Are They Really Doing Their Own Shopping?

So I was over at {name and link removed} recently checking out all of the freebies and coupons that were linked there. I signed up for a lot of stuff at some of the websites. I'm sure that not only will these companies be stocking our mailbox and pantry but our email inbox as well. That's okay with me. Pastor Dad might be a bit surprised when he downloads the email each morning though (I registered under his address :) ) but this will just give him more time to concentrate on fixing my coffee in the morning.

As I was signing up at various locations I was asked to type in some personal information like name, address, and date of birth. The drop-down menus usually opened somewhere in the center of the list of years, which was good for me because I am right there in the middle anyway. But you know me. I just couldn't help checking both ends of the spectrum. What I found astonished me.

First of all, there were some year options for the elderly that I found to border on the ridiculous. The earliest year varied from site to site but the oldest person eligible to register at one of them could be born as early as 1885! Now, I'm not up on who is the oldest person alive in the world, but assuming that there are people almost 124 years old out there somewhere am I really to believe that they are still doing their own shopping? Or that they are asking for free handouts of cleaning supplies and cereal? Or that they are even computer literate enough to be sitting there clicking on drop-down menus at all? If so, it could explain how they lived to be 124! They got quite the physical workout doing their own shopping and cleaning and the mental exercise taking computer classes at their local adult education institution.

Second, the ages on the other end of the spectrum were just as silly. I think the latest choice was 2006. Yeah, like we've got two and three year olds surfing the net for bargains. Or like we can believe they can fill in all the required information in order to receive the freebie. ("How many times in the last year did you purchase Yummy Bummy Cereal?")

I'll admit that I've seen kids do some pretty amazing things but I just don't think it's logical to expect someone slightly older than Sweet Pea to be helping her parents bring home the bacon via the family computer even if her parents do homeschool her and her siblings.