Why Age Discrimination Has No Boundaries

This may sound weird, but up until my mid-forties I was discriminated against for looking too young. I’m not sure if I inherited my youthful appearance from my mother, but just like her, people would often mistake me for a teenager.

While this may sound like a dream come true (especially to that strange kid in my class with the Darth Vader voice and terrible alopecia), my looking like an inexperienced juvenile over the years has had many consequences. Some serious.

In my teenage dirtbag days, my biggest bugbear was not getting into nightclubs. This was despite my school having one the most notorious ID forgers in the town (Finlay the Forger!) Even before reaching the end of the nightclub queue, I would notice the bouncer singling me out for inevitable humiliation. So I would just make my excuses to my friends and leave.

But the worst part of looking young has been in my professional life. Even at the age of 40, I was being overlooked for promotions and being treated like a trainee. At first I thought it was all in my imagination, but time after time I was being talked down to by inexperienced members of staff. It was completely humiliating.

So yesterday was my 54th birthday and I’m finally starting to look my age. But while this means I can now get into Pop World every weekend without forged ID, I’ve now discovered I’m facing a whole new world of age discrimination.

So far, it seems to come in the form of young people pretending I don’t exist, or that none of my opinions really matter.

For example, on a recent trip to Shakespeares birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon, I was walking around his cottage (as you do) then tried to make polite conversation with a young person about the amazing Tudor architecture.

Their reply came in the form of a nose-snorting grunt, looking straight at the ground, then pulling out their mobile phone and pretending to scroll for something important (I could see it was TikTok!)

I then wandered into the room where Shakespeares father manufactured gloves for a living. Just as I entered, a young couple were being told all about the Tudor gloving industry by an equally young guide, before moving on to the next room.

Noticing me coming towards them, the same guide walked off and pretended to do something with a rope barrier at the back of the room. Me being me, I lingered to see how long they could prolong the lie before having to face my decrepit form. It turned out about five minutes. I think they were shaking before I finally walked out. Bless!

I am trying to keeping an open mind, however. It could be the youth of today are having difficulty communicating with their elders due to continuous brainwashing by social media snippets. It is also true that once I start talking Shakespeare, I can go on for bloody days. So perhaps part of it is me.

Through my own experiences, It is my belief that age discrimination not only exists, but has no boundaries. So whether someone looks younger than their years (like I did then), or like an extra from Pirates of the Caribbean (like I do now), we should all treat one another with the fairness, dignity and the respect we deserve.

Now would you like to hear about Shakespeare young man. I may be some time!

Thanks for reading

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Originally published at https://medium.com/never-stop-writing/why-age-discrimination-has-no-boundaries-8f14844527bb