To: Susan Ryan, Age Discrimination Commissioner
From: Guilty as Charged

Dear Commissioner Ryan,

Iam giving myself up. No point waiting for the expense and wasted time of hearing myriad complaints against me and my clearly unacceptable views. I am guilty as I will certainly be charged, so I thought I’d get in first and try to explain some of my deeply held grievances against some older people. (You see, that’s one advantage of being a little younger than your average oldie – speed of movement.) I’ve never thought of myself as a deeply prejudiced person, but it’s time I admitted the truth. I think some older people should not be doing what they so clearly believe they are easily able to do. So sue me.

Yes, it’s true. I complain long, loud and volubly whenever I see an older person jaywalking across a four-lane highway with all the insouciance of a trained cross-country runner. Have you noticed how many grey-heads do this? Most often they are moving with all the alacrity of a block of apartments; often, they are slowly dragging a shopping trolley behind them. Invariably, the safety of a pedestrian crossing is just a few metres that way, but are they going to appear enfeebled and infirm by having to use that?

When it comes to driving, well, I admit it: I don’t think some of them should be on the road at all. A friend recalls the time her 80-year-old grandfather, from whom the family had being trying to wrest his licence, drove his car straight through the plate glass of the local chemist. OK, so some teenagers do that too, but that’s usually to rob the place. This guy was going to pick up his Zantac.

And no, I don’t believe older people have the right to say any old damn, rude thing they like because they’ve been around so long and have “earned it”. Have you heard the way some of these folk treat people in shops, or government agencies, or on public transport? Talk about outrageous. I heard a woman the other day say “Well, I can say whatever I want because I’m the grandmother”. No you can’t. Hold your tongue.

However, commissioner, what I would argue in my defence is that all this deeply irritating stuff blinds us to the real problem of age discrimination in Australia, a point you’ve been repeatedly making. We have an ageing workforce of highly skilled and motivated people, and we have a shortage of workers. But we have employers who won’t take on older workers, and our society and economy are going to suffer hugely for it.

I can declare no discriminatory attitudes there.

My best-ever radio producer was a man of a certain age, whose political memory went back to the Bolte era. He was wise, experienced and knowledgeable – and old-fashioned skills such as touch-typing made him speedy and efficient when it came to our computerised environment. I could list for you now the people of such an age that I would work with in a flash: if only they could get their foot in the door.

Federal shadow minister for seniors, Bronwyn Bishop, once told me a very simple but salient fact: most HR departments are now staffed by quite young people. In too many cases, the CV of someone over the age of 55 simply doesn’t get over their desk. Who is going to pay for all these generally healthy people to keep living well in society if no one employs them? I know this is a conundrum Australia simply can’t afford.

Even a reprobate like me can see the solution: let’s change this mind-set, and get these oldies back in work. At least it might get them out of the bloody traffic.

Sincerely,
Middle-aged fogey.

Source:The Weekly Review