Stay confident as you age

[Reginald Ret]

I'm more worried about staying employed as I age.
Just sayin'.

...and you think that isn't related, why?

Oh, it is...and it's another one of those damn things I don't quite know what to do about.

Maybe some of the problem for old people is misinterpreted body language? A lot of them have a hesitant way of moving because they don't see well, don't want to fall on their ass lest they break something, etc. and it probably gets mistaken for timidity.

So yeah. Doubling up on the horrible as time goes on seems like sound policy.

This would seem to be a good point. 
I wonder if those who take measures to keep mobile and physically active are less likely to be seen as less capable.

I know that is the case, at least in my eyes.
I intend to become braver as i get older, instead of allowing fear of merely broken bones to stop me.

[Junkenstein]

I think the disconnect is this: 

People are under the idea that they either have to listen to the elderly unquestioningly, or reject their input completely.  Given that A)  primates always challenge their elders for leadership and B) living to an old age hasn't necessarily meant wisdom since about the time we stopped worrying about being eaten by leopards, most people decide to ignore their input entirely, leading to disempowerment.

The one place I don't see this happen is in the trades, where old age means experience, and experience is the single most important facet of a tradesman.

When I was doing other work, old age meant weakness.

A heap of this. That experience is a pretty much invaluable confidence booster when you consider the trades in the UK. I've never seen a single "Older" person take any level of shit from a kid, regardless of rank and role.

I would suggest that Gender may be worth mentioning as a broader stroke. It seems that elderly women generally get less public attention/respect compared to elderly men. I suspect this may tie into the earlier point with age = work experience. It would help to explain the number of old/elderly politicians for example.

I have points to make here but I'm a bit disjointed and need to think more.