My next door neighbor thought they would be getting the senior discount like Publix used to give. They are only 15 years older than we are, but still got confused. When my husband told me that, I changed my plans and went later, because I did not want to wait in a line or shop a crowded store.

Well said, Tigereye, I agree wholeheartedly! I am 80 YO and have noticed lately that it often takes me longer to make sense of some things than it did even just a year ago. And the way some of the announcements are worded, it's easy to see why people get confused.

Rusty

A friend of mine thought it would be okay to go shopping during senior citizen hour to avoid crowds and I said are you kidding? Half of Williamsburg are senior citizens. It will be more crowded then than on off hours! It might work in some towns but not here. It was a nice thought though.

Yes, my reaction was incomplete, sorry. I do feel compassion for those with cognitive impairment/dementia. Who no longer can practice the normal adult skill of making a phone call to get more information from the source concerning something new they'd heard about.

What percentage of the crowd do you think that was?

DH had planned to go at opening one day last week when our main store in this smaller community (its a Safeway) announced 7-9 AM for the over 60 crowd, pregnant women. He went on the recommended day. The parking lot was full and so was the store. Which seemed to me to kind of defeat the intention and neither of us went in during senior hours this week. In fact, I drove 100+ miles and took things to my mothers care facility, stopping into a Fred Meyer in her city mid morning. Large store, I don't think more than possibly 30 people shopping? At least at the grocery end, I did not go into clothing or garden sections. A clerk gave me a freshly sanitized cart and said there had been a long line at the door outside when they opened 3 hours earlier. If I'd wanted a laundry product or detergent, I would have been out of luck but they had all on my list. Laundry aisle all but bare.

My sister went to her nearby Costco yesterday at opening. She said the line was around the building outside but with everyone keeping the 6' rule so waiting was minimum and the line moved quickly. She was able to get all on her list but found limits on butter and eggs. No nitrile or latex gloves.

Getting older does not automatically reduce intellectual capacity. I had the pleasure to meet one of the sharpest minds of the 20th century - Buckminster Fuller - at the ripe old age of 88 shortly before his death. And he was just as cogent, well-spoken and with as sharp an ability to reason as anyone half his age. And a heck of lot more so than most half his age!!

Dumbness does not discriminate by age. As has been clearly evident with the reactions of far too many of ALL ages in response to our current crisis.

I went about 8:30 AM on a Tuesday at Publix. They had an employee sanitizing carts, (and drying), we were having our rain deluge that day. It was not crowded at all.

Gardengal, no it doesn't, but it does increase the percentage of probability.

That is sad for those who were confused.

tigereye, I am firmly in that camp and none of my peers - and even a number quite a bit older - show any sign of deterioration of mental acuity. They are just as sharp and on the ball as they ever were. Dumb is dumb and is just as likely to be a factor governing behavior in one that is 25 or 40 as it is in one that is 65+.

So many would be confused with the many suggestions of social distancing, self-isolation. I'm not surprised that things are becoming confusing for a lot of people.

ETA - my MIL is 92, in an assisted living facility and usually pretty sharp. But with all the changes in her facility, the fact that family can't visit, residents are confined to their rooms with meals delivered to them, absolutely no social interaction, there is no doubt that she is mentally and psychologically suffering.

And I suspect that thousands of "normal" people are also suffering.

Yes! Dumb is dumb.

I wonder if the wording of the email was confusing or had grammatical errors in usage, antecedent, and agreement. These kinds of errors often interfere with the clarity of the message.

Once this is over or supplies are short at home especially for those that are self isolating and not going anywhere there will be a period of confusion while becoming used to some of the things that have been instituted. Things like waiting for someone to wipe down a cart rather than just grabbing one quickly comes to mind. Looking for tape on the floor to make certain the distance between people at the checkout is another.

Gardengal, then you and your friends are very lucky. From 1991 to 2010 I worked retail in a large big box store. I dealt with senior confusion on a daily basis. It exists. Denying will not make it go away.

Isn't part of the point of these exclusive hours, so that the people can shop when the store is newly stocked? I imagine it isn't easy for some of the seniors to have to go out more than once, to try to find items that were on their list. So letting them shop early gives them a better chance of getting everything.

Of course senior confusion can exist. As it can with any age group. I worked retail for many years as well and encountered just as many people of all ages that really didn't have a clue what they were doing or how to go about the most basic of tasks. Reading comprehension and deductive reasoning was very high on that list!!

And why are we lucky? We are active, involved and keep our minds stimulated and alert. If you are intelligent and can reason well when younger then you should be just as able to do so with age, barring any medical issues.

I'd deleted the email but I found it on the website:

Publix is designating Tuesday and Wednesday
mornings, 7 – 8 a.m., as senior shopping hours for customers age 65 and
over. This change in hours will begin Tuesday, March 24, and continue
until further notice. Publix Pharmacy will also open at 7 a.m. on
Tuesdays and Wednesdays to serve our senior population.

According to the CDC, individuals over the age of 65 are at increased
risk of complications from the coronavirus. Publix is offering these
expanded hours to better support our elder community.

So - although I don't read it that way, I guess if you are a little confused and very scared you might think that the wording means that if you are 65 and over those are the only hours that you can shop there. (??) The explanation why they implemented this sounds great until you see all these people lined up with hundreds of others, sort of defeats the purpose in my opinion. The clerk said that they had over 500 people come in during that early hour. The next day they had over 300.

During high school and my first two years of college, I too had retail jobs. In large chain grocery stores.

I encountered dumb people of all ages daily. I'll borrow gardengal's word - they were clueless.

We have a dumb oldster in the extended family. This person's children are helpful for them and sometimes talk about how cute it is that this person now has a problem handling the most simple of life's tasks and making decisions. When I gently remind them that this person has been exactly the same for the last 40 years, they go "oh yeah, that's right, we just weren't as involved before". Some of them have had the same lifelong affliction and will continue to have it or worse as they age.

"Reading comprehension and deductive reasoning", had nothing to do with it. Staying active had nothing to do with it. Medical issues, as you put it, come on slowly and do not show up as sharp, as say, a broke arm or leg. I hope you can stay in your bubble and never have to deal with this issue as I have in both sides of our family.

Switching off notifications. Goodbye.

When was the last time Publix offered a senior discount? I have heard about the elusive “senior discount that is no longer” , but have never heard there actually ever was one.

I live not far from corporate headquarters and there was never one near here.

"Getting older does not automatically reduce intellectual capacity."

Of course it doesn't automatically reduce intellectual capacity. But it often happens as part of the aging process.

I have a family friend who practiced law for 45-some years. Was an attorney in private practice and a Superior Court judge. Was a marathon runner, played tennis, and hiked. He had lots of hobbies. He didn't drink or smoke. He also developed Alzheimer's. Both of his grandparents and a sister had Alzheimer's. So no matter how well you take care of yourself, no matter how educated or intellectually curious you are, cognitive decline can still happen.

If you're able to leave the world with 100% of your mental faculties intact, good for you. Not everyone is so fortunate.

I'm finding a couple of posted comments a little holier than thou and lacking in empathy.

My mother was like the friend of sephia's. Well-educated, intelligent, well-read, golfer, hiker, handled the finances of two of her charity groups, bridge player and yes, she developed alzheimers which has progressed to severe dementia.

I sincerely hope that doesn't happen to you.

In respond to the Publix discount question it may be like HyVee stores. The one I go to has a senior and military, active and retired. Another one that I go to occasionally only has a discount for active military.

Amen, blfenton. That was my feeling as well. Describing someone as "dumb" is disrespectful. Someone's "dumbness" is all objective anyway.

Dementia and Alzheimer's are tragic and terrible conditions for the individuals concerned and their families. Simply awful and the causes of much suffering. My heart goes out to anyone whose life has or will be touched by either.

To bring up these debilitating and often fatal medical conditions in the context of this particular discussions is, however, a stretch. The topic was described as having to do with Publix customers who received an email from the company about a special program and who apparently had not read the emails carefully. Or who, if it was unclear, had not called for clarification.

I'm not the one who "stretched" the discussion. None of you have any idea how the email was interpreted. Many seniors are on medications that can muddle the brain for comprehension and understanding, many are on the precipice of alzheimers, many have had TIA's, and to label them as being dumb is unconscionable.

we have stores doing that around here. they told me that they make sure the seniors get their necessary products before the regular rush comes in. It's an easier time for a lot of seniors (a lot in wheelchairs, walkers, canes) without those who are racing from aisle to aisle, kids etc. I haven't gone yet because it's too early for me. I might try it one day next week but if the lines are around the building or into the parking lot, I'll just leave. I have fibro and many days my thinking is foggy and its been that way for 20 yrs. Some days are fine, other days are not. It isn't so easy for a lot of seniors to get out and around on their own. I usually limit my trips out each week to 2x. if I go out one day I'm mostly useless for the rest of the day when I get home and the day after. and I usually limit my time out to 2 hrs. and 3-4 stops. some days I limit it to 2 stops.

Older people reference things in the world in a different manner than do the younger generation.

I often have to remind husband that it does work that way anymore, the way he thought it did. He still thinks in old fashioned terms because that is the way it has been in our lives for a long time.

So many of the metrics that we measured by are no longer relevant.

Ignorance and an inability to employ logic and reason are not respective of age.

And, the public is, generally, pretty darned gullible. That has let many people be easily led, confused, lied to and taken advantage of, all throughout history.

Most cultures and societies operate under a cloak of ignorance. It leads to superstitions beliefs, and allegiances to those who use it to seek power. Without knowledge, understanding, and reason we are weak and vulnerable and very easily led ....usually to our own detriment.

It is much easier to go down than it is to reach up and go higher. That is why so many gains seem to be one step forward and two steps backwards. Reason and logic are fighting against the tides.

The world has changed drastically and rapidly in the last few decades. In long ago times, generations would go on living just like generations before them did. Now there is a gulf between the old and the young like never before. The world is geared towards the young and does not always speak the language of older people.

Older people are likely to interpret something differently. It shouldn't discount them. Older people are likely feeling more vulnerable and are fleeing from different threats in life than are young people.

Sometimes I think back to things that I did when I was young and wonder that I can never do that again. I don't have the agility, the confidence or the ignorance of my own mortality that I had then. Back then I thought that as long as I could put one foot in front of the other, I could outrun anything and anybody and survive. And, as a young mother with two small children I thought that I could do the same with two kids strapped to my back. And I still believe that I could have done just that. Not so anymore. Now the world is so much bigger and I am so much smaller. You gotta watch that you don't get stomped on.

I have to agree with Elmer in the above post. As to Americans, there is no denying the fact that any given group of people is going to have a certain number that just do not get it. There are no age requirements for "stupid" . Those who market goods to the general public know this all too well and take full advantage of it. That is not news.

Two thought-provoking posts, Dallasannie. I'm not sure about the sentence "Most cultures and societies ..." ... because there are lots of cultures and societies I do not know about in sufficient detail. But yeah, in general, the pace of cultural change the world over has skyrocketed in the last 200 years, and I'm not sure 200,000 years of evolution left us equipped to make such relatively quick adjustments. Time will tell. And what choice do we have, anyhow?

As to infirmities (for lack of a better word) that develop as we age, hearing loss is the one that almost every oldster will face.

I'm watching my husband, a man with a PhD in biochemistry, slowly, ever so slowly, unwind. He just doesn't perceive things the same way and tends to take more things literally sometimes. It can be a slow process, but I find myself telling him again and again how to do simple tasks. So now I have to be hyper alert to whether the dog's water dish is filled or the stove was left on. And everything in between.

This is not fun.

((sushipup1))

I'm really not loking for sympathy, just to say that this sort of decline can be slow and very gradual.

dallasannie -- Thank you. I agree with everything you've said.

I also see some posts that demonstrate either innocent ignorance or willful denial -- especially among Baby Boomers. Although my DH and I bere born slightly pre-WWII, I remember myself at 60 - 70, still being only very slightly changed. I was ignorant of the enormous changes I'd experience past 75. Heck, I didn't even know I was medically Elderly. Yes, *medically*. 'Attitude' doesn't trump science. A Good Attitude hasn't prevented either my DH or me from shrinking two inches in two years. Yes, there are always 'exceptions' -- humans whose minds and bodies endure better than normal; that's why we call them exceptions!

I see younger elders posting on the topic of 'building a forever home'. They plan houses completely unsuitable for the physical limitations they are almost certain to encounter. It's not surprising for people to go forward based on their lifetime experiences, but many Americans have no experience of how people age -- or that *they* will! They do not know or do not want to see how they will be *different people*. (Nor is there a 'forever', but that's another topic!)

Twenty years ago I was able to meet the mental and physical challenges necessary to supervise building our 'forever home'. I would not have undertaken it only ten years later. Fortunately, our house IS suitable for our senior selves -- not huge, not far from resources, no stairs, wide doorways, easy upkeep, etc. We hope to stay a little longer -- not planning on 'forever'.

You just don't know what you don't know...yet. Look at us now...a pandemic! Who knew?

**** Adding, after reading sushipup -- I'm seeing some decline in my DH, too: Left the garage door open overnight. Treats something I say as a new topic, although we discussed it two days ago. Is there a forum for this discussion?

This is what I found (at my Safeway ) I decided to go at the early hours for my age group. First of all its very dark at 6 am. Not to many shoppers at that hour. Every one was very carful to stay back from each other, and to try only to touch only what they were going to put in their cart. The big problem (for me) was that as it was early they were just starting to restock stuff, so it took longer to shop. I had to keep checking to see if they were out, or if just needed to refill spaces. all most every one had at least gloves on and many had masks also. I think I may still go (if needed) early, but if I wait till 7:30 or 8 am I will be able to shop faster, and get home quicker. The hours are 7 to 9 am tue. and thur.

chisue and sushi as you know I have been where both of you are currently at. For some reason I decided to look at the Caregivers Forum. I could not find it. You might look for it as some people have stated that they can see all of the old forums on the version that they use but not on both GW and Houzz.

From my experience if you do not already have one get a POA right now. Do not put it off.

First and most important take care of yourselves because you can not help your loved one if you are tired or weak from skipping meals. Hugs to both of you and to all those who are/will/have been doing this.

Perhaps a thread or threads for caregiver suggestions could be started.

It is sad.

Here, it's seniors and people like me, high risk. I'm immunocompromised. I went at the earlier time the other day to run in and get my one thing and run right back out, and an elderly person was giving me the eye. I felt like someone who looks healthy, but it's ill enough to use disabled parking. You have no idea what's going on with me lady! I'm an asthmatic on daily steroids with an upper respiratory disease running rampant. I have been getting things delivered or doing without, but I needed this item. Sigh.

Best wishes, rob. Be well.

I like to shop about a half hour before the store closes. Especially when in Florida. You own the store. Shhhhhhh!

I'm not sure how populous or not populous the area is where you live. Where I am, you most certainly would own the store and there'd be few other people just before closing because most everything would have hours earlier been well picked over and you'd find very little to buy. No lines though.