OT the Senior Citizens Playgroup

"MatSav" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
So I thought I should get out more so I went along to it. We play
scrabble and dominoes and can do jigsaws if we want to, some are doing a
1000 piece which will take them weeks as we only have two hours.
They are all nice. I was demolished at dominoes last week by a 90 yo.
I am by far the youngest there We pay £1 a week and get a meal out in the
summer and at Christmas.
I did a jigsaw last time and completed it, next week it will be playing
scrabble with them.

I never thought I would be reduced to this.

"Reduced"? REDUCED???

Although you say "they're all nice", my interpretation of your message is
that you think people who attend this type of club are in some way not as
good as the rest of the population.

Anyway, in another post, you mentioned that you liked working with older
people!

--
MatSav

You have totally misunderstood what I was saying, it's just that I was
hoping early retirement would be more exciting.
When I say they were nice, I meant exactly that and in no way did I think it
would be interpreted in the way that you seem to have done.
I'm disappointed that you would think such a thing.
Tweed

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 9/19/2012 8:57 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
So I thought I should get out more so I went along to it. We play
scrabble
and dominoes and can do jigsaws if we want to, some are doing a 1000
piece
which will take them weeks as we only have two hours.
They are all nice. I was demolished at dominoes last week by a 90 yo.
I am by far the youngest there We pay £1 a week and get a meal out in the
summer and at Christmas.
I did a jigsaw last time and completed it, next week it will be playing
scrabble with them.

I never thought I would be reduced to this.


I see some people are objecting to the phrase "reduced to this". What
difference does it make if you have a good time?

I've always been a rather solitary person. We moved so often when I was a
child I got used to amusing myself. I read a lot. John thinks I should
be more social, so I've been attempting to expand my circle of friends.
It isn't as easy as it sounds. With the exception of my neighbor Lynn,
owned by Schwartzie & Fedders, I barely know anyone who lives here. Other
than our cats she and I don't have much in common. She's an avid gardener
(she's got tons of outdoor plants in big pots.) I'm not interested in
gardening; I don't even have house plants. I like to cook; she regards
cooking as a necessary evil We're friendly, and we help each other
out, sure. That's the extent of it.

I only know the other people (some of whom are only here a couple of
months out of the year) to wave and say hi to. That's about it.
*Everyone* here is older than I am. Age doesn't concern me, we simply
don't have much in common.

As long as you have a good time, I wouldn't worry about it.

Jill

I'm not worried about it and I enjoyed it. It did put me off a bit on my
first visit when the organiser said "I won't tell you everyone's name, you
won't remember them" There were 10 people there!
Age doesn't concern me either, in fact so many of my closest friends were
older than me that I've lost most of them in the last few years.
I realised I was beginning to get socially isolated which is not a good
thing.

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
m...


Christina Websell wrote:
So I thought I should get out more so I went along to it. We play
scrabble and dominoes and can do jigsaws if we want to, some are doing a
1000 piece which will take them weeks as we only have two hours.
They are all nice. I was demolished at dominoes last week by a 90 yo.
I am by far the youngest there We pay £1 a week and get a meal out in the
summer and at Christmas.
I did a jigsaw last time and completed it, next week it will be playing
scrabble with them.

I never thought I would be reduced to this.

Well, it's something to do, and gets you out among people. (That was my
reason for moving to a senior retirement residence - which is not exactly
an unmixed blessing, but at least eliminated the symptoms of clinical
depression I was experiencing.)

Yes, I've had that and never want to have it again. Becoming socially
isolated is the fastest way to get it back.
Tweed

Cheryl wrote:
On 2012-09-20 3:43 PM, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


MatSav wrote:

"Reduced"? REDUCED???

Although you say "they're all nice", my interpretation of your message
is that you think people who attend this type of club are in some way
not as good as the rest of the population.

Anyway, in another post, you mentioned that you liked working with
older people!

It's not a matter of "good" or "bad", Mat. People can be "nice" and not
particularly congenial because of education and/or interests. (One of
the reasons I find my senior residence a "mixed blessing" is that all
the "entertainers" they present play either "pop", country-Western or
gospel music, all of which I dislike intensely!)

If they're like the ones here, they take whoever will volunteer to
perform, and yes, they mostly do seem to fall in those categories, plus
folk music.

No, they PAY most of them. (Although there's a volunteer group called
"Pickers and Grinners" who play here every Friday evening just to get
together, and IMO are far more "professional" than most of the paid
entertainers, even though they play the same sort of stuff.)

Cheryl wrote:

On 2012-09-20 3:43 PM, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


MatSav wrote:

"Reduced"? REDUCED???

Although you say "they're all nice", my interpretation of your message
is that you think people who attend this type of club are in some way
not as good as the rest of the population.

Anyway, in another post, you mentioned that you liked working with
older people!

It's not a matter of "good" or "bad", Mat. People can be "nice" and not
particularly congenial because of education and/or interests. (One of
the reasons I find my senior residence a "mixed blessing" is that all
the "entertainers" they present play either "pop", country-Western or
gospel music, all of which I dislike intensely!)

If they're like the ones here, they take whoever will volunteer to
perform, and yes, they mostly do seem to fall in those categories, plus
folk music.

There's probably a much bigger folk scene in Newfoundland than in Arizona.

--
Joyce

The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in
the morning feeling just terrible. -- Jean Kerr

Cheryl wrote:

I do various activities that seem to attract mostly people a good bit
older than me. I just enjoy myself, and consider myself lucky rather
than reduced to anything, although I do know some elderly people who
wouldn't touch such affairs either because they consider them childish
(or themselves treated as children) or because they have some idea that
socializing with strangers you go to a club to meet is somehow
second-class compared to socializing in a private home with ones friends
and relations.

Then I guess I've been childish my whole life. My main source of
social activity has always been with peers, who I met in various social
groups, and who were strangers when I first started going. How is that
more childish than hanging out with your family??

--
Joyce

The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in
the morning feeling just terrible. -- Jean Kerr

Christina Websell wrote:

So I thought I should get out more so I went along to it. We play scrabble
and dominoes and can do jigsaws if we want to, some are doing a 1000 piece
which will take them weeks as we only have two hours.
They are all nice. I was demolished at dominoes last week by a 90 yo.
I am by far the youngest there We pay ?1 a week and get a meal out in the
summer and at Christmas.
I did a jigsaw last time and completed it, next week it will be playing
scrabble with them.

I never thought I would be reduced to this.

Maybe you also need something a little more meaningful to do? I'm not
judging the activity itself, but if it feels like you're being "reduced"
to something, maybe you don't feel that whiling away your time playing
games is enough for you.

Maybe you could look into some volunteer work? Didn't you mention the
volunteers who check out the homes of people who've adopted cats from
shelters? That would still put you in contact with other people. I
don't have a personal agenda about how you spend your time, I'm just
responding to what sounded like a bit of disappointment or
dissatisfaction with the activities in the dominos-and-jigsaw group.
You wouldn't have to quit going there, just do something else as well.

Do you like reading books? Maybe there's a book group in your area?

Just some thoughts.

--
Joyce

The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in
the morning feeling just terrible. -- Jean Kerr

On 2012-09-20 5:43 PM, Bastette wrote:
Cheryl wrote:

I do various activities that seem to attract mostly people a good bit
older than me. I just enjoy myself, and consider myself lucky rather
than reduced to anything, although I do know some elderly people who
wouldn't touch such affairs either because they consider them childish
(or themselves treated as children) or because they have some idea that
socializing with strangers you go to a club to meet is somehow
second-class compared to socializing in a private home with ones friends
and relations.

Then I guess I've been childish my whole life. My main source of
social activity has always been with peers, who I met in various social
groups, and who were strangers when I first started going. How is that
more childish than hanging out with your family??


I'm just reporting on what I observe! I suspect that being clustered in
little groups by some criteria such as age (not common interests) and
then presented with organized activities, take it or leave it, reminds
some people a bit too much of primary school, or maybe small children's
birthday parties for those children who are outgrowing them.

--
Cheryl

On Sep 19, 8:57*pm, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
So I thought I should get out more so I went along to it. *We play scrabble
and dominoes and can do jigsaws if we want to, some are doing a 1000 piece
which will take them weeks as we only have two hours.
They are all nice. *I was demolished at dominoes last week by a 90 yo.
I am by far the youngest there We pay £1 a week and get a meal out in the
summer and at Christmas.
I did a jigsaw last time and completed it, next week it will be playing
scrabble with them.

I never thought I would be reduced to this.

Somerset Maugham or someone else was once told by a younger
acquaintance that the younger acquaintance had never learned to play
bridge. And he said "Why what do you plan to do when you are older?"

It's a great game and most of us who play it in the U.S. are older.

--
Will in New Haven

On 2012-09-20 5:36 PM, Bastette wrote:
Cheryl wrote:

On 2012-09-20 3:43 PM, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


MatSav wrote:

"Reduced"? REDUCED???

Although you say "they're all nice", my interpretation of your message
is that you think people who attend this type of club are in some way
not as good as the rest of the population.

Anyway, in another post, you mentioned that you liked working with
older people!

It's not a matter of "good" or "bad", Mat. People can be "nice" and not
particularly congenial because of education and/or interests. (One of
the reasons I find my senior residence a "mixed blessing" is that all
the "entertainers" they present play either "pop", country-Western or
gospel music, all of which I dislike intensely!)

If they're like the ones here, they take whoever will volunteer to
perform, and yes, they mostly do seem to fall in those categories, plus
folk music.

There's probably a much bigger folk scene in Newfoundland than in Arizona.

We've got a very active music scene, covering many genres, and certainly
folk music is very popular here - I can't speak for Arizona!

I'm mildly puzzled by one senior's place I know which has a CD player in
the main lobby. It's not always on, but when it is, it seems to be
invariably playing the exact same CD of Irish/Newfoundland folk music. I
can't figure out why. This isn't the kind of place where no one can
afford to buy a second CD. Maybe that's the only one the group that
likes sitting in the lobby wants to hear!

--
Cheryl