When I was young, my mother used to tell me that she wanted me to lose my life because I always wanted to be older. It wasn’t just that he wanted to be older, he wanted the privileges that come with being older. When I was twelve, I wanted to be thirteen so I could be a teenager. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be twenty-one so I could get a driver’s license and vote.
Through childhood and into your late teens, mid-twenties, it feels like time has stopped. Wanting to be old enough to go to school … get a driver’s license … go on dates … get a car … vote … be considered an adult … and the years cannot pass fast enough.
By the time you hit thirty, you’re in no rush to watch the years go by. Professional women realize that their biological clock is running out, men begin to think about settling down and starting a family, and suddenly both genders are more than willing to let time stop, or at least slow it down. considerably.
This is especially true in the workplace.
Many years ago, I was hired as a department store personnel manager, and the store manager told me that the most desirable applicants are between 35 and 40 years old.
That seemed so unfair. What happened to the concept of life experience and work experience? Was that no longer important? Were the other age groups supposed to just “be nice on that good night”?
And then the baby boomers started reaching retirement age and didn’t want to retire at 65. In fact, most of them couldn’t afford to retire at 65.
It is an amazing thing. When you suddenly realize that you haven’t saved enough money to retire, or when your employer has misappropriated your retirement or pension fund, you have to find the energy to keep working.
Our workforce, which used to be dominated by younger employees, has aged and employers are forced to hire them and recognize that experience counts more than, or at least as much as youth.
It is also a fact that, in addition to living longer, most older adults are healthier, act younger, and want to be more productive in their old age than they wanted to be in their youth.
Move over, young kidnappers … the old ones are not ready to retreat.