I want to either start the week or end the weekend with some light humor as I learn about how and where I am. I had an eye-opener this weekend which caused some laughter pointed in my direction. I am happy to announce that I was able to laugh right along with the others. I even enjoyed posting on Facebook so that others could laugh. In the end, it made me realize that I am not as worried about others opinions of me as I used to be. To follow-up on yesterday’s post, I have learned to like myself.
This weekend was a whirlwind. On Friday, I picked up my mother and niece as they used California for a two-day stop over on their way to Hawaii. I find it funny that even at the age of 50, I still get excited when my mom comes to visit. We are both adults and have shared that title for 30+ years, but I still can only see her as my mom and me as her child. We also enjoyed having our niece here. We don’t get to see her all that often, but really enjoy the little time we get. She has turned into a beautiful, young lady. We cannot wait to see where she goes in life.
So with guests in town, we had to do something to entertain them. What better thing to do but take them to the L.A. Zoo? Okay – we are family members so we did not have to pay for it. Now the zoo is a nice place to go for an afternoon; however, it is far from flat. This zoo is one hill after another. You turn a corner and up you go, you turn another and back down is the direction. Seeing that my mother is almost 80, we rented a wheelchair and let her ride. So with Nana in a comfortable positions, hats on, and plenty of energy, off we went.
The nice thing about being members, other than free entry all year, is that we receive coupons for free things throughout the zoo. I had thought enough to bring coupons for the tram. A zebra painted train of wagons with a little engine pulling along. You get a ride all around the outer part of the zoo with the chance to jump on and off all day. This is a perfect way to get our little group to the top of the zoo.
Our daughter took the coupons from me while we were in line. At the age of 8, she likes to be able to take charge of certain situations. She proudly marched up to the window to get our wrist bands. She asked the lady in the booth for four tickets. The employee looked at the group and grabbed four wrist bands. Now, I must admit that the tram has different prices for different age groups. Since we were not paying, I saw no need to tell our daughter the age break downs. Then I saw it.
The bands passed through the window were one green, one white, and two blue. Having done the tram before, I knew green was a child ticket, white was an adult ticket. The blue I had not seen before but was able to immediately guess. She told our daughter the information already stated and added, “The blues are the senior citizen ones.” SENIOR CITIZENS!!!! My niece, the one we love being with up to this point, started laughing. The only saving grace is that at the zoo, senior rates start at 55.
In the past, I would have gotten upset about this. How dare she assume this without asking. I am not that old. I have been asked about senior citizen discount or my age in the past, and, while laughing it off, took offense to it. The worst was while standing in line at a supermarket with my then six month old daughter. A person told me my granddaughter was beautiful. I corrected by saying daughter. The person responded with, “Oh….your last.” What the heck. However, with this one, I found myself enjoying it and laughing right along with our niece though I did threaten to make her walk home.
I even posted it to social media before our niece could. I had a friend even suggest that the employee needs to learn how to be better about it – I must say her post was in jest. I have accepted who I am and know that I cannot change things. I found I am able to finally take these types of things in stride. I have silver hair, genetics not age. I have wrinkles both from all the laughing I have done in my years and from the serious thinking. So what, I have wrinkles. I am who I am and I like it.
I even thought about the fact that I am a person who looks for discounts wherever possible. I can still remember my brother being embarrassed during my years in the military. I would go to restaurants and ask if they offered military discounts. One day, he asked if I was going to ask for the discount. When I said I would, he moved to the other line. Then he heard the cashier say yes, 20%. Next thing I know he was standing next to me. So if I was willing to accept them then why not now for having made it to a certain age.
So bring on the jokes, bring on the comments – I got my first senior discount because of my looks. Had I been paying, I would have corrected her and paid the correct price. However, if they want to still offer me the blue dinner price, I will pay it. I will smile and create another wrinkle. I will enjoy who I am. How about you?
Thank you for meandering with me.