17 Things We No Longer Have Patience for After Hitting 60

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By Jonathan Trent

When you hit the age of 60, it’s as though a switch goes off in your head, automatically causing you to lose every ounce of patience you once begrudgingly had for things that get on your nerves. Here are 17 things we no longer have patience for after hitting 60.

Negative Mindsets

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Negativity serves no other purpose to somebody over 60 other than to get them down and ruin their day. That’s why the more mature people out there will let feelings of negativity go as soon as they begin to feel them coming on, as they realize it’s just not worth it. 

Gossiping About Others

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Knowing the business of other people, such as your coworkers or next-door neighbor, may have once appealed to you, but it becomes a tad intrusive with age. You’ll also realize that you don’t really care about other people’s lives or life choices; you just get on with your own adventure!

Waiting in Traffic

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At 60, you’ll have spent a large proportion of your lifetime waiting in traffic, and let’s be real–it’s not fun. According to TIME Magazine, 53% of Americans spend at least 13 hours a year waiting on hold for a company to pick up the phone, which is something over-60s no longer have patience for. 

Crowds

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When you’re young, large crowds aren’t nearly as intimidating as they are once you hit 60. Now, the constant fear of being knocked over and trampled on, as well as the lack of personal space, makes large crowds difficult to tolerate for those over 60.

Social Media

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Having experienced the reality of life for over 60 years, mature people will be able to see right through social media’s fabrications. However, 60+ year-olds have limited patience for engaging with and tolerating social media’s fakery. We’re far more interested in the real world!

Technology

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Technology is constantly evolving at a rapid rate, to the point where most people over the age of 60 are struggling to keep up. Growing up in an era when technology was fairly primitive means that it doesn’t come naturally as it does with those under 30. It truly is a different world!

Unfulfilling Relationships

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Life is too short to be stuck in a toxic relationship that offers neither of you anything other than a lack of satisfaction. Once you hit 60, your self-worth will likely be at a level where you know how you deserve to be treated, so you’ll no longer have time for unfulfilling relationships.

Ageism

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Ageism runs rife in society, with the American Psychological Association reporting that 93% of people between the ages of 50 and 80 claim to have experienced it–that’s shocking! Sadly, this can include feeling stereotyped, looked down upon, and rejected for certain roles on the basis of your age.

Late Nights

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The older you get, the more sleep you desire, and the less sleep you get, the longer you spend yawning the next day. Late nights have a longer-term, harsher effect on older people, leaving them preferring to stay in the comfort of their own homes rather than heading out for the night.

Limited Flexibility

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As you age, you want to be afforded the flexibility you’ve worked for your entire adult life. Therefore, those over 60 have little patience for commitments that restrict their lifestyle flexibility; we want to do what we want when we want!

Materialism

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After experiencing 60 years on this planet, you probably feel as though you have collected enough items in your life to be satisfied with what you have. Materialism and the need to flaunt your wealth very much become futile as you head into your sixth decade. 

Online Dating

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Nowadays, even dating has moved online, with apps alienating lovers above the traditional technology-savvy age. A study by the Pew Research Center found that just 2% of Americans over the age of 60 had used an online dating site between 2022 and 2023–we just don’t have the patience!

Lack of Acknowledgment of Experience

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Older people possess a great deal of depth of knowledge and experience, which makes it frustrating when younger people fail to acknowledge their wisdom. A lack of respect for elders shown by younger people can test the patience of 60+-year-olds, causing them to retract any advice they’d be willing to give.

Poor Service

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Much like not wanting to wait around, those over 60 also have limited patience when it comes to customer service. Older people will be more likely to take their business elsewhere if they feel they aren’t being given adequate attention from customer service representatives. After all, the customer is always right!

Authority

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The experience that comes with age puts you in a position where you are far less willing to listen to authority figures telling you what to do. This is the case in both a professional setting and in everyday life, such as being told what you can and cannot do by law enforcement.

Public Transport 

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Squeezing yourself onto a stuffy, overcrowded train carriage has never been an appealing prospect. With almost 50 million licensed drivers over the age of 65 in the United States, as claimed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it seems that those over 60 agree, sticking to being their own drivers.

Caring What Others Think

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Finally, perhaps the most liberating and desirable trait that runs freely among those above 60 years ago is not caring about what other people think of them. They are free to wear what they want, do what they want, and say what they want, and they simply do not have the patience to compromise!

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