Believe me, I am the first to cringe at the phrase "senior discount." I have yet to join AARP though they've been after me since before I turned 50. But, scrolling through my saved Facebook links I noticed, somewhere between "8 essential toning moves for women over 40" and "How to clean out your dryer hose," a post from Mogul titled "This list of senior discounts for people over 50 might be the best thing you learn all day." I decided to revisit it and thought some of my contemporaries might be surprised to know what is ours for the asking. If you're 55+ here is just a sampling of savings as rewards for making it beyond half-century mark. These are available to all of us, every day. But you do have to bite the bullet and ask for them. FOOD Chili's: 10% off ( 55+) Dunkin' Donuts: 10% off or free coffee ( 55+) - Probably the small, boring variety, but certainly a just reward for picking up a dozen for the office crowd. Fuddrucker's: 10% off any senior platter ( 55+) - Hopefully not just soft items we old folk can chew. IHOP: 10% off ( 55+) Jack in the Box: up to 20% off ( 55+) KFC: free small drink with any meal ( 55+) Krispy Kreme: 10% off ( 50+) Long John Silver's: various discounts at locations ( 55+) McDonald's: discounts on coffee everyday ( 55+) Papa John’s: 25% off (55+) for online orders. Enter the code “AARP25″ when placing your order - I assume this works even for non-AARP imposters. TCBY: 10% off ( 55+) - Froyo yo! Wendy’s: 10% off (55+) RETAIL Dress Barn: 20% off ( 55+) - You'll have to buy your clothes in a "barn" but still... TRAVEL : Budget Rental Cars: 10% off; up to 20% off for AARP members ( 50+) Dollar Rent-A-Car: 10% off ( 50+) - Even young whippersnappers can get some of these! Best Western: 10% off (55+) Hampton Inns & Suites: 10% off when booked 72 hours in advance Mainstay Suites: 10% off with Mature Traveler's Discount (50+) Travelodge: 10% off (50+) ENTERTAINMENT AMC Theaters: up to 30% off (55 +) - Likely tickets, not popcorn. That's still expensive (but sooooo worth it). So, if you're itching for adventure, grab a friend, buy a dress, hop in a rental car and take off for the weekend. Catch a movie, eat some road trip food - it's all good (and cheaper than it was when you were younger!).
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As my young adult children take their first steps into the grown-up world, I find myself, more and more, thinking about retirement. True, I've got 10 years before I can take full benefits (and my husband several years more), but it certainly feels like the next thing. And while wedding and baby showers could sneak into that timeline, those are events for my children to star in. My lead roles there have past. If living nearly 60 decades has taught me anything it's this: You can make all the plans you want, but you better be flexible because it's highly unlikely they'll all come off as expected. I never imagined I'd move to rural Colorado in my 40s nor did I see that jaunt leading me to Illinois. Yet here I sit, facing the last stretch of my career before taking off into the great golden beyond. Will I follow my children? My parents had all three kids move away, me with their precious grandchildren in tow. So I don't know if that's a good strategy. Lately I've been thinking of finding a place the kids would want to visit. Then spending a couple months - perhaps in the hottest or coldest season - living somewhere else, changing the location every year. After recently inheriting a little camper my mind has wandered to RVing through at least the early years of retirement, seeing all the North American places I've yet seen. I read articles about the favorite international locales of retired expats. But I don't think I could spend all my time in a foreign country. It's a bit uncomfortable, this place. Being able to see that future just breaking the horizon, but not close enough to recognize. For an adventurous spirit, but one who wants to know what the adventure is, it's disconcerting. I guess I'll just continue to dream. As getting older proves to everyone, I think, the future will be here before I know it. For me, summer isn't summer without at least one dip in a pool. There's something about that moment when I dunk below the surface and that coolness of the water and hint of chlorine combine to bring memories of childhood summers rushing back. This past weekend I made my first trip of the season to a local pool and, sure enough, I was transported.
Lying on my chaise lounge (does anyone call them that anymore?) soaking up some summer, I hear, at the top of the hour, the long lifeguard whistle signaling the 15 of each 60 minutes that literally separate the girls from the women: Adult Swim. Children begrudgingly exit the pool while adults - mostly a little older - heed the herald of pool time without being water bombed by cannonballing kids or whapped in the face with a pool noodle. What a difference 40-plus years make. As a kid, the only good thing about Adult Swim was the prospect of mom, eager to get into the pool before time ticked away, succumbing to pleads for snack bar tickets. There, with friends, all wrapped in soggy towels and resting under the shade trees, we could enjoy an ice cream pop or fries, whiling away the never-ending minutes until we could get back to our games of Marco Polo or Shark Versus Minnows. Inevitably we'd end up sitting on the pool stairs, slowly dipping our way further into the water, avoiding the watchful eye of the lifeguards. We'd watch our parents and their friends bobbing along, our moms trying to keep their fluffy hairdos dry, our dads chortling over some grown-up joke. Adult Swim was just another show of that special club we couldn't join, with its knowing glances and secret language. And it lasted f.o.r.e.v.e.r. Now, as a bonafide member of the Adult Swim club, I have to admit, I get it. Though I'm usually at the pool alone and don't really mind getting in during the wild and wooly 45 minutes with kids, I appreciate knowing I can float along without threat of attack, or hang onto the side, kicking my legs, my face raised to the sun, without too many jolting youthful shrieks (for someone who spent so much time in front of a stack of Marshall amps in my 20s, I've grown surprising sensitive to sharp, loud sounds). And, of course, now that 15 minutes just fly by. Isn't it a blessing to be able to experience both sides of life's equations? And, here on the farther side, I can truly appreciate both. If I could only convince them to limit the incessant pop music now blasted over the PA to the 15 minutes the kids are actually listening to it. That would be heaven. |
d.a.meek
Young at heart. Archives
December 2017
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