If You’re Lucky, You Will be Old
Posted by Kris:
The generation that once condemned those over the age of 30 as being untrustworthy now range in age from 45 to 60+! This side of 30 doesn’t look at all as we imagined it when we stood on the precipice and pointed our fingers at the “old” folks on the other side. In some ways, it’s tougher over here; but in so many ways, our lives after 30 have been far more fulfilling than those years before.
We are now at a place of being able to reinvent our lives. Despite all our contributions to the world, it is ironic that we Boomers are now the brunt of stereotypes and jokes that paint us as has-beens or (worse yet) a huge mass of selfish slugs consuming resources that should belong to others.
One of the great lessons I learned as I aged is that we will all be old, if we are lucky, and how we treat those who are older is often a precursor of how we might be treated when we reach their age. The thirty-something that doesn’t hire the 50-year-old who is qualified for the job; the forty-something secretly hoping their aging boss will get out of her way; or the twenty-something IT professional who is fed up with providing tech support to their Boomer parents. We’ve all been there! However, we’re now experiencing being the victims of ageism, and the experience quietly eats away at one’s spirit, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy rather than an accurate depiction of reality.
Recently, a professional recruiter shared with me his concerns about the rising trend he sees in his practice as well-educated and productive employment candidates are barely given a second look, simply because they are older. He spends as much time giving his older clients hope that they can still play an important role within today’s business world as he does locating suitable positions for them. I doubt you could have told me anything when I was twenty that would have made me sympathetic to the perils of my aging co-workers. Despite my best efforts to overcome my personal biases, I suspect I failed to give every older person I interviewed in my long HR career the respect they were due. So, while I might give a thirty-something some slack when they show their impatience with Boomers, I struggle mightily with a 50-something that turns their back on their peers, indirectly implying that they can’t even fathom ever seeing themselves undervalued or unemployed.
Today, I look at those who are pioneering the years ahead of me not as people to push out of the way or to discount as having little to contribute, but as a reflection of who I could become someday if I’m very lucky…or if I’m not. As you interact with those who are older than you are, I urge you to leave them with memories of how you made their spirits soar. And as you age and ask yourself, “Do I feel lucky to becoming older?”, I hope that your answer is (and continues to be) a resounding “Yes!”
