Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64! Beatles

Back in the 70’s when I heard this song, 64 sounded so old and here I sit today writing this at age “64”!!

 
Recently here at Peace Corps Madagascar, it was decided to hold a workshop on diversity and guess who was invited to speak about “ageism”. They wanted to know how it feels to be an “older” volunteer. When I stood before the American and Malagasy Peace Corps staff I started out by saying ageism has been around forever and it gets old!! 😊 We are not likely to change our race or sex, but we will all age- hopefully! And I pointed out that as I age I am getting older and wider, I mean wiser, OK and a little wider too!

 
In training I was surrounded by 48 young volunteers in their 20’s. Many were polite and nice. I enjoy being around young people, they can be fun and interesting if you can ever get them off their phones for a few minutes. For those who treated me as if I did not exist or were too busy taking selfies to have a conversation with me, well, all I can say is, my revenge is that they too will one day be old.

 
Only 6% of worldwide Peace Corps volunteers are over the age of 50. I recall during one of my many interviews for PC that I was warned that I would likely experience a profound sense of loneliness in my village as the only American. When I had an opportunity to meet up with other American PC volunteers, my age could make me feel even more isolated and alone as I would not have anyone my age to relate to. And that has proved itself to be very true. I often feel lonelier and more out of sync when I am with the volunteers, despite the fact that we share the same culture and speak the same language.

 
This may or may not come as a shock to you, but a significant number of Peace Corps volunteers that serve all over the world do not come with a level of maturity, sense of sincere duty or “volunteerism” that the advertisements boast. Entering right out of college the “frat party” mentality that has swept our universities is still lingering with them. To make matters worse we, yes WE, have contributed to an “all about me” generation. This young generation grew up getting ribbons and trophies for last place, singing songs like “I am special.” Wearing cute T-shirts that said things like “I Rule the House”. What were we thinking, they took the quotes to heart. It is a “selfie” generation and many seem to think it is all about how many likes they get on their selfies.

 
OK, I have strayed a little to blow off some steam and I don’t want to paint a negative picture of all the youth in the USA or whine about being an older Peace Corps Volunteer. Back to positive aspects of aging, which is where I wanted to go in the first place.

 
We should be applauded and appreciated for our experience, wisdom and perspective on life. We actually know how to cook a meal, we know the difference between an eggplant and a zucchini! We can add 5 plus 2 in our heads without a phone calculator!! And most important, drum roll here, we can actually sit down and converse with someone, eye to eye, using our voice to actually speak the spoken word as opposed to texting. This characteristic is very important in a country where few people use “I” phones. I recall a few Christmas ago when my children came home and one of them, sitting in the living room texted me in the kitchen to ask if the coffee was ready!!! We are talking a distance of 8 feet. I had to run back to the bedroom to find my phone to see the message.

 
Many of us have a track record of holding down a job, have possibly experienced marriage, children, home ownership and volunteering at something. We have gotten up and brushed ourselves off after a few dozen or more failures and not only survived but thrived. Just because I have not seen estrogen in a long while does not mean I am brain dead or incapacitated to contribute to the world.

 
Older volunteers have many gifts to offer any organization. So why is it that much of what we see in movies, TV advertising, and read about focus on the deficits and woes of aging. They focus on falling down and can’t get up, fading looks, diminished hearing, memory problems, the dreaded “I” words incontinence and impotence!

 
Most world leaders are over 50 and continue to make a positive difference! They say age is just a number, I wake up most mornings feeling young, then look in the mirror and think who is that person with silver hair and ageing skin.  My idea is to die young, as late as possible.

So, I am changing the lyrics of the Beatle song to:
Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 94!

 
If you have time google Comedy Central, I, Curl! It is a spoof on the movie I, Tonya. My son Anthony plays the boyfriend and he is excellent and hilarious.

Also if you have time google The Apollo Club, Men’s choir and listen to them sing the Beatle song I mentioned in the blog.

Worlds smallest ice cream cones! Cost 0.05 cents.

My seat mate on the bus, he was well behaved and he was alive!

The chicken rode on top!

International Women’s Day Parade