Rant # 3,397: Young At Heart

One of the problems that I have about President Biden stopping his campaign is that it will have a cascading effect on people who are of a certain age.

With the president pretty much acknowledging that he was too old for the job--whether he did it on his own, was pushed into that decision, or was coerced to do what he did--it will reflect on all older workers and the thought that they are too old to do their jobs.

It happened to me at age 62. Biden is 81. Quite a difference.

But it did happen. I couldn't get arrested when I was looking for a full-time position, and I was forced to retire at age 63.

With Biden's decision, everyone looking for a job who is over the age of 60 is greatly impacted in a wholly negative way.

Hiring executives are sometimes half the age of people who are applying for jobs, and let's be honest about it: they weren't hiring "grandma" and "grandpa" before the Biden decision, and they certainly won't change now.

This is so wrong--the background and experience older workers bring to the job is invaluable and a real benefit--but those doing the hiring didn't see it prior to this debacle, and now, they definitely aren't going to change their ways.

I went through this looking for an executive position, and even my wife--who was looking for a part-time job--experienced this 

The telltale sign is when the interviewer changes the job description right in the middle of the interview without warning.

I experienced this, and so did my wife.

Look, ageism in the workplace is the most difficult workplace infraction to prove, unless the prejudice is so obvious, but unlike days past, hiring directors are very careful in what they say to you during a hiring interview.

My father worked into his 80s.

He stopped working only because he was losing his hearing due to what we later found out to be work- and environmental-related causes.

He loved his job as a New York City cab driver, and I know that in the years after his retirement, he told me time and time again that if he could, he would go back to work.

Me, I guess I am still not over the rejection, but I know that I never had a chance because of my ripe old age of 62.

If you are 30, 62 seems to be ancient, so 63, 64, 65, 66, and 67--what I am now--is looked at as being totally decrepit.

So Biden's departure has terrible ripple effects which the applause by some at what he did simply cannot drown out.

You are only too old when you decide you are too old, and no one should make that decision for you--

Whether you are a dog catcher or the president of the United States.