Dear Santa,
I imagine you are unbelievably busy getting ready for Christmas as you have such a daunting task ahead of you. No doubt your job is even more difficult what with trying to be ‘woke’ and politically correct with your gift choices. Naughty and nice just got a little more complicated. I am sure!
Santa, do you get naysayers telling you that you are too old for the job? That you should retire to make way for a younger person. Do you find yourself being forgetful or making silly avoidable mistakes?
I know I do. Let me share a few recent examples.
I love socks, Santa. I was recently given a beautiful pair of cream Merino wool socks. I was looking forward to a winter with warm tootsies, but I misplaced them. I searched for days until finally I found them in the exact spot where I had placed them. In my top dresser drawer!
Last week I was driving home at night from my daughter’s home in Burnaby along Highway 1 as I normally do. For some reason, I took the wrong exit and ended up in Maple Ridge! Oh Santa, thank goodness for GPS as I eventually made my way home.
The other day, I was in my garage testing all my Christmas lights. I found a socket, pulled out the plug which was already there and carried on. My lights all worked. Later in the afternoon, I found I had no Internet service, so I called TELUS and waited on the line for an hour. You guessed it, I had pulled out the plug which supplied power to my Internet.
Oh Santa, these events are happening all too often. My kids make fun of me, and I wonder if I am losing it! No, I tell myself, it’s just part of normal aging.
But that brings me to my point…our society’s attitude towards aging, including my own.
Our Western culture seems to venerate youth while disparaging old age. You only have to go to the drugstore to buy a birthday card for an elderly friend or relative and you will see how they mock our ongoing infirmities and physical and mental decline. If we found cards which caricatured or lampooned gender or race, all hell would break loose.
We are living in an ageist world. Stats Canada projects the number of people over 65 in this country could climb to more than 11 million by the year 2050.
That’s a lot of us, Santa, and it’s incumbent upon us to change stereotypical, ageist thinking.
Agesm is prejudice, discrimination, or stereotyping directed at people based on their age. It often stems from assumptions about what individuals can or cannot do simply because they are considered “too old” but also at the other age of the spectrum, “too young.” However, it is most commonly experienced by seniors, who may be unfairly viewed as less competent, less adaptable, or less valuable. Younger people may also face agism when they are dismissed as inexperienced or irresponsible
In the latest issue of my UBC Alumni magazine, the focus is on healthy aging. Dr. Anne Martin-Matthews says, “the word ‘elderly’ is an ultimately meaningless term, homogenizing an entire population that can span 30 to 40 years or more.”
Pondering the question as to whether an aging population constitutes a crisis or an opportunity, or even a “societal achievement”, the retired professor adds, “An age-friendly society is better for people of all ages.”
All the expectant children around the world would agree, Santa. Carry on!
Merry Christmas. See you in 2026.
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