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

[WhatDoYouThink789]

I’d really love to hear people’s opinions on this!

If you went to the cinema to purchase a ticket to watch a film and the sales assistant said, ‘Is that 1 Adult ticket or 1 Over 60’s ticket?’ would you be offended by that? Bearing in mind you’re not actually over 60’s but 53.

For context, an Adult ticket costs £13.70 and an Over 60’s ticket costs £10.70. How would you feel about that line of questioning?

YABU - that’s a really offensive question and shouldn’t be asked.

YANBU - there’s nothing wrong with the question as the staff member needs to charge the correct price

It’s only 7 years. I wouldn’t be offended.

It’s very hard to guess someone’s exact age.

I probably would be offended, although i would respond politely. There's probably a more tactful way of doing it. She could say something like "we have a range of concessions for different groups, would you like me give you more information in case you would be eligible?"

I would as I'm not 40 yet but after 50 my mum didn't mind too much as long as she's getting a discount. If it was just a random comment with no perks then she wouldn't have. She's over 60 now anyway so neither here nor there.

Either way I don't think aging is a bad thing. Certainly better than the alternative.

It’s so easy to make a mistake though. I often look at photos of people and get a bit of an “oh really” when their real age is given. Both up and down. It only takes a bad day at work, or a bit of an illness to make folks look tired.

The only reason anyone feels offended / pleased in relation to people guessing their age wrong/right is the ageism in our society, probably with a dash of sexism (as women are held to higher beauty standards/ valued for looks). So yes a lot of people may be offended, but in an ideal world we shouldn't be.

I worked in a shop with an over 60s discount day. We had a sign up on the till but people often didn't spot it until they had paid and it was a faff having to do a refund to add it on so it was easiest to just ask. The issue was the amount of people who were offended but were over 60 so did apply to the discount. They were happy about the saving but cross I thought they looked their age.

I'd be rubbing my hands with glee at the discount opportunities

I'm 53. I always say I'm a senior for cinema tickets, ferry tickets, theatre tickets...

Last year, I booked a table in a pub for my friend's 70th birthday. The pub cheered me thinking I was 70! 😆

I've always wanted to be older, to get in that nightclub or be served alcohol. So why not take advantage again!

Really interesting mix of comments!

I’m not the person who purchased the ticket. I work in the cinema where this happened and the customer went on to contact customer services to complain. It’s something we ask everyday and have never had a complaint before but I wondered if maybe other people are secretly offended by the question.

A lot of our customers aren’t regulars and don’t often realise that we sell slightly cheaper tickets for those that are over the age of 60. I think it’s hard to guess someone’s age so it’s better to ask and receive an answer than to assume they’re a certain age

Oh, and I took my mum to a museum, she's almost 80, I was asked if I wanted the same senior ticket as 'my friend'... 😂

I think 7 years is quite a big gap though, it is closer to a decade than not and we only live on average less than 8 decades so it seems funny to me to bump up someone's age with so many years. My Dad always rounds up everyone and it is really annoying as I have siblings and in essence we would all be the same age according to his aging methods. He would say stuff like you are nearly 40 now when you are 35/36. I would say if you are 27 you are not like a 20 year old.

Some years ago when I was 50, I was with DH and we were having a weekend away in York. We decided to go on a boat trip and the woman selling the tickets assumed I was over 60 so I got a discount. I was rather peeved but quite happy to have saved some money!

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.

😂 bitter sweet

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.