Nobody Mentions This About Life After 60

There’s something I’ve noticed since getting older — and it’s not about aches, pains, or slowing down.

It’s about how the world starts to see you.

I recently made a short doodle video about this, almost as a throwaway thought. I didn’t expect much from it. But judging by the quiet reaction it got, it struck a chord with people who recognised the feeling immediately.

It’s not your body that changes first

It’s the assumptions.

People start speaking to you slightly differently. They explain things a little more carefully. They sometimes praise you for doing perfectly ordinary things.

It’s usually well-meaning. Kind, even. But it’s also… noticeable.

Inside, you still feel like you. The same curiosity. The same opinions. The same sense of humour. But outside, the labels begin to creep in.

You become “older” before you feel older

That’s the strange part no one really prepares you for.

You don’t wake up one morning feeling ancient. You just notice that other people have quietly decided you are.

• Still working sounds impressive.
• Still learning sounds unusual.
• Still changing direction sounds brave.

None of which felt remarkable when you were younger.

The tech assumptions are the strangest of all

One of the moments that always makes me quietly smile is when I’m ordering food at one of those self-service kiosks — McDonald’s is a good example.

I’ll be halfway through tapping the screen when a member of staff rushes over, full of good intentions, to offer help. They’re kind. Polite. Genuinely trying to be useful.

But there’s an unspoken assumption there. That this glowing rectangle with pictures of burgers and big friendly buttons might be a bit much for me.

I usually resist the urge to say anything. I don’t mention that I have a BSc (Hons) degree in Computer Science, or that I graduated long before touchscreen kiosks were even imagined — and certainly before the helpful assistant was born.

I don’t point out that I was learning how computers worked back when screens were black, text was green, and nothing made a friendly noise to guide you along.

But of course, it’s not about having a degree.

Most people my age don’t wave academic certificates around — but that doesn’t mean they’ve somehow left their intelligence behind in their fifties.

Look around any living room, café or airport lounge and you’ll see people in their sixties and seventies navigating smartphones, smart TVs, streaming services, online banking, contactless payments and QR codes.

We didn’t suddenly become incapable the moment the birthday number changed.

I’ve written before about what it’s like raising twin boys in my sixties, and how assumptions don’t stop just because you’re still very much in the middle of life.

Which is odd, really, because many of us have spent our entire adult lives adapting to technology that didn’t exist when we started. We didn’t grow up with it — we grew alongside it.

This isn’t a complaint

Just an observation.

There are plenty of good things that come with age: perspective, patience, and a much lower tolerance for nonsense. And if I’m honest, I wouldn’t trade those for anything.

But it is odd how the world can start shrinking you down at the very moment you feel most comfortable in your own skin.

Maybe that’s the real shift

Not getting older — but being seen as older.

And learning when to gently ignore that.

This is the kind of thing I explore more broadly over at Life After 60 on SixtyRocks — not as advice, just as shared experience.

If this resonated, feel free to share your own “helpful assumptions” moment in the comments.