Living in an Active Adult Community for over two years, I have observed some sayings unique to those living in this type community. If you have any sayings to add to the list, please reply in the comments.
Sayings You Hear in an Active Adult Community
We are all in this Together. This is a very common saying in many Active Adult Communities I have visited. This means we arrived at this time and location with the same goals in mind, to have a good time and make the most of every day. We are family.
Do it while you can. The most common use of this is “travel before it’s too late”. While you can and before it’s too late are interchangeable. In general, it means being active while you can. Walk while you can, play while you can, travel while you can. We all have friends who not longer can and no one knows the future.
Let me check my calendar. Believe it or not, activities are so frequent and varied that they need to be scheduled. Plus the memory is not what it used to be. The answer is to keep a good calendar and check it each morning or the night before.
I will be gone. Even though most of us are retired, you can’t guarantee we will be here.
Where are you traveling to next? The extent of travel of most people here is amazing. It’s always interesting to hear where people are going to next.
See you next Spring. This means I will be at my Florida home. Of course in Florida, they will say “See you next Winter”.
Young person. Anyone 65 or younger.
Did you hear about… News is spread by word of mouth and Facebook. It is not always correct.
Can you fill in for me? This means the person asking is on a team. Could refer to bocce, hand and foot, or any games with regular teams. The person cannot play that date and wants you to fill in for them. They in turn will fill in for you when needed.
What good Netflix Series are you watching? How else would I find out about Longmire, Foley’s War, The Crown and others. Recommendations are generally very good and I like to ask friends this question.
Let’s do lunch. Very popular pastime. There are street lunches, group lunches and individual lunches. I got an invitation this month from Ned to do a street lunch, from Wylie to do Wylie’s group lunch, and I organized the Larry’s Pickleball Group lunch. Then we did a lunch with Pete and Brenda at a tea house. Mary Ann lunched with a different person every day this week!
Things You Don’t Hear
Things you don’t hear, at least very often include. I think this has to do with living in and enjoying the present.
What did you do? I was surprised this didn’t come up more often, but glad it doesn’t. It really doesn’t matter who you used to be. Most are not out to impress anyone. Of course, we all share some of our life experiences from time to time, but it’s not the burning qualifying question of “What did you do?”
Where are you from? – Again sometimes, not very often. We are from all over, even locals.
Gossip about a person. – Well maybe you do, but not often. Just move on, there are plenty of people here. People like to keep positive and gossip is negative.
Politics. During the election, yes. Otherwise not too much. Again with a divided country, politics is generally considered by most to be negative and who needs that.
So the sayings you hear in an Active Adult Community I fully understand now and am using the same terms. They are no longer foreign to me. They bind us together and reflect who we are and what we are doing.
Robert Fowler
Baby boomer, active adult, senior, retiree and all around nice guy.
