DID THEY HAVE ELECTRICITY BACK THEN?

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted August 22, 2005)

It was an honest question.

It came from my daughter after she had inquired about my favorite toys when I was a little boy.
I answered, "I always enjoyed my electric train."
With a puzzled look on her little face, she asked -- in all seriousness -- "did they have electricity back then, when you were a little boy?"

"Yes", I answered emphatically, "we had electricity!"

It brought to mind a printed receipt (which I have kept) handed to me at a restaurant a while back.
It's the receipt for my first ever, unsolicited, "senior discount".

That traumatizing event happened a couple of years ago at a fast food place on White Bridge Road.
When the server told me the amount I owed, I thought, "Hmm, a little less expensive than usual... they must have cut the price."
Then I looked at the receipt and noticed the dreaded words SENIOR DISCOUNT!

Now, understand -- even though I officially qualify -- I never ask for the senior discount.
I figure it's worth paying the extra money just to keep the illusion going.

But my wife (who's still years away from qualifying) seems to relish the savings realized by these discounts.
For example, when we take our daughter to a movie, Karen will eagerly proclaim (a bit too clearly) to the person in the ticket window, "One adult, one child, and one senior, please".

I, of course, stay discreetly in the background, hoping that no one makes a loud, conspicuous issue by demanding to see my ID.

On the other hand, it would be nice if the ticket seller would say, "No way that young looking man is a senior! We must see some identification before we can issue a senior discount to him!"

The good news is.... a senior ticket to a movie is exactly the same price as a child's ticket.... so, not only do the savings add up..... but I can feel like a child again.

And -- like Jack Benny -- it is nice to be considered a senior at 39.

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