Ageism

A very long time ago, when I was writing for the newspaper, I received an anonymous letter from someone who objected to my choice of language when talking about older folks.

I believe I used the term "elderly" to describe someone who was, well, elderly. The more acceptable term, it turned out, was "senior citizen," although at the time I couldn't for the life of me understand what was wrong with elderly.

As a result of the letter, though, I became aware of my choice of language in describing people, and eventually I settled, for the most part, on simply giving a name with the age after it, like this: Joe Baboon, 86, said,  . . .

If the person referred to him or herself as elderly or as a senior citizen, then I felt free to use whatever language I needed, and obviously if this was being said in a quotation then I quoted the person verbatim. And if some business called itself a service for senior citizens, well, who was I to argue with that?

Now I am, for better or worse, a senior citizen. I'm not yet 55 (though I will be soon) but I am over the halfway point of life and slip-sliding on the downhill side. I belong to AARP, for Pete's sake. I am not "elderly," though, and I understand better the anonymous letter-writer's objection. Elderly implies frailty, doddering, and drool. I am not elderly - yet.

However, today many young people do not respect their elders, seeing the old as someone who has things they want to have and as someone who is standing where they want to be in the supermarket. Young people can be quite rude, though not all of them.

Then there is the question of work. Older people need jobs (because of 2008 stock market crashes and now current crashes and probable loss of everything as the government fails) and find themselves looking for work.

Honestly, in today's world, I don't know how to find a job. It's certainly not as easy as it was back in the 1980s, when all I had to do was read the classified advertisements in the newspaper. Part of that may be because I've been self-employed for so long, though.

I am keenly aware of the silver in my hair, the fat in my belly, and my, shall we say, lack of grace now when I am out in public. I can't use hair coloring because I'm allergic to it, so there is no way to hide that I am in the graying age bracket. I have on my resume left off some things - I don't make note of when I graduated high school, for example, or list jobs I held 25 years ago. But even saying I've been a freelance writer for the last 25 years is a tell - that implies I have to be at least 45 or older. I'm no spring chicken, and while for the most part I am not ashamed of my white hair or my wrinkles - I have earned every darned one of them - when it comes to looking for work, I'm at a loss.

I've never had someone tell me I was too old to do something, though I have been told I had too much education for specific jobs. I've experienced much more gender bias and discrimination than age discrimination. I harbor no illusions, though, that I won't be hit with this double whammy should I ever decide to return to the work force.

Ageism is wrong on the same level as gender discrimination. If someone can do the job and has the skills, age shouldn't matter. Gender shouldn't matter. All that should matter is the ability to do the work, the skill set, and personality.

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This essay is part of the the April challenge from Kwizgiver. April 9 done!