Oh no, Grandma

How to feel old

I was walking into Manor (store) in Vesenaz, Switzerland.

A toddler came careening around the corner and was about to bump into me.

A mother said (I've translated from the French) "Watch out for the Grandma."

Okay, I've got white hair. But I was dressed in patched jeans and a T-shirt. I had no cane. My wrinkles are minimal.

Part of the problem was I've always been taken for younger than I am. The last time I was carded to buy wine I was 30. 

I now understand why when I went to pick up my three-year old a few decades ago, the day care center receptionist said, "A little old lady with gray hair already picked her up."

I wasn't worried because the little old lady was my mother who picked up my daughter regularly. 

When I told my mother how she was described, she went out immediately and bought hair dye.