Would you be offended if someone asked you whether you were over 60’s?

"Grey hair? Saggy jowels? Smell of tena lady in the air?"

Great, ageism in action.

I got given a pensioners' ticket without being asked on a tourist train in Spain. I didn't even know it was an option, I just asked for two adults with my 70 year old mum stood next to me. I was about 42. It's one of my mum's favourite stories to retell. It didn't cross my mind to complain, I was happy with the €2 saving!

Maybe you could phrase it like "Just checking before I overcharge you - you're not a student, over-60, under-18...?" Sounds a bit more like a general script than singling them out as looking old enough for the pensioner special.

I.e he is more aware of age as his friends remark on it sometimes, one of the Dad's of his friends is old enough to be our Dad!

Tbh OP is just doing her job, although going forward I wouldn’t even ask id just leave it up to the customer to ask about concessions unless it was really obvious

No, I wouldn't think a couple of years but definitely whether they are in forties, fifties or sixties but I'm not sure if that's because all his friends parents are 50 plus and we are early -mid 40s so he's more aware that we are the youngest as it were and DH particularly young around here where I'd say the average Dad for an 18 year old is mid to late 50s.

I'd be a bit put out but I'm 44. I honestly wouldn't think about this op...it doesn't matter.

I think that first time when someone thinks you’re older than you are can be a bit of a shock but, as a pp said, people can appear older than they are to younger people.

I wouldn’t be offended but I’d give an internal wail of despair.

What’s grey hair got to do with it?

I’d probably be mildly crushed, but I know that’s silly.

I like the simple "any concessions?" in a previous post. It's casual, not pointed, and could be asked of everyone buying a ticket, not just people who look older.

Say we have concessions for X Y and Z.

Yeah, that isn't any more tactful.

Not that I'd be offended either way, but I would think that someone saying "We have concessions for X Y and Z" was being twee and mealy-mouthed and unable to ask a basic question. I'd much prefer "Is that 1 Adult ticket or 1 Over 60’s ticket?"

I'm 54 FWIW.

I remember an initial pang, and then amusement, when I was first asked that question (and I hadn't yet hit the magic number). But the person asking was young, so I wasn't offended.

I do think that it would be better for staff at your cinema to ask "do you qualify for any concessions?" though @WhatDoYouThink789 . Asking "are you over 60?" is a bit blunt.

We live in a narcissistic society as well though. Many are obsessed to the point of illness how they look. Hence all the Botox, liposuction, Turkey Teeth, arse lifts and other intrusive procedures.

I got asked last week if I wanted the over 65 ticket. I'm 55.

I can't lie, I was a bit offended. They had a very clear list of prices on the desk that she saw me looking at. If I'd wanted a concession ticket I'd have asked for it, there was no need to ask.

Given that I think everyone young looks 12, if it was a young person serving you they probably find it hard to guess the age of older people. So no, it's not offensive.

Yeah he can tell the difference between 50 and 70+ but that's over 20 years. Can he accurately age someone to within a couple of years within that age bracket tho?

Here in Australia they just ask, "Any concessions?" and leave it at that. That could cover age, disability, income, anything, and you just say yes or no.

It seems more tactful than your experience, OP.

My son is 18 and could easily guess the difference between a 50 year old and a 70 year old and does as one of his friends has a Dad who is in their 70s and he has remarked upon it.

It's not offensive because being over 60 or looking over 60 when you are in your 50s shouldn't be offensive but being honest, it raises insecurities due to ageism in society. A lot of people feel self conscious about ageing. So while it's not offensive it is tactless, thoughtless and insensitive.

So it's just not worth upsetting people, if they wanted the discount and were careful about money, believe me they would have mentioned it very clearly so if someone asks for a ticket I would simply charge the adult fare, not the 60+ or Student discount. Because those groups normally speak up and ask for it.

I think just make sure that the price list is visible and clear.

I was mistaken for being 60 plus in Covid times whilst queuing to get into a food shop, didn't bother me at all. I got in and out of the supermarket in super quick time.

Count me in ... If I was being offered a discount and didn't need to show any proof I would happily accept

I think if I had to ask the question I would add it to an overall spiele of which concessions we offered, child, teen, over 60, cheap days on Saturdays or whatever and remind them to tell their friends or some such rubbish (fortunately I do not work customer facing) so they had all the information and could say "Oh actually I'm over 60 ...." My local cinema offers Silver Screens - tea and a reduced movie for over 50s

Most of the cinema staff near me are aged 18-25. Someone of that age can't reliably guess the age of people between 50 and 70.

They are much better than older people at judging whether to check ID for people wanting to see over 18 films tho.

It seems to me that the further away you are from an age group, the less accurate you become at guessing age.

Its probably safest to say "The prices are £x for a regular ticket and £x for over 60. So is that two regular?" Regardless of how old you judge the person to be.

They may have been suggesting you could get a cheaper ticket and they wouldn't argue about it.

😂 bitter sweet

When I was a teenager working at the supermarket I found it really hard to gauge if someone was over 25 or not and so many people got arsey about being asked for ID. One guy even said it was because he was black - it wasn’t I was just bad at judging age and terrified of not being able to go to America with my criminal record (that’s what I remembered of the age 25 training) and so always erred on the side of caution.