In the arms race that is the jobs market, I've been able to compete rather well. Considering that I came from nothing, I'm rather proud to have been able to make the changes in the workplace that I claim to be mine.
When I had to close my business, it was an embarassment. I misjudged the timing of the Internet boom collapse. And Pam had some expensive health issues. So my income dwindled while health care expenses grew. Time to close shop, and become an employee again.
.... Which is when I learned about ageism in the workplace.
This is not a rant. This is not even complaining. I have observed an aspect of the job market, and I am commenting upon it. After all, I beat the odds. So far.
I used to be confident that I was the most intelligent person in the room. Truth be told, I still have that conceit. However, the rules have changed. Whereas, I see myself as having the best vision of what is happening in the workplace, my much younger colleagues don't see it that way.
While I tend to be much more creative and innovative, the young people (actually, people in their late 20's and early 30's) think that I am stuck in "Old Ways of Doing Things."
Nothing could be further from the truth. I am rooted in the future. Been a futurist for longer than most of them have been alive. I have more new ideas than they can think in a year.
Of course, these ideas don't involve the latest role playing game, or loud action movie, or Twitter, or online porn, or ways of IMing with just first letters, or shaving my head to hide grey hair, or tattos, or binge drinking, or party colleges (Florida?).