My role model is Iris Apfel.
Still going strong at 97.
How does she deal with the numbers creeping up?
"Keep having fun!"
Drawing by Elissa Bernstein, age 6
I had my first encounter with ageism at 65. Actually, it was reverse ageism.
I didn't look 65.
I had to fight with the ticket-taker at the Metro that I wasn't of criminal intent
in wanting to buy a pass for 65 and over!
Mid 70s was another story.
How do you minimize the shock of 22-year olds I was hiring that this "old woman"
in her mid seventies could still walk and talk.
And the biggest shock of all.
That i ran a business!
So I had a strategy. Grab their head space before they got scared.
I was hiring assistants online, placing ads online on McGill Placement.
When someone answered the ad, we spoke on the phone
and made an appointment for the interview chez moi.
How did I handle his head space? I gave him warning ahead of time.
"Don't be shocked when an old lady answers the door!"
The first encounter was no problem. The young guy had been properly prepared.
But now we had to prepare for the second act.
The same principle. Go for their head space!
When he sat down, I had my little shpiel all ready.
"Before we start, I want you to know. I can't see too well. I can't hear too well.
And when I go off on a tangent, I can't remember where i started.
So part of your job description is to bring me back where I had started
so I can continue!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
After getting the age factor out of the equation, He didn't blink an eye lid. It was clear sailing.
The job was great, I was a fun boss, and only his graduation ended the relationship!
83 was getting serious.
Now I was being practically pushed to accept seats in a crowded bus.
A friend of similar years always accepted their kind offer.
But for me acceptance meant I accepted the way they saw me.
And that would fight with what I was doing...
like planning to become a global multi-millionaire ....in one year!
Because,,, although I was going to live till 97 - like Iris Apfel - I could go the next day.
So every day counted. I couldn't think "old."
I found a way to stop the offers dead in their track in order to protect my own head space.
When a person offered me a seat in the bus, i gracefully declined.
"OOOOOOO. that's so nice of you. But I've got to stand.
You see, I'm practising my balance for skiing "double diamonds!"
One guy pulled my bluff.
"Oh," he said. "It's such a long time since I've skied.
How much are they charging for a lift ticket?!!"
DEH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had another strategy all together for waiting for the bus.
When the bus stopped and young people stood aside to let me pass first,
I waved them ahead. "You go first. You're older than me!"
The first reaction OF A 22 YEAR OLD was "STUNNED"
AND THEN SHE BROKE OUT INTO LAUGHTER and went ahead.
(of course I was very careful.
I didn't make the same offer to a person who was around 60 but looked like 83!)
86 was traumatic. I avoided looking in store windows as I walked by.
But if i saw my reflection, there was no deceiving myself.
On the other hand, I was still working to be that global multi-millionaire
and i couldn't afford taking the chance of hearing those voices -
"Oh, Claire, you really look good!"
Insidious voices that would weaken my resolve to take on the world.
So i figured what to do to nip it in the bud.
When people who hadn't seen me for years bumped into me,
they stared straight into my eyes, and stared and stared, and then burst out,
"Oh Claire you LOOK GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I immediately shot back. "NOT BAD FOR 95!"
They almost fainted with disbelief.
"NO! NO! NOT REALLY! 86 was now just a baby!
