Tag Archives: perception

Age and Assumptions

Most of my readership knows I’ve written before about how age is simply a number. All too often people seem to carry beliefs that some capabilities and disabilities accompany certain ages. We expect children to start walking at a certain age, give or take a month. We expect them to start talking (coherently) at a certain age, give or take a couple months. Their ability to walk is followed by run, climb, etc. But what happens when we get older? A lot of people seem to believe that with age inevitably comes infirmity. That is one assumption I wish to challenge. The other is that “age” looks a certain way. Do we have to “look old?” Continue reading →

Is There a Difference Between Insulting and Offensive?

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Not that long ago I had an experience that made me think about the difference between “being insulted” and “being offended.” In today’s society where it seems like there is always someone offended by something, no matter how innocuous or harmless the “something” might be, it’s almost become fashionable to be offended. What’s worse, the idea that being offended seems to mean someone owes you something in reparation for having caused that feeling. Here we get to where people who have been “triggered” feel they are owed something (and that “something” can be truly ridiculous) simply because someone did something that was offensive to them. If you have this conversation long enough, terms like “snowflake” and “pansy” start getting thrown around and then we’ve moved from the realm of offensive to the realm of insulting. They are far from the same thing but in today’s world the difference has been all but lost. Continue reading →

What Age is “Old”?

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I remember being a little kid… maybe six or seven years old, and my parents were “old” to me. Of course, my parents were 35 years older than I, so they were in their early forties; hardly what I would call old these days. Then again, I know a couple people today who are in their early and mid-forties and I do consider them “old” based purely on their outlook and behavior. This dichotomy caused me some wonderment and I had to give it some serious thought: Is there an age where someone is suddenly “old” or is it more about attitude and approach to life? In case you don’t already know my answer, it’s the latter. Continue reading →