Are You an Oldie?

March 2nd, 2009

I’m a fan of The Oldie, a hilarious English magazine that is devoted to– and mostly written by–older folks. Run by the gent who started the satirical periodical, Private Eye, this newer offering takes a fairly bracing approach to later life. Herein you’ll find a column devoted to profiles of celebrated elders that is called “Still with Us;” in another column,  funerals are reviewed. (Yes, the British may not want to talk about sex, but they are happy to slap you in the face with a dead fish.)

I recently stumbled onto a quiz on the magazine’s site that potential subscribers are meant to take to determine whether they are “oldies.” While some of the questions are ones you’d expect (“Do you write letters?,” “Do you save string?,” “Are you frightened of going to the Barbican?”), I was puzzled/amused by others, including, “Do you spend more than an average amount of time in stationery shops?” and “Are you obsessively concerned about the size and shape of spoons?”