From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

On 5/4/26 12:40 PM, Rhino wrote:

On 2026-05-04 3:05 p.m., suzeeq wrote:

On 5/4/2026 9:22 AM, The True Melissa wrote:

Verily, in article <10tagno$3n1d8$4@dont-email.me>, did
no_offline_contact@example.com deliver unto us this message:

On 2026-05-04 8:38 a.m., The True Melissa wrote:

Verily, in article <vb4fvkl5kl0b0djvv3bgvg6r522r6ua1jc@4ax.com>, did >>>>> lcraver@home.ca deliver unto us this message:

In my mind, "old" is less old than "elderly." An "elderly" person is one >>>>> whose capabilities have noticeably slipped.

Have you met many elderly 56 year olds?

No, but there are probably some.

I was shocked at my 40th HS reunion. There were a few attendees there that looked at least 10 years older than the rest of us. Because of infirmities I guess.

It was seeing a 56 year old described as elderly in that news that set >>>> me off a bit. It's like the writer was 8 and thought anyone over 15 was >>>> "old" and anyone over 30 was "elderly".

That would probably be my first thought. This particular person may
qualify as aged.

Then again, maybe the writer had seen the victim in a picture and
thought she looked unusually decrepit for someone that age, perhaps as a >>>> result of hard living or a chronic medical condition. That seems
possible too.

I remember being 15 or so and thinking that 50 was really old, like
break-a-hip old. I had grandparents in my life, so I have no idea why I
thought that.

I think our parents or grandparents seemed older at 50 than we did when we got there.

People are living longer. Average life spans continue to go up in most countries as a result of more advanced (prescription) drugs and medical techniques. It seems as if we're in decent health longer than our grandparents and great-grandparents which makes us look relatively youthful to an older age. Our ancestors might have looked like they're on the verge of being bedridden at 70 while we may just have a few wrinkles....

I was really struck by a statistic I read a few years back: in the late 1700s, as industrialization was just getting going, the average German died in his THIRTIES after a "lifetime" of work that must have been primarily agricultural, although of course there must have been merchants, clergy, military people and other professions as well. But the average Heinrich would have been a farmer of some kind.

Those are misleading statistics because they are counting
average lifetimes from birth. At earlier times there were
high birth rates and high infant death rates. Count life
expectancy from year one, year 5, year 20, year 30, year
40 or 50 life expectancy comes closer to modern rates.

A man at 30 today does not have all that much longer a
life expectancy than a 30 year old centuries ago.











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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

On Mon, 4 May 2026 12:15:52 -0400, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

Then again, maybe the writer had seen the victim in a picture and
thought she looked unusually decrepit for someone that age, perhaps as a >result of hard living or a chronic medical condition. That seems
possible too.

Possible but unlikely. Besides - there are chronic conditions (for
instance diabetes) and there are REALLY chronic conditions (like the
ones that put you into wheelchairs)
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

On Mon, 4 May 2026 12:22:58 -0400, The True Melissa
<thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote:

It was seeing a 56 year old described as elderly in that news that set
me off a bit. It's like the writer was 8 and thought anyone over 15 was
"old" and anyone over 30 was "elderly".

That would probably be my first thought. This particular person may
qualify as aged.

Well we ALL have an age - and if my 4 year old granddaughter makes it
to my father's age when he left us she'll have reached the 22nd
century.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

On Mon, 4 May 2026 13:26:59 -0400, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

I grew up across the street from a seniors home so got lots of
opportunities to see old people when they came out in nice weather. I >couldn't imagine being in that age group at the time but now I'm getting >pretty close, although in better condition than some of them were. ;-)

Yep - our town (3 municipalities, total population 110000) was for a
brief time at the start of COVID the highest COVID-positive in Canada
though we're noted for having 4 of the 27 seniors care homes in
British Columbia (in per capita terms one of the highest levels in the
country) and in the early stages of the pandemic they didn't yet know
that care home staff would pass the virus to their charges. Which was
critical because a lot of the care home staff were new immigrants who
were working in 2 or 3 of the homes to make extra $$$. And while THEY
were Covid positive (and able to transmit it) they were in good enough
health not to be brought low by it.

There were a lot of things about the pandemic in March/April 2020 that
we didn't know that were well known 6 months later.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

On Mon, 4 May 2026 15:40:24 -0400, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

I was really struck by a statistic I read a few years back: in the late >1700s, as industrialization was just getting going, the average German
died in his THIRTIES after a "lifetime" of work that must have been >primarily agricultural, although of course there must have been
merchants, clergy, military people and other professions as well. But
the average Heinrich would have been a farmer of some kind.

65 as the 'retirement age' was first set by Bismarck in Germany and at
that time the average male worker lived to 69-70 e.g. 4-5 years on
pension. At that time virtually nobody survived 25-30 years past 65
which was what Bismarck counted on to make his system work
financially. This was adopted by other countries and of course it was
instant career death for any politician that dared raise the age
higher.

The only close relative of mine who DIDN'T make it to 75 was my
paternal grandfather who smoked the equivalent of 2 packs a day of
unfiltered home rolled cigarettes and of course my mother who was run
over by a motor home at age 75 (and everyone expected her to surpass
her mother who made it to 91) so her health wasn't really a factor.

So I am hopeful for quite a while yet...
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

On 5/13/2026 10:25 AM, The Horny Goat wrote:

On Mon, 4 May 2026 15:40:24 -0400, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

I was really struck by a statistic I read a few years back: in the late
1700s, as industrialization was just getting going, the average German
died in his THIRTIES after a "lifetime" of work that must have been
primarily agricultural, although of course there must have been
merchants, clergy, military people and other professions as well. But
the average Heinrich would have been a farmer of some kind.

65 as the 'retirement age' was first set by Bismarck in Germany and at
that time the average male worker lived to 69-70 e.g. 4-5 years on
pension. At that time virtually nobody survived 25-30 years past 65
which was what Bismarck counted on to make his system work
financially. This was adopted by other countries and of course it was
instant career death for any politician that dared raise the age
higher.

The only close relative of mine who DIDN'T make it to 75 was my
paternal grandfather who smoked the equivalent of 2 packs a day of
unfiltered home rolled cigarettes

Actually, they were probably not as big a health problem as commercially
made cigarettes. Which have a lot more stuff in them than tobacco.

and of course my mother who was run

over by a motor home at age 75 (and everyone expected her to surpass
her mother who made it to 91) so her health wasn't really a factor.

So I am hopeful for quite a while yet...

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