You only have to go to a mall where all the amenities are or avail of public transport to feel a little honored you are a retiree. Make sure however you have your senior card or nothing of the sort happens. . . although in jeepneys or “motorcycles” the driver is not very strict, one’s look or way of walking seems to be the passage to avail of the 20% discount.
With food chains like Chowking or Jollibee or KFC or McDo, I am satisfied with the way they allow us to maximize the discount – but they have become stricter in seeing to it the 20% is only good for the food ordered and paid by the senior citizen. This means even if the senior citizen pays for the whole order but it goes beyond P250, benefit is off. Other food establishments however are not very welcoming. Like a bill reaches more than P1K which means the senior citizen has ordered P250 worth yet the discount is only P30.00 plus. Well, at least . . . the air con is working and the ambience is consoling.
With theaters, Mondays and Tuesdays, first showing, movie is free. Other cinemas, only one day in a week . . .
In groceries, the senior citizen is given a lane to pay but during payment, the items are out of reach to avail of the discount. Once, after a long list of groceries, the discount amounted to P10.00 !!! And the one assigned as customer service rep is a misnomer . . . she received some negative feedback from me.
In general, you can invoke senior card holder to avail of any benefit, be it entrance fee of an amusement or adventure park worth P100, for senior citizens down to P50.00. In swimming pool areas, free entrance sometimes otherwise half of the amount charged.
All the aforementioned are external so let us go internal: How is retirement treating you?
This is the reality check in action! The pains that seem to attack various parts of the body seem to go inside one’s psyche. This is where one’s spirituality becomes one’s anchor. Look at this:
This is my most memorable accomplishment as a senior citizen and a retiree: to experience zip line at 840 M. In barely one minute, I was all alone with my life hanging in the balance . . . All I could muster to say were: Praise God! Praise God!! Up to now, I am still reeling with the thought that up there, on the air, only God knows what is in store for you there and then.
How is retirement treating me so far? With my four children always as my defining role as mother, retirement is treating me just very fine . . . 😀