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| LIFE DOESN'T END AT FIFTY Ever wonder what your life will be like when you're old? It can't possibly be better than your younger years, can it? Think again. History is full of examples of older achievers, people who didn't let age keep them from doing great things. Ronald Reagan served as president in his 70s and was so efficient, he often managed to dress himself. Just as surprising to political observers, Reagan was extremely active and often jogged all the way from the front of the White House to the dining room. No shortcuts through the kitchen. Yes, despite his advanced age, Reagan effectively handled the top job in America, partly because he never forgot vital information, such as the shortest route to the bathroom. In fact, his memory was so good, whenever he met an attractive intern, he remembered he was married. That's the type of memory more people should have. Then there's the legendary astronaut John Glenn, who returned to space at age 77 -- more than three decades after his first mission -- and managed to return to Earth in one piece (two, if you count his dentures). He became the oldest person ever to travel into outer space, and, who knows, perhaps even the baldest. I mean, boldest. And what about writer E. Annie Proulx, who became a novelist in her 50s and won both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in 1994 for "The Shipping News." While some people her age are signing retirement checks, she's busy signing autographs. Retire? Maybe in a couple of decades, when she's tired of being rich and famous. Considering that many people are overachievers in their 50s, 60s and 70s, it's amazing how common age discrimination is, especially in the workplace. So many employers seem to prefer hiring young workers, missing out on the strengths of older workers, strengths such as discipline, experience, reliability, and wisdom, not to mention the willingness to wear polyester. Older people are nudged out of jobs partly for financial reasons -- they often earn more than younger workers -- and partly because of the myth that "you can't teach old dogs new tricks," a myth that has been spread all over the world by packs of sneaky young dogs. You CAN teach old dogs new tricks, sometimes faster than it would take to find a reliable young dog, one that won't run helter-skelter after the first bone thrown its way. Unfortunately, discrimination against old people is common outside the workplace, too. We just don't give old people an equal chance. That's why it took 80-year-old actor Tony Randall many years to find a youngster willing to marry him. We often make fun of older drivers, forgetting that young drivers cause many accidents, too. Of course, such accidents are partly the fault of automakers. They haven't equipped dashboards with dictionaries, so how do they expect young drivers to understand words such as "merge" and "yield"? Sixteen-year-old driver: "Hey, that sign said 'yield.' What the heck does that mean?" Fifteen-year-old passenger: "How should I know? The only 'y' word I learned in school is 'yo.' I'll have to remember 'yield' the next time I play Scrabble." I always find it strange when young people disrespect or mock old folks. After all, aging is inevitable, no matter how many face lifts you can afford. In just a few decades, every youngster will be either old or dead. Those options may both seem unpleasant, but you'd have a hard time convincing John Glenn. He'd rather be thousands of miles above the earth than a few feet under. Wouldn't you? |
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