Madam, - In Heather Ingman's Irishwoman's Diary of October 7th we read: "Let's hear from our elderly". I do not regard myself as an elderly person, indeed, I feel just the same (inside) as when I was youngerly. I am not sure about the qualifications required for membership of the class of our elderly, but I have been offered a seat in the bus by a young lady. Could this be a sign of elderliness?
Madam, - In Heather Ingman's Irishwoman's Diary of October 7th we read: "Let's hear from our elderly". I do not regard myself as an elderly person, indeed, I feel just the same (inside) as when I was youngerly. I am not sure about the qualifications required for membership of the class of our elderly, but I have been offered a seat in the bus by a young lady. Could this be a sign of elderliness?
Journalists use the term "elderly" for those whom they consider to be old and no longer working and being paid for it. Popes, bishops and judges, ministers and chief executives, regardless of their age, never seem to be elderly; although we do hear about "the 77-year-old judge, Peter Cory", (age mentioned by RTÉ, not by The Irish Times), "the 80+-year-old Pope", etc. If one keeps working, one never becomes elderly; one just ages, like wine, by the year; so that one could die at an advanced age, having never been elderly at all.
Those who are neither young nor elderly do not seem to belong to any class. We rarely hear about "our middle aged" or "our mature" - i.e. the people who are productive and therefore not a problem.
Nobody would voluntarily join the class of our elderly: membership confers no benefits; so let's forget about them. The elderly do not exist, except in the minds of those for whom they are a problem. - Yours, etc.,
STANLEY CHRISTIE, Court Apartments, Wilton Place, Dublin 2.