Older workers

When I was 25, I thought the term “older workers” referred to people in their 40’s. By the time I matured to 35, I updated my definition to mean anyone in their 50’s. And now that I am officially eligible for AARP membership, I’m thinking that “older workers” must be anyone over 65, right? OK, so I am in a bit of denial. Just like I am about the fact that I now have a jungle of hair growing out of my ears!!! What possible evolutionary benefit could there be to that! 

The fact is that at the “you’re only as old as you feel” age of 54, I’m aware that I am now one of those “older workers” I used to smirk about when I was younger. I used to think older workers were those other guys – the ones with badly outdated ties and comb-over haircuts, less adept to catch on to new procedures, slower to get their work done, rigidly set in their old-fashioned ways, not able to handle change, and saying things like “when I was your age, we didn’t have the luxury of telephones or running water…” And now staring back at me in the bathroom mirror is this guy with eyebrows that have run amuck, a rising forehead, an expanding waistline and a declining memory. Welcome to life as an older worker. 

The reality is that younger workers do carry around stereotypes about older workers (and vice versa, I might add). Age discrimination is alive and well in America., despite the fact that this is the one minority group into whose ranks we all hope to eventually gain membership.  Seems like a lot of younger workers think the only jobs that older Americans are qualified for are school crossing guards and McDonalds drive-thru’s. Funny how we forget that the average age of the member of the Supreme Court justice is well north of 70. Many CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are in their 60s and 70s. Heck, my mother is still going strong at 82…. but now that I think of it, if you knew my mom, perhaps that would only serve to reinforce some of those stereotypes I am trying to dispel, so let’s not go there. 

So how do we older workers co-exist with those whiny generation X, Y, Z’ers who think the world owes them a six figure income right out of college, expect to be able to retire at age 30, appear to have never learned of the existence of this thing called “a comb”, and think they have all the answers—  er, um, sorry about that. What I meant to say was, “how can we just get along?” There is no simple answer, anymore than there is a simple explanation for why I can’t read a menu in a restaurant anymore without a flashlight and binoculars. But it begins with being open to people who are not the same as yourself and looking beyond the superficial labels we all carry around with us – age, gender, skin color, the extent of one’s male pattern baldness – and getting to know, appreciate and respect that it’s the differences that really make it all worthwhile. As we get older, hopefully life teaches us to be more tolerant of these differences and learn not to judge others quite so quickly anymore. 

I’d talk longer but I need to go update my bifocals prescription…. if I can just remember where I put my glasses…… hmmmm.