Quote:
Originally Posted by footfootfoot
When I was 20 I thought 40 was crazy old.
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See, now I didn't. Even when I was much younger, 'old' to me conjured a picture of someone with white hair, a walking stick and a lapdog. Or variations thereof.
When I was 17 I had the hots for an older guy I used to see in a cafe I went to regularly. I think he was probably in his late 30s/early 40s.
In many of the places I have worked, and certainly during my time as a councillor, I engaged with colleagues in their 60s and even early 70s and there was nothing old about them.
I think it's a state of mind - and also health I guess - setting aside obvious stuff like dementia or crippling arthritis, I think it is as much about what someone projects, which is in itself about how they perceive themselves.
I have known people in their late 50s who have seemed old. Everything about them - their style of dress, the music they like, their attitude to technology and their engagement with the world. At the same time I know people in their 60s and 70s who are vibrant and project a much younger self. I find it hard, mentally, to attach the word 'old' to them.