Growing Old Gracefully

How do you feel when flyer distributors ignore you? Sometimes when being ignored by people handing out flyers at MRT stations (especially when they try very hard to stuff them into office workers), I do momentarily wonder what image I cast upon them such that they think it pointless to sell their product to me. It may be that I look poor because of my shabby dressing or appear lowly educated perhaps.

Of late there is much disgrunt in the ST Forum from people above 55 who have difficulty getting credit cards. It dawned on me that another possibility of being ignored is due to me looking exactly my age or perhaps even older. This is not less unflattering either. It takes fortitude to accept being regarded as old by others. I have a colleague who kept on harping how unhappy he felt when a middle-aged lady offered him a seat in the train. "She is not much younger than me!" he exclaimed. Middle-aged friends and relatives also constantly mention how companies now tend to engage younger people and how fast their younger colleagues climb the corporate ladder. The fear of being marginalised or pushed out of a job is prevalent.

Recently I listened to a special country report on Japan by the Economist. The country correspondent opined that some Japanese corporates which still abide by the system of seniority based on years of service are facing setback in growth. This is because an elderly senior management seems to be more risk adverse and less adventurous in growing the company outside the country. "Because of a seniority-based pay system, this puts a huge strain on business costs, leaving less money to provide young people with training and good jobs.......It (Japan) needs to dismantle its rigid corporate hierarchies to allow new people and ideas to emerge". The report also mentions how the country seems to reflect the mentality of its baby boomers who seem not to mind going into a "genteel decline" prefering a "quieter life".

From a personal perspective, I can relate to these preferences. I often wonder why we need to move so fast and am always nostalgic about the slower pace of life back in the 70s and 80s. My daughter however chides me for using age as an excuse for not having the drive to learn new things.

I guess it really takes more than grace to grow old gracefully. It calls for a lot of self awareness as well. Using my ex-colleague as an example, if he does not exercise and eat well to keep and look fit and nimble, he should then just graciously accept the seat offered him in the train.