DESPITE the personal mathematics I imagine keeps me in perennial present tense, in earth time, I am this year among those who will happily get a Senior Citizen’s ID. It is that piece of magic I learned to appreciate when my mother got one in her 60s. She is now 82, a kick ass 82, yet.
More than a decade ago, this column took a look around town at the establishments in Baguio that were good to seniors. Meaning that these places gave our parents what was due them by law, especially in terms of price discounts.
First up, the all-important pharmacies, these places seniors depended on for medicines that went a loooong to way keeping them alive and happily kicking. Best places were: Sunshine’s Dennis Anthony Pharmacy and the Mercury Drugstores on Session. The former led the way; it always but always honored the discount due senior citizens, without undue ado.
Methinks that the Mercury drugstores followed suit only after.
Food places that were good to seniors, says mein muder: Chow King and this little food store beside where the original McDonald’s Session was located (now Jollibee), she forgets what it was called. They happily served up what was ordered, and billed a senior less 20 percent. The little store, which was located to the left of the old McDonald’s if you were facing it, served quite good food too, I remember.
Then there was bread. The Swiss Baker stores both on Session Road and in SM religiously gave seniors 20 percent off. Also, if you happened to be in SM during the last hour that Swiss Baker was open, and they were letting everything go at their end-of-the-day discounted rate, and you were a senior, you still got 20 percent off from that discounted rate. That was a good deal.
These days, thankfully, the Senior Citizen law is implemented without all of the old resistance. That law has even been expanded, making it easy for seniors to go about life with not just discounted prices everywhere, but also with preferential treatment given them in terms of all these queues we find ourselves in many times.
I’m a few months away from 60, but I’ve no qualms about going to the front of any line and saying “Senior.” Cheers, everyone and Happy Easter week to all!