I went on an interview recently and speaking with the interviewee whom I knew, he started discussing how it appears the way corporate sees things that they're trying to push out people of age only to bring in the youth. Which I understood his point, but that's not what this post is about. Although his thinking is what this is about. See everyone is under this conception that 50 marks the end of an era for life and you need to be somewhat put out to pasture to graze until you merely ready to keel over and you slip into the next world.
It was interesting to hear him talk. Yea this wasn't the traditional interview, like I said I knew the person I was interviewing with. He explains how he has to work at least another 15 years, how so and so has 30 years here how and how he suspects that person will go another 5 years and be gone. Same thing for Bubba and John. Everyone is just getting old. OK what is the definition of old I ask you?
Dictionary.com defines old as 1. far advanced in the years of one's or its life. Merriam-Webster defines old as a : advanced in years or age
I never gave it a second thought in my forties of what old meant or that things would slow down in that era. Not until I reached 50 did I start hearing so much rhetoric about being old. Commercials, shows, the media, insurance ads, etc. Today being at my age, I still feel no different than I did when I was 30 and in some cases probably younger.
Ever notice how sensitive women get when they are reaching the Big 50? It's like shoot me please. We have become a society of putting labels on everything. Ads trying to draw the younger crowd to buy certain things. Media as stating things like the consumer buying power is within the younger generation between this age and that age. Is it because people of that age era spend more freely so they captivate the audience by saying a certain age range?
In the case of 50 and older being old in the work force. Why is it people don't see it as and aging workforce but government does? But in the same breath they say social benefits won't be paid until 62 1/2 and continually speaking about raising it to 70 whereas people are expected to work and be vibrant through their golden years?
I never considered my parents as old when they hit 50. I just thought they were more experience at giving advice that I could utilize. From a standpoint of ladies hitting the Big 50, I see many ladies that look better now than they did in their 50's and many are healthier today. Heck back in my 20's and 30's some women looked way worse than women of the age of 50 and above. So why do we have to continually stigmatize people with a label?
Is statistics so clear that they have narrowed it down to the point where they absolutely know that you're going to start dieing when you hit the 50 number? Believe it or not, from the time we get out of our mother's womb we begin dieing. If the government was totally sold on these statistics wouldn't it make more sense to say let's give social benefits to people when they hit 50? Why prolong it if you know I'm doomed to die within that era? I know lots has to do politically by trying to make one believe they're dieing but you must work until what we feel is a good age to call it quits if you want to be eligible to collect your benefits. There's a separation in what people believe and the way statistics portray the individual growing older.
Are we living in a New World where we will create social economic issues that will push people to die by the time they reach 50? Are we so concerned that anything younger is what the world is all about?
It's just in my opinion that I think we're missing something here. That there is no balance between social economical times of being 50 and being anything else younger. What would truly happen if we quit focusing so much on certain age groups and focus more on life itself? What would happen if we balanced out the age groups and not cater to one more than the other one? Could it be if we really quit type casting and setting particular ages as being the ultimate time to deteriorate that people would do more, be more and live a much healthier lifestyle with no worries about when is it actually time to be considered a senior citizen? It just doesn't make much sense to stigmatize a group that has so much to offer who's continually learning and contributing to a betterment of life.
It's something that haunts me the way society sees things and really it all stems not from the youth, but from advertisements, government depictions, and what a select group is made as the deciding factor. Grow old with dignity not dis-spare and let's quit worrying about type casting the cast that doesn't really care what you think of them as long as they have bounce, let them continue to bounce!
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