Today, I looked in the mirror and saw that I have to go and buy hair dye again. The gray is showing up. I was unfortunate enough to start going gray when I was in my 30's. It's not fair, when I was a kid and a teenager, I looked younger and people talked to me like I was a really little kid. Then, I wanted to look older. Now I don't. Thanks to commercial hair dyes, I am able to hide the gray until it starts to show again. Walk around the cosmetic area of any store, there are scads of age-defying creams and elixirs to make a lady look younger. Plastic surgeons are advertising all over the internet, telling people to use their services and get rid of those unsightly wrinkles and age spots. It is not in style to look old or older. Some fashion stores are wanting to appeal to people in their twenties and early thirties even though according to the census, the largest part of the population are the baby boomers, people in their late 50's to mid-sixties.
Age discrimination. It's out there. People over 40 or 50 have a harder time getting a job because companies want younger people. They want people with experience, but young, even though those over 40 have more experience and insight. Some companies even force out their older employees because they are making (in their opinion) too much money and on a pension program and they feel it's better for their profit margin to boot them out the door, even though they may have put in many years with the company. They want a young work force. In Japan, they honor their older people and think of them as wise. In this country, as my daughter put it, they say, "Ew! Old!" People seem to think it's okay for Lady Gaga to wear raw meat, but not okay to be old. Should someone who's 40+ wear a suit of raw meat to a job interview? Better hope that interview is quick or that suit might start to reek.
Some say that old age reminds people that they will some day be old and they don't want to be reminded of that. Hello people, burying your head in the sand isn't going to make it go away, it's inevitable, living things get older. There would be a big problem if they didn't. Look at the opossum, their life span is only about 3 years. Imagine being elderly at age 3! Welcome to the world of the opossum.
Also, since when is over 40, or over 50 considered old? I remember when people were saying, "Don't trust anyone over 30!" The people who were saying that are now in their 60's. Also, not all people 'over 30' are the same. People age at different rates. When I was a teenager and would shoot basketball hoops, my grandmother would come out and join me and shoot hoops, she was in her 70's at the time. My mom wouldn't even do that. When my grandmother turned 80, she said, "I'm 80, I'm going to go to Greece." She did and had an amazing time.
There are all kinds of good reasons to hire someone over 40, here are some of them:
1. They have experience, lots of experience. When a problem comes up, there's a good chance that they've dealt with it before and know what to do. When someone first gets out of college, they often have a hard time finding a job because they lack experience. Companies want someone with experience, these people have loads of experience.
2. Most of their kids are older teenagers or adults. They aren't going to have to stay home for a sick child.
3. It's good to have a mix of people of different ages that have different viewpoints in an office. Diversity is a good thing. Why does everyone have to be 'cookie cutter' people, all looking the same, doing the same thing? That sounds painfully boring.
4. Many of those over 40 have kids in their teens and twenties, so they can relate to the younger people just fine.
5. People in their 40's and 50's aren't as likely to switch jobs, they will value staying in the job they have been hired into. As long as they are treated decently, someone in their 40's and 50's have more stability and will stick to the job.
6. Just because someone is over 40, it doesn't mean they aren't open to new technology, my husband is constantly reading up on new software and techniques. He LOVES high tech stuff and likes to keep up-to-date on it.
Technology can be learned. It's not hard. It doesn't take long at all. There are loads of resources out there for learning new technology, like Lynda.com, where it's easy to learn. Just because those of us over 40 remember video tape, audio cassettes and cameras that require film, doesn't mean we aren't open to newer stuff like mp3's, and digital photography. I prefer digital photography to film photography because you have more freedom to get just the picture you want and don't have to wait for the film to be developed to see if your photo turned out.
Also, to those of you who are in your twenties and thirties who are hiring and want to keep the workforce young, the day will come where that toddler you saw having a tantrum in the grocery store the other day will be all grown up and in charge of hiring.You'll be in your 40's or 50's and that person hiring will think you're too old and you'll say, "It's not fair!"
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