DEAR MISS MANNERS: What does it mean to "grow old gracefully"?
GENTLE READER: It means being pleased and charming when offered a seat while others are standing or the chance to go through a door first, and when addressed by younger people by honorific and surname or as "ma'am" or "sir."
Miss Manners can think of no surer sign of growing old awkwardly than the habit of countering courtesies with the complaint, "That makes me feel old."
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