At what age are you considered an old person? Well, that really depends on who you are asking. If you decide to pose this question to a 5-year-old, there’s a high chance you’ll be called a grandma or grandpa for being over 30. If you ask a 60-year-old, they might tell you that they’re still in their prime and don’t feel old at all.
The truth is that old age does not simply start at a number that’s set in stone. It’s all very relative and depends on a lot of different factors.
For example, this list, comprised of the most recent contributions to the "[Heck] I'm Old" subreddit, can be a great determining factor. Do you know what a floppy disk is? Have you used a telephone booth? Do you think the '70s were 30 years ago? Then, welcome to the older generation! No worries, we still have a lot of fun here too, it’s just that our joints are creakier.
This post may include affiliate links.
Gone But Not Forgotten
The thing about getting old is that we’re going through it, we’re getting older each day, but we don’t feel it. So if someone asks us what’s old when we’re in our 20s, we say, well, 60s. When we’re in our 40s, we think 60 still sounds pretty good, so maybe old is closer to 70. When we’re in our 60s, we move the goalpost once more to somewhere in our mid 70s.
This is the natural progression that scientists have found out about when surveying people about old age. And while the overall average for what’s considered the beginning of being old was 68, because of how wide the estimation gap was, this number is pretty much meaningless.
Anyone Remember The Metal Lid You Had To Use A Butter Knife To Pop Off?
Meirl
Damn. I'm 42 and feeling this one. 😑 But 42 is also the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, so that's some solace 😄
The insignificance of this contrived start point is especially evident when talking to 60-year-olds themselves. Out of all the respondents aged 65–74, only 21% said that they feel old. And even those who are over 75 weren’t so convinced—only 35% agreed that they are old.
This reiterates another point that researchers have explored. They discovered that the gap between our real age and “felt” age widens as we grow older. Apparently, about half of 18 to 29-year-olds feel the age that they are while a quarter feel younger. Compare that to 50-year-olds, half of which feel younger than their actual age, and people over 65, 60% of which feel like the number in their passport doesn’t do them justice.
Yeah Happens Often Irl
I Know You All Or Almost All Of Us Remember This
I still have a book from my college library that I forgot to return. The book was printed in 1964 and the author wrote about how in few years it will be possible to send man to moon
So, if there’s no real number to go off of, are there any other indicators out there? Well, the ones that everyone agrees on are a few. They are:
- Failing health
- Inability to live independently
- Inability to drive
- Difficulty with stairs
A Trip Down Memory Lane
We had one with shutter, round dials and all. It was black and white. It worked fine till early 2000.
Maybe It's Just Me, But When I Pay For Music, I Want Something Tangible In My Hands
Who Else Remembers Cigarette Vending Machines That Had No Way To Check A Persons Age And Operated On The Honor System?
However, some other indicators aren’t so clear-cut. For example, two in three 20-year-olds believe that forgetfulness of familiar names is a sign of getting old. By the time they are thirty, though, only less than a half of the respondents identify it as something only old people do. The same murkiness is apparent when talking about retirement, having gray hair, having grandkids, becoming less active sexually, and having bladder problems.
Remember Getting Your Feet Measured By This Bulky Thing?
Most all shoe stores still have them. Not many, but I nearly always see at least one whenever I go shoe shopping.
I Know I'm Not Alone
this picture makes me feel that upholstery vinyl piping burning into the back of my legs wearing those shorts in the summer. --- forget about the buckle burn..
"When I Was Your Age, The Internet Came Through The Phone And It Sounded Like Screaming Robots"
Maybe all this vagueness is related to the fact that we’re all quite scared of getting old. The survey shows that many younger adults expect old age to be worse than it actually is. A lot of people believe that getting old involves memory loss, illness, loneliness, depression, and financial difficulties. However, older adults do experience some of it, but it is at way lower levels that young people believe it will be.
35 Mm Film Canister Holders
My Favorite Part Of Mad Magazine
What Reels Did You Have?
On the other hand, old age is also not as fun as we might imagine. Older people report not spending as much time with family or traveling as younger people hope they will. There isn’t as much time to find new hobbies or start a second career either. Older folks still do that, just maybe not as commonly as expected.
So Very True! More So On Monday Mornings
I don't have enough energy to scream when I wake up, but I certainly share their feelings.
Did Anyone Else Use To Put These Together As A Kid?
Oh come on! Where is the plastic tip for the nose with the spinning propeller?
Who Remembers This Toy Phone? I Had One As A Kid. Did Anyone Else Have One?
Still, older people are happy. In fact, they’re as happy as any other generation, proving that your contentment with life does not depend on your age. The common denominators of a happy life are as usual: good health, good financial situation, and good friends.
Get Off My Lawn - Uh, Playground
If You Know What The Tape Is For, Your Back Probably Hurts
This Is 💯% True
The mid 90s were king with SNL. When you had Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, David Spade, Phil Hartman, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, etc etc.
So, if this list made you feel old, don’t feel bad about that. There’s nothing wrong with it. All that it really says to you is that you have more experience than others. And isn’t that valuable?
Norman Lear (101), Mel Brooks (96), Dick Van Dyke (97) With Youngster Judd Apatow (55)
Does Anyone Else Miss The Butter Rum Lifesavers?
The Good Old Days Of Dodge Ball When We Used Real Rubber Balls
Then He Played The Cassette In The Car On The Way Home. And Wept Thinking About That Summer And That Girl He Never Had A Chance With :(
Omg It's So Flat...and Square
Just Seems Like Yesterday
Who Remembers These?
I'm old enough to remember when the only fast food was from the local fish & chip shop
coal-fired chips wrapped in newspaper were the best.
Load More Replies...
Go to a landfill; I’m certain you could find a lot of them perfectly intact a few dozen layers down.
I was just thinking that. We've aged more than those things.
Load More Replies...
I remember when they first started using them, and we thought it was fancy!
Wow. I haven't been to a macdonalds for so long I didn't realise they'd stopped using that packaging 😆
We ate at the first Reno NV McDonald's on our first date for about a dollar.
I remember when you had to choose each item individually. Back when the saber-toothed tiger roamed the earth, before you could say, "#2, large with a diet Coke!"
I REMEMBER WHEN IT ACTUALLY TOOK TWO HANDS TO HANDLE A WHOPPER... yes I was all in caps because I mean it actually was huge....
Eating out consisted of taking my food from home to somewhere else, not buying ready made stuff. Once again, no money for unnecessary things
I'm older. We didn't have any fast food restaurants when I grew up and that was great
I remember when the first McD opened in my area, it was the coolest place to be back then 😆.
I remember when McD's and Burger King single hamburgers came in a small French fry pouch.
Yes. And do you remember the ad with the First Nations man wearing a war bonnet and crying about seeing the styrofoam burger boxes in the gutter with all the other trash?
I remember McDonald's when it was walk-up - no indoor seating, no drive-thru. You ate in your parked car and opened the glove compartment (which never had gloves in it) and put your drink in the very slight round depression on the inside of the compartment door (precursor to cup holders) - before tipping that drink in your lap while trying to get the last loose fry from the bottom of the bag.
I miss the breakfast platter, no longer available in the UK, why McDonalds why?
Damn, It's Scratched
Remember When You Could See These Just About Everywhere?
Who Remembers Mcdonalds Ash Trays?
I remember all of my clay creations in grade school starting out as elaborate sculptures but ending up as ash trays. Gifts for my folks, who positively did NOT smoke.
My Mom Had One At Her House. But My Dad Never Had One Cause He Said They Weren't Practical. The Shows Of Having Divorced Parents
Who Remembers All Wooden Playgrounds? All Metal Ones Were More Fun Though
It Happens To Us All Sooner Or Later
When I Was Growing Up We Never, Ever Had A Single Snow Day. No Matter What Our Butts Were At School
I remember going to the school in heavy rain. It was a 30 minute walk and by the time I got there I was soaked to the skin and got sent home to get changed and come back to school (Our towns schools had a hard on for reporting you to child welfare for the dumbest reasons) My mom told them she isn't going to spend the day washing a rapidly growing pile of wet clothes and if they reported her she would be down the school with a hammer and a big bag of rusty nails and she would nail each effing teacher she came across to the wall by their ears. Shortly after it stopped raining and I asked if I should go back to school to which my mom replied "F*ck 'em"
Did Anyone Else Spend A Fair Amount Of Time Reading These?
And cheating by putting your finger on the last question while you looked at the results of the one option you chose and then went back if you died
Evolution Of How We Listen To Music
Zed And Sweetchuck
Police academy! Awesome film that went downhill with each sequel except the when Zed and Sweetchuck were in it
Remember When A Gallon Of Hawaiian Punch Came In A Big Can?
Who Remembers Root Beer Barrels Candies?
This Is Radar From M*a*s*h. Now I Really Know I'm Old
Fun fact - he had a disfigured left hand. It's one of the reasons he always had a clip board in the show.
This Certified Classic Premiered 30 Years Ago
How Do You Do, Fellow Peebles?
comiseration hurts so much. I never heard of anyone anymore.. but then again... I dont want to even hear that c**p!
I'm This Old
I so old that we had our OS on floppy disks and there was no mouse and no GUI. Everything was done on MSDos and it was either orange or green screens
Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler And Brendan Fraser. 1994 And Now
A corpse, a rabbi, and a business office guy walk into a bar…
Who Remembers These Batteries And Thought They Were So Cool!?
Titanic On Vhs - The Struggle Was Real
I think Gone With the Wind was 4 tapes. I kept having to get up and change them for my grandma!
This Year, Toby Froud, The Baby In “Labyrinth,” Turns 39, The Age David Bowie Was When The Movie Came Out
These Were So Fun
This was how we got my infant son to sleep every night, a few enya songs on the media player and he was out like a light.
That Belongs… In A Museum?
Note: this post originally had 107 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
*story time* a while ago I gave what I thought was solid info in a reddit comment and someone replied "yeah 20 years ago maybe!" And I was like, haha no, what do they think, that I'm giving outdated info from the 80s?! Haha... ha. Wait.
I once made a reference to I forget what, something 90s, playing Jackbox stuff with a group of broadly aged internet pals and someone who's about 28 pipes up with "Is that generational humor?" and it was absolutely devastating. She's hilarious. I haven't recovered.
Load More Replies... "Young old" is supposedly 65-74. "Middle old" is 75-84. "Old old" is 85+. I will be 75 in 5 weeks exactly.
Today's youngsters may not know or remember that back in the day, all our radios, LPs, CDs, cassettes, clocks, TVs, game consoles/screens, encyclopedias, desk/wall phones , and much more that took up tons of living space now all fits in one pocket.
I never thought of myself as getting old until the time I needed my first pair of glasses with varifocal lenses. That in itself didn't bother me. It was when the young lady,barely more than a child, said, "Oh well, it's to be expected at your age." I had just turned 40...fücking 40. Since then, it's been downhill faster than Franz Klammer! ( Google him, kids)
Lol!! Anyone read the article? The subreddit is called Fvck I'm old but BP just renamed it to "heck"
What makes me feel old is watching the news. All the politicians look much too young to be allowed to run our country.
I’m in a rehab facility right now and an hour ago a girl came in to tell me that I was being moved to another room. NO!! I’m not moving and went on to tell her how jacked up this place is. Then I added that she must have drawn the short stick if she had to come in and tell me that. I know that she had no idea what the short stick comment meant! Damn do I miss being around people who get me!!!
You probably shouldn't blame Americans for posts that Bored Panda scrapes from other sites like Reddit.
Load More Replies...
*story time* a while ago I gave what I thought was solid info in a reddit comment and someone replied "yeah 20 years ago maybe!" And I was like, haha no, what do they think, that I'm giving outdated info from the 80s?! Haha... ha. Wait.
I once made a reference to I forget what, something 90s, playing Jackbox stuff with a group of broadly aged internet pals and someone who's about 28 pipes up with "Is that generational humor?" and it was absolutely devastating. She's hilarious. I haven't recovered.
Load More Replies... "Young old" is supposedly 65-74. "Middle old" is 75-84. "Old old" is 85+. I will be 75 in 5 weeks exactly.
Today's youngsters may not know or remember that back in the day, all our radios, LPs, CDs, cassettes, clocks, TVs, game consoles/screens, encyclopedias, desk/wall phones , and much more that took up tons of living space now all fits in one pocket.
I never thought of myself as getting old until the time I needed my first pair of glasses with varifocal lenses. That in itself didn't bother me. It was when the young lady,barely more than a child, said, "Oh well, it's to be expected at your age." I had just turned 40...fücking 40. Since then, it's been downhill faster than Franz Klammer! ( Google him, kids)
Lol!! Anyone read the article? The subreddit is called Fvck I'm old but BP just renamed it to "heck"
What makes me feel old is watching the news. All the politicians look much too young to be allowed to run our country.
I’m in a rehab facility right now and an hour ago a girl came in to tell me that I was being moved to another room. NO!! I’m not moving and went on to tell her how jacked up this place is. Then I added that she must have drawn the short stick if she had to come in and tell me that. I know that she had no idea what the short stick comment meant! Damn do I miss being around people who get me!!!
You probably shouldn't blame Americans for posts that Bored Panda scrapes from other sites like Reddit.
Load More Replies...