Dear Annie: I read the letter from “California Dreamer”, a woman of merely 59, who writes about how OLD she is now that she can’t see shampoo bottles or tolerate scratchy labels in her clothes, etc. I am 63, and I don’t have all this trouble. I never liked scratchy clothes and I was born with very poor vision, so it’s not a matter of age. Nevertheless, I don’t have these problems in the shower.Using phrases like “newly squinty-eyed ageing hippies” was really offensive. When are you going to quit buying into this claptrap that all people over a certain age are falling apart and going downhill? My dad was in prime condition until he died at 88. I have no physical problems, exercise and work out all the time, take no medicines and look better now than I did 30 years ago.

Don’t use adjectives like “elderly” and “ageing”, which are more appropriate for a block of moulding cheese. —- No Senior Citizen in Salem, OregonDear Salem:>You are a bit oversensitive. As two of those “newly squinty- eyed ageing hippies,” we don’t find this kind of discussion offensive at all. In fact, we’re hoping baby boomers can help change the attitudes of people who get their hackles up at any reference to ageing (a perfectly good word, by the way). We agree that a great many people over 50 are perfectly healthy and happy, but the truth is, certain problems crop up more often as we hit those years and it serves no purpose to deny the reality. We think getting older should be embraced and cherished, and if that means designer bifocals and larger labels, why pretend otherwise? Here’s more:

From Santa Fe, N.M.: I am 42 years old and wear reading glasses, so I understand “California Dreamer”. Instead of designing different bottles for the boomer generation and others, I have a solution, at least in the shower. I use a large indelible marker and put a large “S” on my shampoo, “C” on my conditioner, “FC” on my face cleanser and “TP” on my toothpaste (I hope there’s no way to mistake that for toilet paper). When I have trouble opening a jar, I just move the contents to another containeB>

El Paso: I am far from a baby boomer — being 79 years old — but that column sure nailed me! At our age, most women have the extra cash to spend on themselves and are ready to do so, but cannot find anything appropriate to buy. Tops show way too much, being cut so low. Skirts look like undergarments and show the belly button. Dresses are usually pretty skimpy and hip hugging. I live in a retirement facility, and the ladies here still wear clothes we’ve had for 20 years. Most of us shop via catalogues because it is too frustrating to go to stores. If anyone comes out with a line of clothes suitable for us old ladies, we will be most happy.

Schenectady, N.Y.: I’m 65, still work full time and just deal with these problems. For shampoo and conditioner, I use ones with different-coloured tops, or always put the shampoo on the left and conditioner on the right. I never put toothpaste and hair gel in the same place. When I was in my 20s, I grabbed the hairspray instead of the aerosol deodorant, but I never did it again. If everything has its own place, there should be no probl

New Hampshire: It’s not too early for “California Dreamer” to develop some elder smarts, one of which is not waiting for product-design people to catch on. Put a rubber band on the toothpaste tube and shampoo bottle, tell the pharmacist you don’t want child-proof pill bottles, and snip (don’t rip) those labels. Working out solutions to new problems is just one of the pleasures of ageing.Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to anniesmailbox[AT]comcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, P.O. Box 118190, Chicago, IL 60611. To find out more about Annie’s Mailbox, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.