My First Taste of Ageism!

I may not be spelling it right but I'm certain I just had my first direct experience with ageism.  As you may or may not know, my team at a Fortune 500 company were displaced a few weeks ago. As you must surely know, I've taken 30+ days off to build a small company - Better Indeed LLC - and am only now (as much of my new company's infrastructure is in place) looking for another marketing/innovation gig.

My goodbye package includes outplacement and career coach. An exhaustive review of my resume elicited the following "You may wish to remove your graduation dates and, perhaps, your first job, too." What this effectively did was make me two years younger: I'm 38 again - excellent! What this also effectively did is to prepare me for a world in which guys like me - Greyhairs: Stage 1 - are looked at differently. Being half Jewish and half Catholic, I'm used to living with half the fun, twice the guilt and triple the shame. Now this. Lucky me...

 

So Much E-Mail, So Little Time...

I have a problem and so do you: too much e-mail. And despite whatever innovation we bring to the problem, nothing works. How much is too much? It's like pornography; you just know it. For the uninitiated, if you stop looking at anything but new arrivals and have lost count of your in-box's current tally, take pleasure in mass deletion or stop checking altogether, you have too much e-mail. 

I pride myself in keeping no more than 40 in my in-box. To do this I file aggressively, delete what I don't need and act upon anything I can get through quickly. These tricks are David Allen's, an organization guru. My actions have repercussions, however: I delete jokes, so I laugh less and I delete news feeds, so I know less. Not good; I suffer in ways I cannot imagine...

There's not enough time to read it all and still enjoy books and magazines, my two favorite past times I used to pass time with back when I had time to pass. E-mail is strange; it blends work and play. It enables incredible productivity yet burdens us with an endless stream of To-Do's. Whether mixing business and pleasure is a good mix or not doesn't matter - it's too late to turn back now. Find a way way to get through it all, force yourself to like it and move on. 

Going, Going...Grey!

At 29 someone counted three white hairs in my otherwise dark brown mane. They were, over time, joined by others. Those who know me will say, "Shut up, David. You have more hair than anyone this side of the Mississippi." They have a point; rather than receding my hair seems to be proceeding. Regardless, the whites have destroyed a perfectly nice neighborhood. I want pepper, not salt! The word  "distinguished" does not come to mind when that tragic combination of mirror and light takes place. Instead I'm reminded of the fact that I'm getting older even if I don't feel or act it. That still-unopened packet of Just For Men is several years old now and suggests I haven't the patience or persistence to fight this particular losing battle. There are too many others to fight...

My First Blog, My First Post...

They say 40 is the new 30 but they're wrong - they're always wrong. 40 is just what it's always been for modern-day Americans: the half-way point. I spent much of age 39 thinking about my planetary contributions and came up short. Sure I found a great girl to marry, have sired two beautiful children, donate time/money to charity and listen patiently to family and friends until it's my turn.  I've also been, for many years, a generally obedient Fortune 500 foot soldier armed with a top-school MBA and unrealistic expectations about title and salary. But this is expected! What I haven't accomplished - and it's killing me - is to produce worthy & witty public opinion and commercial products that truly add value (a word I truly hate). That will change in 2008 and this blog shall follow my tortured path of intended written and commercial relevance. As speaker notes to my living legacy I will share erratic, irreverent opinion and forward/backward progress on the product front. I will do my best to entertain & delight in 100 words or less whenever I can. Stay tuned and enjoy!