Fair warning: This is going to be a short rant about assumptions people make pertaining to age. Just recently I had someone tell me that I should, “Grow up and act your age.” My first reaction was to tell them to pay attention to their own behavior. After all, if they felt I was so old, then shouldn’t they be showing their “elder” a little more respect? But I held my tongue, and then wished them a great day – and went back to doing what I was doing in the first place. What was that? Skipping. Now admittedly, I was in Walmart, but I was skipping down the aisle. That might seem not a big deal for a child, but I’m a guy pushing sixty years old. Why was I skipping? Because I felt like it. I can. Lots of people my age can’t skip… or walk… or get out of their grave. So, screw it, I felt like skipping.
Now let’s get back to that “act your age” statement for a moment. First off, I can’t. Moment to moment, every day of our lives, we’re a different age. Therefore, logically, I’ve never been this age before, so how am I supposed to know how to “act my age?” What they actually mean is, “Act the way I think someone your age – and I’m guessing your age – should act.” In other words, they want me to meet their expectations for behavior for someone of a given age; and they might be entirely wrong in their guess about my age.
Secondly, age-based expectations of behavior are as wrong as gender-based, race-based, or any other personal characteristic based expectation. In today’s world where we’re supposed to celebrate the uniqueness and individuality of every person, it’s just…
– – – – – – – – –
The remainder of this essay can be found in the book “Farther Down The Road”
Farther Down the Road – Where does your life’s road lead?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTJ1B2QR