What does Kikuchiyo-san think about how we treat the elderly… I’m more finding out the word “elderly” is a somewhat tricky word. When do we get called elderly? I don’t think it’s about the age because some 80-year-olds are really not acting like our notion of “elderly”. What is our notion of elderly…? Then there are some 70-year-olds who are act much older than the 85-year-olds. I know that some older people might get offended if we offered them seats on the train, but some seem thankful. I don’t think Kikuchiyo-san wants to necessarily be “looked after”, since she is still able to enjoy her walk in the park even though she may walk a lot slower than those of us who are younger. Kikuchiyo-San may have less life left in this world than Kyoko (me), who is 40 years younger than her, but she might be much funnier than me. She may think that it’ll be a shame if the difference in “age” gets in the way of getting to know one another.