on its face it is deeply untrue. Many of us are not seniors or juniors for that matter. My middle name has its origins in the Germanic word for frank, that is free. It has nothing to do with hierarchy. My given name stems from a region of Italy. The fact that I do not come from Italy (nor, to my knowledge, do any of my ancestors) is quite beside the point. I admire Italy enormously. Art, food, Verdi, the list is endless. Reason enough to bear the name with pride.
Ageism in Language
I am not a senior, and I think it safe to say that not all of my peers are citizens. Not, at least, if you adhere to the current administration’s definition of citizen— but that’s another subject for another day.
So, No! Let’s be clear, we are not senior citizens.
Challenging Ageism
We are OLD or more accurately, we are near or past our 64th year. We are grands, or at least, we can be if only we think of ourselves in this way.
Some of us are more elderly than others. Age is very much a mindset, although not always. There are some 23- year-olds with mindsets a whole lot older than an aunt of mine who at 80+ cooked meals for the elderly members of her local Senior Center and played bridge every Tuesday and Thursday.
This wasn’t because she liked bridge (she found it less of a challenge that she would have wished) but because it enabled the members (some of whom were younger than she) to enjoy regular bridge games that they otherwise wouldn’t. To be fair, most of the inhabitants of her small state were older than her mindset.
So much for the redundancy of the elderly.
A good number of us elderly are tired of being downsized by ageism. Our opinions, our voices are too often discarded as being irrelevant. We are often discarded at the same time. But our opinions have value for us, at least some of the time and on some occasions. They may even have relevance for younger (chronologically) individuals. I know, shocking, hey?
Newer Words for Older People
As so many have difficulty with the word old, I suggest we rectify this by repackaging the terms we use for old people. Do a marketing job, rebrand the concept.
Grand does exactly that. It has good etymological roots, magisterial tones, the sweep and abundance of fully ripened life.
I rather think that those below the 64th parallel might conceptualize grands more positively than say… senior citizens. They might even consider communicating with us worthwhile. That would go far in defeating ageism.
True, it’s hard to tell with some of them. Sometimes they are so welded to the stake of technology that they need a blowtorch to separate their flesh from their phones. But I can report from first-hand experience that really young ones—two and three year-olds—seem to believe we grands are cool enough to FaceTime with them.
Changing Cultural Perception Of Aging
Acceptance is a powerful indicator that we need not be redundant. We have the capacity to be a productive even valued segment of society. Thankfully. We should see ourselves not as senior citizens but as grands.
Redefining ourselves by shedding old baggage might free us from the ravages of ageism. We do not have to decline but can ascend to a grander stage. After all, age is a number: it’s a testament to our journeys and our experiences, and whatever wisdom we might have gathered on the way.