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AND we had to get up from the couch and turn a handle on the TV to change the channel.
Oh Horrors.
When old people say things like this - they just sound plain dumb.
My grandparents grew up in rural Europe. Without electricity or running water. Does that make them better than people who grew up with electricity and running water? Don't think so.
I honestly try to keep up with newer things best I can. But - the older I get - the harder it is to do so. And it would be super hard if I had to keep up with newer things to work (as opposed to merely being a retired person). Robyn
This has always been a difficult issue. When there isn't enough work to go around and much of the work requires new skills, preference for younger workers makes logical sense. Choosing to replace an older worker based only on age is wrong.
I would stack my ability to learn new mental skills against anyone of any age. In between commercial breaks (our DVR broke so we can't skip commercials), I spend the break learning something new. It helps that I have an extremely high IQ, an exceptional memory, am well-educated, have taught at university and have always been highly motivated to learn.
Preference for younger workers makes sense only if the company markets only to young people or is too cheap to pay for workers with experience.
I would stack my ability to learn new mental skills against anyone of any age. In between commercial breaks (our DVR broke so we can't skip commercials), I spend the break learning something new. It helps that I have an extremely high IQ, an exceptional memory, am well-educated, have taught at university and have always been highly motivated to learn.
Preference for younger workers makes sense only if the company markets only to young people or is too cheap to pay for workers with experience.
Doing what in particular? What kind of job? My husband is very good when it comes to learning languages. But that - standing alone - wouldn't for the most part get him a decent job today. Robyn
I constantly hear how baby boomers lack "skills" which usually point to lack of skills based around computer use.
I find the assertion totally nuts.
Baby boomers invented the technology the cry baby generation, aka millennials, rely on. Hit to the cry babies; I was using a computer before you were born.
Sometimes it gets tiresome listing to the whine.
EXACTLY! When I went back to school to get my doctorate I was only in my 40s, but the 20 somethings in my cohort were bound and determined to treat me like some kind of moron dinosaur. When I offered someone my e-mail address to collaborate on a project, he said, "Oh, its so nice to see older people using technology!"
Seriously???? I was one of the folks who helped to invent and develop said technology! I was a member of one of the teams working on early hand-held inspection devices for aircraft maintenance used by the Air Force, from which all of those modern inventory and tracking devices are sprung. You know, like the thing your UPS guy makes you "sign" before you can have your packages.
I was not only using computers before these whippersnappers were born, I was BUILDING them, LOL!
Some federal employment classifications have a mandatory 57 year age retirement. Sometimes a waiver can be obtained to up to 65 in very special cases. Been there done that!
What we need more than mandatory retirement for federal workers are term limits on ALL elected federal officials and six years on Supreme court justices.
Some federal employment classifications have a mandatory 57 year age retirement. Sometimes a waiver can be obtained to up to 65 in very special cases. Been there done that!
What we need more than mandatory retirement for federal workers are term limits on ALL elected federal officials and six years on Supreme court justices.
Term limits for elected officials are a double edged sword. Yes it removes persons from office after one or whatever terms. OTOH it can make said elected officials less beholden to their electorate as they do not have to face them again for re-election.
Here in NYC we have term limits and the current mayor and city council have been busy pushing a very liberal/progressive agenda including ban, after ban, after ban on almost anything you can think of. Oh and they also voted themselves a very steep pay increase that was made retroactive.
Some of these persons will be term limited out next year, the rest in 2021 if re-elected. Which brings up another can of worms; term limits also tends to create a game of musical chairs. Persons limited out of one office simply run for another so you have an incestuous and inbred set of politicians who take their "backers" with them as they jump from job to job. In short term limits does nothing to curb career politicians.
Doing what in particular? What kind of job? My husband is very good when it comes to learning languages. But that - standing alone - wouldn't for the most part get him a decent job today. Robyn
I could do anything that requires mental agility and that is not very restrictive.
The list of things I could do (not counting physical limitations) is much greater than the list of things I could not do.
Learning a new foreign language well as an adult and being able to master the accents, the nuances, the idioms is considered to be very difficult. Foreign language learners and linguists, for example, do very well at learning computer languages, too. I have done that before, and feel confident I could do it again, though I have very little interest in computer programming anymore.
What is it that you think a younger person could do better than a very bright, mentally agile person who is older?.
EXACTLY! When I went back to school to get my doctorate I was only in my 40s, but the 20 somethings in my cohort were bound and determined to treat me like some kind of moron dinosaur. When I offered someone my e-mail address to collaborate on a project, he said, "Oh, its so nice to see older people using technology!"
Seriously???? I was one of the folks who helped to invent and develop said technology! I was a member of one of the teams working on early hand-held inspection devices for aircraft maintenance used by the Air Force, from which all of those modern inventory and tracking devices are sprung. You know, like the thing your UPS guy makes you "sign" before you can have your packages.
I was not only using computers before these whippersnappers were born, I was BUILDING them, LOL!
I remember when we used punch cards for our programs. Fortran and COBOL. Had to feed them into the reader.
<lots of ranting about how old people are selfishly sucking up all the jobs snipped>
This is the exact same reasoning used against me when I was a single professional in the 80s. Oh, and female, because that is what was making the difference.
Just put "woman" for "guy over 60" and "man" for "amazing young millenial" everywhere and its the same old nonsense. I'm sure it is the same nonsense used to justify not hiring black people (they'll take all our jobs and wimmins!) or Jewish people or "Gypsies" or ... ad infinitum. Because there is lots of "thems" to only one "us", or so everybody thinks.
EXACTLY! When I went back to school to get my doctorate I was only in my 40s, but the 20 somethings in my cohort were bound and determined to treat me like some kind of moron dinosaur. When I offered someone my e-mail address to collaborate on a project, he said, "Oh, its so nice to see older people using technology!"
Seriously???? I was one of the folks who helped to invent and develop said technology! I was a member of one of the teams working on early hand-held inspection devices for aircraft maintenance used by the Air Force, from which all of those modern inventory and tracking devices are sprung. You know, like the thing your UPS guy makes you "sign" before you can have your packages.
I was not only using computers before these whippersnappers were born, I was BUILDING them, LOL!
Cool! Did you tell your co-worker that?
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