Mouthiness and other gifts of aging

By Dorothy Rosby

I think aging has gotten a bad rap especially considering the fact that if we’re doing it, we’ve thus far escaped a much worse fate.

And if you believe an article I read in Buzzfeed, I’m not alone. The article’s mile-long headline was “When You Hit Your 60s, You’re Free: Older Adults Are Sharing the Things Younger Folks Can Look Forward To, and TBH, Aging Sounds Pretty Sweet.”

In case you’re wondering, TBH means “to be honest.” At least, I think that’s what it means. People my age aren’t always up on internet shorthand. But you can see why its author, Dannica Ramirez, wanted to abbreviate it when she got the chance.

Anyway, TBH, I’ve found getting older to be “pretty sweet” so far myself. Sure it has some drawbacks. For one, I’m sick to death of all the mailers I receive about hearing aids and prepaid funeral plans. And yes, I realize that was a poor choice of words.

But all of life’s stages have drawbacks. I’ve never fully recovered from college algebra. But there were good things about that stage of my life too and according to the older adults quoted in the article, aging also comes with plenty of gifts.

Several people mentioned saving money thanks to Medicare and senior citizen discounts. I don’t qualify for Medicare yet, but I like discounts as much as the next person. I admit I’m a little insulted when someone takes one look at me and automatically assumes I qualify for one—even though I do. They could at least humor me and ask to see my ID.

Several people mentioned having more free time. They didn’t say this, but I’m assuming they could all afford retirement and hadn’t had their children move back home.

Some mentioned the freedom to do or say whatever they wanted. TBH, I was skeptical about that one. One person said, “You can get away with a lot of things, because who wants to argue with an old lady?” Her children, that’s who.

 Another said, “There’s a certain, almost dangerous, level of personal liberation.” They said for them that liberation had manifested itself in “almost extreme levels of mouthiness.” I try not to indulge in extreme levels of mouthiness myself mainly because that sort of behavior has a way of going viral on TikTok.

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