Memoirs and Letters of Dolly Madison, 1886
Youth is not a time of life - it's a state of mind.
Samuel Ullman, 1934
Bernard career convinced business. you've had successfully sell But after two years of working seven days a week, he wanted a life again, time to compete in the championship backgammon and bridge tournaments he missed and to play with his new grandchild. It'll be easy enough to get a sales job, he reasoned, and I can live nicely on less money. With my knowledge and experience, any company will be happy to have me. So, to get his weekends back, he gave up a six-figure income.
The reality was different. Prospective employers looked into his 59- year-old face and found appropriate legal excuses to reject him. The year after he sold his business, he earned $14,000.
Then he got an interview with a financial services firm on Wall Street. The human resources director was 28 and physically small compared to Bernard's 6'2" bulk. For some reason, maybe his lack of experience, he didn't dance around the age issue like the others, but let it be known right away that the company wanted younger, more energetic people in its sales force.
Frustrated and angry, with no recourse open to him, Bernard stood up, leaned over the desk and challenged: "Do you play backgammon?" The young man pushed his chair away from the desk, out of Bernard's reach, and stammered, "Um, yes, yes, I, uh, play backgammon." "Good. I'd like to play you for $100 a point, and then I'll wrestle you." "Uh, wrestle?" the younger man choked, "really wrestle?" He moved further away. "You don't want to do that first?"
"No!" Bernard menaced. "After I get through with you, sonny, you'll be in no shape to play backgammon."
The interview came to an abrupt end.
Whether you choose to fight age discrimination or forget it, your first priority is to stay focused on finding a job.
