27 March 2012

For the elderlies

My longest phone conversation with a person I never met was with an old lady, a Chinese friend of my daughter. She didn't really sound old, but she's an elderly.

A senior citizen can be considered an elderly but perhaps most 60-year-old persons are still very strong and young-looking to be called elderly. So a safe reference for an elderly is one who has reached the age of 65.

The Chinese lady didn't sound old but she sounded full of wisdom. She said that an elderly should stick to a vegetarian diet. Except for vegetables, even most food at parties should be skipped, no matter how seldom the elderly attends a party, because if not, it could be the elderly's last day on earth.

I guess she's right because when a person reaches the age of 80, there is no way to change that person's diet anymore unless struck by a serious illness. That will only cause a lot of trouble where he or she lives.

Another tip of this sweet lady was when someone near or already in senior years reaches an age ending in "9", such as 59 or 69, that person should skip that age and declare the age next to that, even during the birthday that has to be celebrated. In this case also, the first tip always applies, to celebrate the birthday with a vegetarian diet.