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There’s a label people attempt to stick on me, and I don’t like it one bit.

Elderly. It seems that anyone aged 65+ is elderly. The US Census Bureau, Medicare, and the Canadian government use age 65 as the qualifier for “elderly.”

Just today I got my flu shot at Walgreen’s. The person administering the shot told me, “You get the high dose shot because you’re elderly.”

OK, I get it that people 65 and older are inoculated with Fluzone High-Dose which contains four times as much flu virus antigen as other standard flu vaccines.

It seems that as we age, we produce 50-75% fewer antibodies in response to a regular flu shot. So the high dose is expected to compensate for that (per Mayo Clinic).

But why refer to me as elderly? I was, after all, in workout clothes and sneakers on my way to a Zumba class. OK, a Zumba GOLD class made up of women my age. But still, we’re out there doing the moves.

I remember being 20 and thinking anyone over 35 was ancient. When I had my first baby at age 33, I was considered an older mom back then. According to an Upshot article on the New York Times website, “First-time mothers are older in big cities and on the coasts, and younger in rural areas and in the Great Plains and the South. In New York and San Francisco, their average age is 31 and 32.”

I would rather be referred to as a boomer, aka Baby Boomer (born between 1946 and 1964). Boomer has some flash and bang to it. It has a bit of pizzazz. Boom!

It turns out that many boomers don’t like being referred to as older people, elderly, senior citizens, or the Silver Tsunami.

When I think about my parents at the age I am now, I can’t help but be grateful that times have changed and the opportunities to feel younger and be healthier are so available.

I’m on a mission to encourage boomers to stop thinking “old” thoughts and to eliminate phrases like “having a senior moment” from their conversations.

I just dare someone to tell me to act my age.