Hippo, Birdie, Two Ewe

Yesterday was my birthday!

I'm 49 years old. Funny, I don't feel it.

I've never understood why many people ~ women usually ~ would be mortified to divulge their true age. What's the big deal? Age is just a number.

We've all heard those cliches:

"You're as young as you feel."

"You're not getting older, you're getting better."

And you know what? They're true.

Sure, I don't shake it like I used to when I was 20. (In fact, last time I tried about 8 years ago, I threw out my hip! Painfully, I may add.) But showing off my chops on the dance floor is no longer a priority either.

However, at this age, I am more mentally sharp and aware than I was some 20 or 30 years ago. My learning agility has increased tremendously. My critical and analytical thinking skills scare me. Well ~ actually ~ they amaze me.

But then again, I have had all these years to mass a vast body of information and skills. And I am continually amazed how my brain can ~ in far less than a split second ~ retrieve diverse, and seemingly unrelated, odd bits of trivia and information and synthesize them into a new and coherent whole.

Let's hear it for brain power!

I don't have a problem with my age. And I don't see why anyone else should.

But unfortunately it still is a vast problem for many.

When the problem with age has to do with one's vanity, that's OK. I can accept that. After all, that is a personal choice, even though it's not one that I would make for myself.

However, when the problem rears its ugly proverbial head in the form of ageism, that's when I take exception.

And believe me, I've had plenty of experience in that department during the past year, after I lost my job as business manager for a no-kill animal shelter.

With all the work experience I have accumulated, I had less problem in getting interviews than I had in the past ~ though it was still tough.

Perspective employers sounded very enthused when they called to schedule interviews. The interviews went very well ~ so well, that I actually had good feelings when I got into my car to go back home.

Yet, when it came to making a hiring decision, it was always the same answer.

Without fail, the first statement has always been about how very impressed my interviewers were with my qualifications. (Well, they should be!) But after that followed one of two statements:

"We found someone who was a better fit for our company."

OR,

"We found someone whose qualifications were a closer match to our requirements."

Of course they weren't going to say:

"We really don't want to hire a savvy middle-age bitch who's going to get uppity on us when we're being jerks."

OR,

"A college grad is going to be much cheaper ~ and easier to push around."

That would be against the law.

It's really too bad that the working world is littered with so many unenlightened people in charge of making decisions. They are really doing their companies a disservice by passing over the more mature worker in favor of someone who is still unseasoned and untested.

Don't get me wrong. Having an 18-year-old daughter and having been young myself, I am all for giving the new grad a shot at gaining valuable work experience. But please don't pass over the older worker just for the sake of getting a bargain.

I suppose that such discriminatory and unenlightened hiring practices are one of the many reasons why older workers often start their own businesses ~ like I am hoping to with mine.

But anyhow, back to my birthday.

It was a pretty low-key day. I didn't expect much; so I really wasn't disappointed.

The highlight of my celebration was ~ well ~ getting highlights.

I spent the morning at the hairdresser's getting the cut and color that I had been anticipating all week. And with the severely faded color and more than one inch of roots, it certainly was about time.

Apparently, I never did receive my copy of the Old Fart Manual; so I really did not know what was on the "approved hair color list."

Instead, I selected one of my favorite color combinations ~ a rich eggplant purple with broad streaks of bright fuchsia.



It's my "happy color." It cheers me up. Not only that, it brings me an amazing amount of unsolicited compliments from strangers ~ even long after it's faded and grown out. And that cheers me up some more.

I didn't have any birthday cake. But I did eat all the left-over brownies that Neil brought home from his mother's house on Mother's Day.

Ariana painted a nice picture for me that was meant to be both a Mother's Day and birthday gift. She definitely had the right idea when she painted a fine bottle of wine of appropriate vintage. However, she still needs to finish her chef d'oeuvre.

In the evening, both Neil and Ariana presented me with a brand new DVD player. That was really great, considering that the old one crapped the bed months ago.

Invoking my birthday girl prerogative, I had the three of sit down as a family to watch a movie of my choice. In this case, it was "What the Bleep Do We Know?"

I like I mentioned earlier, because I did not expect much for my birthday, I was not disappointed. Actually, I was quite satisfied with my very quiet and low-key birthday celebration.

However next year, when I turn 50, I will be expecting a big bash!