One of my favourite mentees made the long drive to the country for lunch with Maureen and me the other day. I will call her Sara. We enjoyed the lunch, and Sara’s company was delightful, as always.
I mentioned my advanced age, as I frequently do now that I am old. In a well-intentioned attempt to make me feel better, Sara tried to reassure me that I am not actually old, and that age is just a construct. (That is something that kind, emotionally intelligent young people say, but will no longer believe when they reach my age, if they even believe it when they say it.)
What Sara said exactly was that I am not old, because I am still “sharp and mobile.” No cap! (If you old folks do not know what “no cap” means, you can Google it to stay sharp.)
Maureen thought that it was hilarious that Sara said that I was “still sharp and mobile,” because it is something that you only say about old people. Saying that a 70-year-old is still “sharp and mobile” carries with it the unstated qualification “for your age.” It is like when you see an image of an 80-year-old celebrity and say that they are still in great shape.
Sara meant well, but we all know that ageism is alive and well in the legal profession, starting with the mandatory retirement ages of between 60 and 65 in some firms. And let’s not even get started on my former partner who told me in my mid-forties that I was “yesterday’s man,” and should move out of the way so that his generation could run things.
But quite apart from the quiet institutionalized bias, there is the casual bias on social media put forward by the “OK Boomer” crowd.
In a recent LinkedIn post, a lawyer complained with good reason about racist treatment at the hands of a “70-something lawyer,” not even recognizing his own bias amid his rant about racism encountered at the hands of others.
Another lawyer attacked one of my arguments in a post a while back by referring to me as “an old white guy.”
I have seen posts about the older folks being the obstacle to implementing technology, as if every person over fifty is the same.
While Sara meant well, which is why I am not describing her as one of my “formerly” favourite mentees, many others do not. They think that it is fine to discriminate, demean, and dismiss, based on age, in the legal profession.
I will spare you the rant about the benefits of experience that the young folks often lose in their rush to push the old folks out the door. I am not sharp enough to remember all the points that I wanted to make anyway. As for mobility, at least I can still “let my fingers do the walking” on my keyboard. (The young folks can Google that one.)
As for Sara, whenever she asks me how I am doing, I will be answering that, like fine wine and cheese, I am continuing to get better with age. I will be lying, but I will say it anyway.
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.