"Age Before Beauty," Why Hide Your Age?

The other day I was waiting for a ride at the Shiloh Junction.  We all pretty much got there the same time, having picked up the same ride to there from Ofra.  Then a car came by with one place.  One of the young men started getting in, then he suddenly didn't.  He gestured that I should get in.

"Age before beauty" went through my mind.  Since I doubted that he knows enough English to understand it, I didn't say it out loud.  Everyone else waiting there was young, younger than my youngest child.  If I had been their peer, it would have had taken longer for me to find a ride home.

At times there are advantages to looking old.  I get rides in buses, too.  I don't even have to groan and stare at people.  They just get up.

I could never understand why some people go to great efforts, including surgery to look much younger.  If, at an age like mine, you look well under your age, people may demand/expect too much from you physically.  And I wouldn't get seats in buses etc.

Some may think that it's easy for me to say so, because I don't look older than my age.  I inherited good genes from my parents.  Their youthfulness was always legendary.  At my age they couldn't get senior discounts  without showing proof that they were old enough.  Nobody has ever demanded that from me.

Every age has its disadvantages and advantages.  We can't fight it, but we can enjoy it.