Congratulations to the New
York Yankees for making it to the American League Championship Series against
the hated Houston Astros.
That was a great win yesterday against the Cleveland Guardians, and they are on the right path to get past the Astros and get to the World Series …
Or at least Yankees fans hope that is true,, because the Astros are one tough team.
On to other matters …
This past weekend, our local newspaper, Newsday—the one that I have had past issues with in terms of my thoughts that I have been discriminated against getting recent jobs there because of my age—had a Sunday article of note that is related to all I have been talking about.
It was entitled “What Gives,” and it details the disconnect between employer and possible employee when it comes to job hiring … where employers have jobs, and possible employees are not applying for them and they remain open.
The interesting thing about this article is twofold: 1) the article did not talk about the usual “McDonald-type” jobs that the media focuses on when they talk about this topic, but higher-up, high-paying executive positions; and 2) the article was written by the same journalist who wrote the article that I was featured in in the very same newspaper several months ago about older workers having a tough time finding work in the post-pandemic world that we are in right now.
There was a gentleman featured in the latest article, who I am going to refer to as Mr. X, who was having a really tough time finding an executive position in Information Technology (IT) and had been out of work for several months.
He was getting very frustrated because he could not find work in spite of his impressive credentials. He is 48 years of age.
That pretty much is the end of the story as far as I am concerned.
Yes, he is most probably a victim of ageism just like I have been, but go prove it!
I finished reading the article, and then I wrote a letter which I emailed to the writer, whose email address I still have and which was posted with the story.
Here is what I had to say, in edited form, about the story and the situation of Mr. X:
“Hi! You might remember me. Earlier this year, and prior to the pandemic, you interviewed me for a story about older workers having trouble finding jobs in the current job market.
So when I read your article in the Sunday, Oct. 16 edition of Newsday ("What Give") I almost had to laugh, and cry, at the same time, in particular when I read about Mr. X, the job seeker who, like me, lives in the same community as I do. He is 48 years old and is looking for a job in Information Technology, an area he has a proven track record in.
"I've been to many many job recruiters, go to job interviews, and I get no response," he said. "I find it strange."
Yes, strange in like perhaps he is finally at the age where he is running into a brick wall because of his age.
With everything said in the article, there was no mention of ageism, but it is rampant in the working world, even though it is difficult to prove.
I have certainly been a victim of it, as was spoken about in the article you wrote all those months ago on my plight and the plight of many other older workers.
I think that Mr. X has fallen into that category at this point in his life, and the article should have at least touched on the fact--which admittedly is difficult to prove--that workers with a wide range of experience in their chosen field are being discriminated against because of their age.
As you might remember, I am officially retired (early, against my will), collect my pittance of Social Security, and continue to work as a freelancer for a trade organization based in Washington, D.C. which oversees "military resale," or stores for military service members and their families.
After my unemployment nearly ran out, I was darn lucky to get this job--the people that hired me knew of me after my nearly quarter century covering this field--but honestly, since it is freelance, I am making about one-third of what I should be making at this point in my career, and the job comes with no benefits.
And then, we have Newsday, a newspaper which ran the story you wrote on me all those months ago, but which practices ageism itself.
No, I cannot prove it, but it is quite obvious that the newspaper talks out of two sides of its mouth when it comes to hiring older workers.
Yes, it will print a story like mine, but it will also discriminate against me in the same breath.
During the past several months, the newspaper has advertised for several jobs in my field, jobs that I have years of experience in, and jobs that would put me back into the workforce.
(Please see the photo above for the job listings I am referring to.)
So I have applied for these jobs, but like Mr. X, somehow, I have not heard back about any of them.
For the freelance job, I had not heard back for several weeks, so I wrote an email to the same address that I applied to, and I was told that Newsday went "in a different direction."
For the jobs on the other notice, I have yet to hear back at all from Newsday about these positions, even though I applied for the editor positions weeks and weeks ago.
I am highly qualified for any of these positions, and again, I cannot prove bias against me because of my age, but it is just so obvious, so glaring, and so shocking too, that Newsday can run an article about me and people like me, and then turn around and shun me like they have.
Again, I cannot prove anything, but if employers are complaining that they cannot get the right candidates with the right credentials to fill their positions, and I read about Mr. X, and know my own situation ... well, I would say that something doesn't compute here.
Mr. X is 48 years of age, and I am 65. We are far from the decrepit people that the job world thinks we are. We can still do a good day's work ...
If anyone will give us the chance.”
And no, I have not heard back from the writer, and quite frankly, I don’t expect to.
But I said what needed to be said.
I moved on from this stuff, but then I had to take my mother to the doctor on Monday, and I brought the newspaper with me to read while she was being examined—
And right in front of my nose, I found a glaring editing mistake that Newsday made in one of its stories, a story about the top money earners among the latest crop of films that are out in theaters right now.
After seeing this glaring mistake that should have been noticed--and corrected right away--by anyone who has taken Editing 101, I felt the need to not only send an email to Newsday again but send it directly to the two publishers.
So here is what I sent them, in edited form because much of the email repeated what I had sent the writer the day before, less the information about the error:
“I emailed this letter to the writer yesterday, and I do believe that others, higher up than him, should also read this letter.
And to back up my point about hiring older workers, your editors made a big gaffe on page A14 of today's newspaper in the article "'Halloween Ends' Kills at Box Office."
In the fifth paragraph, the sentence reads, "Going into the weekend, some analysts had pegged "Halloween Ends" for an opening in the $50 to $55 million range."
Really? Fifty dollars?
And why did this decrepit 65 year old find this glaring error, and your younger editors did not?”
No, I have not heard back from the publishers either, but valid points were made in both emails, with the basic theme being “You Get What You Pay For.”
And yes, ageism does exist whether we want to acknowledge it or not.
End of story … until the next time … .
That was a great win yesterday against the Cleveland Guardians, and they are on the right path to get past the Astros and get to the World Series …
Or at least Yankees fans hope that is true,, because the Astros are one tough team.
On to other matters …
This past weekend, our local newspaper, Newsday—the one that I have had past issues with in terms of my thoughts that I have been discriminated against getting recent jobs there because of my age—had a Sunday article of note that is related to all I have been talking about.
It was entitled “What Gives,” and it details the disconnect between employer and possible employee when it comes to job hiring … where employers have jobs, and possible employees are not applying for them and they remain open.
The interesting thing about this article is twofold: 1) the article did not talk about the usual “McDonald-type” jobs that the media focuses on when they talk about this topic, but higher-up, high-paying executive positions; and 2) the article was written by the same journalist who wrote the article that I was featured in in the very same newspaper several months ago about older workers having a tough time finding work in the post-pandemic world that we are in right now.
There was a gentleman featured in the latest article, who I am going to refer to as Mr. X, who was having a really tough time finding an executive position in Information Technology (IT) and had been out of work for several months.
He was getting very frustrated because he could not find work in spite of his impressive credentials. He is 48 years of age.
That pretty much is the end of the story as far as I am concerned.
Yes, he is most probably a victim of ageism just like I have been, but go prove it!
I finished reading the article, and then I wrote a letter which I emailed to the writer, whose email address I still have and which was posted with the story.
Here is what I had to say, in edited form, about the story and the situation of Mr. X:
“Hi! You might remember me. Earlier this year, and prior to the pandemic, you interviewed me for a story about older workers having trouble finding jobs in the current job market.
So when I read your article in the Sunday, Oct. 16 edition of Newsday ("What Give") I almost had to laugh, and cry, at the same time, in particular when I read about Mr. X, the job seeker who, like me, lives in the same community as I do. He is 48 years old and is looking for a job in Information Technology, an area he has a proven track record in.
"I've been to many many job recruiters, go to job interviews, and I get no response," he said. "I find it strange."
Yes, strange in like perhaps he is finally at the age where he is running into a brick wall because of his age.
With everything said in the article, there was no mention of ageism, but it is rampant in the working world, even though it is difficult to prove.
I have certainly been a victim of it, as was spoken about in the article you wrote all those months ago on my plight and the plight of many other older workers.
I think that Mr. X has fallen into that category at this point in his life, and the article should have at least touched on the fact--which admittedly is difficult to prove--that workers with a wide range of experience in their chosen field are being discriminated against because of their age.
As you might remember, I am officially retired (early, against my will), collect my pittance of Social Security, and continue to work as a freelancer for a trade organization based in Washington, D.C. which oversees "military resale," or stores for military service members and their families.
After my unemployment nearly ran out, I was darn lucky to get this job--the people that hired me knew of me after my nearly quarter century covering this field--but honestly, since it is freelance, I am making about one-third of what I should be making at this point in my career, and the job comes with no benefits.
And then, we have Newsday, a newspaper which ran the story you wrote on me all those months ago, but which practices ageism itself.
No, I cannot prove it, but it is quite obvious that the newspaper talks out of two sides of its mouth when it comes to hiring older workers.
Yes, it will print a story like mine, but it will also discriminate against me in the same breath.
During the past several months, the newspaper has advertised for several jobs in my field, jobs that I have years of experience in, and jobs that would put me back into the workforce.
(Please see the photo above for the job listings I am referring to.)
So I have applied for these jobs, but like Mr. X, somehow, I have not heard back about any of them.
For the freelance job, I had not heard back for several weeks, so I wrote an email to the same address that I applied to, and I was told that Newsday went "in a different direction."
For the jobs on the other notice, I have yet to hear back at all from Newsday about these positions, even though I applied for the editor positions weeks and weeks ago.
I am highly qualified for any of these positions, and again, I cannot prove bias against me because of my age, but it is just so obvious, so glaring, and so shocking too, that Newsday can run an article about me and people like me, and then turn around and shun me like they have.
Again, I cannot prove anything, but if employers are complaining that they cannot get the right candidates with the right credentials to fill their positions, and I read about Mr. X, and know my own situation ... well, I would say that something doesn't compute here.
Mr. X is 48 years of age, and I am 65. We are far from the decrepit people that the job world thinks we are. We can still do a good day's work ...
If anyone will give us the chance.”
And no, I have not heard back from the writer, and quite frankly, I don’t expect to.
But I said what needed to be said.
I moved on from this stuff, but then I had to take my mother to the doctor on Monday, and I brought the newspaper with me to read while she was being examined—
And right in front of my nose, I found a glaring editing mistake that Newsday made in one of its stories, a story about the top money earners among the latest crop of films that are out in theaters right now.
After seeing this glaring mistake that should have been noticed--and corrected right away--by anyone who has taken Editing 101, I felt the need to not only send an email to Newsday again but send it directly to the two publishers.
So here is what I sent them, in edited form because much of the email repeated what I had sent the writer the day before, less the information about the error:
“I emailed this letter to the writer yesterday, and I do believe that others, higher up than him, should also read this letter.
And to back up my point about hiring older workers, your editors made a big gaffe on page A14 of today's newspaper in the article "'Halloween Ends' Kills at Box Office."
In the fifth paragraph, the sentence reads, "Going into the weekend, some analysts had pegged "Halloween Ends" for an opening in the $50 to $55 million range."
Really? Fifty dollars?
And why did this decrepit 65 year old find this glaring error, and your younger editors did not?”
No, I have not heard back from the publishers either, but valid points were made in both emails, with the basic theme being “You Get What You Pay For.”
And yes, ageism does exist whether we want to acknowledge it or not.
End of story … until the next time … .
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