Grugger’s Way

Yes, the Senior Discount was something I looked forward to.  Matinee rates at the movie theaters all night long!  Special discounts at the Taco Bell and other fast food joints!  Special rates for Seniors at the Ski Resorts!

My wife says that looking forward to senior discounts is a lot like looking forward to being able to use the handicap parking spaces. Just plain stupid.

We attain a certain “status” with age.  And all because we reached some “magic” number.   Some special privileges were to be in order.  Yup.

And special membership rates at the fitness center, special admission rates at the local municipal pool and the water park, and a free senior citizen State Fishing License.

I quickly found out that no two organizations seem to agree upon what constitutes the “senior” age when applying for a discount.  Some places recognize 50 or 55, others require age 60 or 62.  Some even require us to wait until we are over 65.

I also noticed that I don’t eat at the Taco Bell anymore, and perhaps 2 or 3 movies come out in a year that I might want to see, and we always go the the early shows now anyway, and everyone gets in at the matinee rate.  So, no big deal there.

I don’t go to the fitness center anymore, and if I did, the senior discount rate is actually higher than the rate I paid ten years ago–you know–due to inflation.

I’ve never been to the municipal pools because I don’t like sharing luke-warm “bath water” with strangers (or family either, for that matter).

My knee is so bum now that being a “senior ski bum” is pretty much out of the question.  The knee also affects my ability to golf, but I don’t recall if the local links offer discounts to seniors.  Seems to me that 90% of the players are over 75 anyway, so they could pretty much ignore the fact that someone turned 55. Wow, who cares?

My free State Fishing License will kick in this next year, when I turn 62.  That’s the age here in Montana when we are again treated like a 15-year-old and don’t need to pay for a license to fish.  We don’t keep the fish I catch anyway, so I don’t feel bad about getting a free license.

I have joined the AARP, and that has seemed like a good deal.  I like their website and the magazine, but haven’t taken advantage of any of the AARP senior discounts yet.  That’s probably because we haven’t taken any trips to Europe or Africa or cruises through the Panama Canal.  AARP doesn’t provide discounts on candy bars and potato chips, which would be something I could actually use.

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