Just don’t get this - waiting for the bus

The queue pre opening was massive and in the rain and cold. Had they been reading the fictitious daily fail articles that post office staff would steal your pension if you left it there till the afternoon

My father used to be outside the post office by 6 o'clock every Monday morning;rain.shine or snowfall.

Drove my mother mad.

If you have always shopped in the morning, how do you know that there are adequate stocks in the afternoon or early evening?

It's not a new thing. I'm 58 and remember my Grandad (way before OAPs bus passes) would be at the bus stop at least 30 mins before a bus.
At university I lived in a house with a bus stop outside and to know if the bus was due, we looked out of the window. Queue of elderly people = bus due within next 30-45 minutes. No elderly people= bus not due for at least 45-60 minutes.

The older I get, the earlier I get up. Make the most of daytime. Nobody has been quoted on their deathbed as saying "I should have had that lie in". (I apply the same truth to floor mopping)

This definitely doesn't happen here anymore (Scotland) - concession pass holders either over 60s or people with health conditions can travel anytime which gives a bit more space at peak times with students and school kids as well as commuters.

If your dad takes his hosp letter he will get the free travel too

Pensioners get free travel, but not until after morning rush hour is over (so they don't crowd out commuters who have no choice about their travel time). So they're "twirly" aka "too early" for their free travel.

You tend to sleep less as you age and sometimes need a nap by the afternoon.

I think it comes from "too early"!

Because the first bus that's free for pensioners is always packed with pensioners, so they want to be early to be at the front of the queue (and secure a seat).

Plus, you need less sleep when you are older and this often means older people are up much earlier than people of working age, so they might be glad to get out in the fresh air.

I just looked it up (Australian, never heard the term) and it seems to mean "Am I too early?" - doesn't seem to apply only to bus passengers.

I'm sort of hoping I am like this when I’m old. Currently always late for everything - it would be amazing to be early.

Strongly suspect though that in my dotage I’ll still be the one tearing around the hospital car park trying to park 1 min after my appointment time….

I think some older people just need something to fill their day and give them
something to talk about.

Lol why are they called twirlies? Are all OAPs twirlies or is it specific to the bus ones?

Either way I’ll be using this.

I worked at a well-know food retailer when I was student, and pensioners would be waiting outside from 30 minutes before we opened. Never really understood it, as there was plenty of stock.

I can't wait to be a twirlie. Ours all know each other and chat chat chat the whole way to town.

This is my dad, who is 82. Not age-related in his case, though age seems to have exacerbated it. I suspect undiagnosed ASD, but, regardless, he’s always been fanatically routine-bound, and obsessive about getting everywhere inconveniently early. When we were children, we lived a ten-minute drive from the theatre. He insisted on leaving 3/4 of an hour early, in case he couldn’t find a parking place. We were often huddled in the rain outside places that hadn’t opened yet. He would absolutely be the person freezing to death at a bus stop forty minutes before the first available bus.

I could never imagine even thinking twice about this, never mind posting on a forum.

We've just had an elderly relative staying with us and getting the bus to the hospital every morning. He was getting there at least 20 mins early every day (it's a 3 min walk to the stop) and waiting in the shelter even on days with the most foul weather. He just said he was nervous about missing it if it came early and preferred to read his book there for 20-30 mins rather than rush. Then he would "rush" to leave with enough time to spare to make sure he was at the bus stop 20 mins early!? I ended up having to just make myself a coffee and go off upstairs and not get involved!

It was an object lesson in how, when you don't have a lot going on, you can make a simple task that would take 5 mins last 35 mins.

She's not trying to stop them? Just being curious about why they're choosing to wait at a cold windy bus stop regularly for over half an hour?

Why do people queue for a supermarket on Sundays?

Presumably so they get their shopping done asap and have the rest of the day to do other things?

I get to school early for a child with sen who needs a car parked in a certain place for all school drops and pick ups. It’s fairly normal for autistic children to like routine and have set expectations. You don’t need to be ignorantly incorrect and judgemental about everyone and assume the child is a darling snowflake when the parent has enough additional stress going on and would much prefer an extra 30 minutes of sleep.