Reverse Ageism
[rant-ish, skip to below if you want]My watch arrived, so I went to pick it up from the store, and everything seemed to be going ok. I tried it on later, and realised it was too big and I needed some links removed, so I returned and was going to walk in to ask about it when I got cut off at the door (yes, an attendant actually stood in front of me as I was walking in). I explained the situation, how I had picked up my watch earlier and wanted links taken out. "What type??" - "Rado Original" - "Show me."...."We don't fix bands, sorry". I was a bit confused about having to prove to them I actually had a watch...the only logical reason for asking me this, especially seeing as they already knew they didn't fix bands, would be because they didn't think I actually had it. So, I got turned away without even entering the store, yet older customers managed to walk right through without such harsh attention. The second indication of this attitude came when I found a place prepared to remove the links - when giving me the links they had taken out, the person said: "Here, take these, in case you have too much McDonalds"....seriously....some people just think you have to be old to be good / smart / right :([/rant]
Compare this to the 10 days I just spent in in ACT helping a bunch of programmers. These are people who learn matrix-inverse-mod-26 in an hour, who sight-read and perform Les Miserables tunes at 6:30 in the morning, who organise group activities in a foreign city for 15 or so students, who debate the merits of one OS over another, one salad over another and one political system over another in the same conversation, yet still always stop to say thanks if you ever hold a door open for you to walk through (if any are reading, thanks for the week, enjoy holidays & good luck getting to April, email me if you have any questions). This is why I enjoy going to those training schools, why I think our future isn't as screwed as people say it is, and why I hope reverse ageism is on its way out :) {ooh, and i replaced my guitar string, so should be recording again soon...}
Compare this to the 10 days I just spent in in ACT helping a bunch of programmers. These are people who learn matrix-inverse-mod-26 in an hour, who sight-read and perform Les Miserables tunes at 6:30 in the morning, who organise group activities in a foreign city for 15 or so students, who debate the merits of one OS over another, one salad over another and one political system over another in the same conversation, yet still always stop to say thanks if you ever hold a door open for you to walk through (if any are reading, thanks for the week, enjoy holidays & good luck getting to April, email me if you have any questions). This is why I enjoy going to those training schools, why I think our future isn't as screwed as people say it is, and why I hope reverse ageism is on its way out :) {ooh, and i replaced my guitar string, so should be recording again soon...}
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