For the longest time, I’ve thought bargain days given to senior citizens, of which I {gleep!} am now one, would become unsustainable when the Baby Boomers started using them, they/we being a very large segment of the population. Still, I’m not complaining, and I’m SURE not giving them up.
I use the Capital District Transportation Authority half fare card, 65 cents instead of $1.30 per ride when using the new Navigator card. CDTA ridership may be declining slightly, but not with me, at least until I start riding the bike again. I will once the Daughter and I move that big branch blocking the door to the shed that came crashing down after one of those Nor’easter storms in March.
My wife and I went to the excellent production of Hairspray at Albany High School just after my last birthday. It was probably the best production we had seen there. My wife’s ticket was $15 but mine was only $5. I was about to pull out my ID when the woman at the table explained, “You claim it, you own it.”
The senior price at the Spectrum Theatre is a quarter less than the matinee price, and even on those afternoons and Tuesday nights, I take it, in part because the Daughter can now be charged full price.
I’ve secured my Senior Pass to the national parks for $10 a couple years ago, before the price skyrocketed up to $80.
Of course, the threshold for the discounts, particularly to restaurants, vary. For some, it’s 55, others 60, and several are 62. But by 65, they ALL kick in, and I’m parsimonious enough to make use of every single one.
All this savings brought to mind a song by The Carlisles from 1955 called Bargain Day, Half Off which was in the pile of 45s (singles) that my father once owned. I played it regularly. It surprised me then that he had it – it’s VERY country – but I suppose he found it humorous. Give a listen.