Statcounter

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Do Our Professions Age Us?

I have been thinking about this since a long time ago. I knew there’s something about Professions and Aging. There are some professions that you think are only made for “older people” and automatically anybody would address the people in that certain profession as someone “older”. If they are Really older, it’s okay. But how about the younger people? Are they ready to be addressed as someone much older? Do they care or not being addressed as someone older by someone who is obviously much older than them? I hope I ask the right question! *giggles.

If you are a bus driver for instant, I have watched it that even the elderly women called the bus driver as the word “Pakcik or Abang” by default. Hehehe. I mean, maybe they don’t find it important to see the person’s age, but it’s just the way they address a bus driver. I mean, I understand a bus driver might have more things to worry about rather than what they are addressed with. It’s like, Yeah call me uncle or brother as long as you pay the fee, u understand me? Hahahahaha. Ok kidding. But you guys get my point? I also look at this the job of Security Guard. At least this is true in the case of the guard who is working at the building where I work. I call him with Uncle. He’s a man around his 40s. What I find funny is that, all the cleaners also call him Uncle or Pakcik, even if one of them is actually the same age if not a younger by one or two years. You don’t call someone who is just slightly older than you with the word Uncle, right? Like most people, I think I would just call the person by name.

Maybe this is not so much for the men. What about the women? Women are usually very sensitive with age. Do they have to accept this as a result of their profession? For example, in the professional fields, you thought whoever is there sitting at the chair that you won’t entitle to sit just because you think it’s too early for someone your age, automatically you would think that whoever is sitting at the chair MUST be someone who is so much older just because you think it’s the nature of the profession to have someone professional and someone professional is usually not someone very young. That’s just an assumption. It’s not written anywhere. You guys have to remember that not everyone who is sitting for SPM is 17 years old. They could be younger, agree? It applies everywhere else too. A boss can be someone younger than the person who walks in for the job interview can be so much older.

My other friends get it too. There’s this one guy who just moved in to the building opening his own studio. When he first walked in, he was curious that most of the ladies in the building look so independent. They run their own companies, have workers under them and stuff. This guy, who claims to be new in his kind of business, does look so much younger because he likes to throw that curious look as if he’s a totally beginner. Well, apart from the fact that it’s hard to guess for someone’s age nowadays, sometimes we just assume someone’s age from how they behave. So this guy has been addressing everyone in the building as “older sister” and none of the ladies complain because the guy does look a little younger. Recently they found out from the guy’s Facebook that he’s in fact older than all he lady bosses in the building! I make this assumption that like some people, the guy might think that these ladies must be so much older to be where they are since that he’s nowhere near their achievement and he’s already at his age now. I find it quite funny how Profession becomes a way people assume someone’s age.

I remember long time ago, I was queuing at the cashier counter. The cashier at the time was this big frame girl. I remember I was a secondary school student that time. So when it was my turn, I looked at the girl with her uniform and overheard her conversation with her supervisor. Then I saw her nametag. I was shocked to find out she was younger than I was! Without the nametag, I would just assume her to be someone older because she was already working as a cashier, which I thought a job I would never get even as a parttimer because they might need you to be older to trust you to handle money. I remember feeling a little awkward and I did feel bad actually because I felt so left behind. Hehe.

So now you guys get the issue. I don’t suggest anything to fix this because I don’t think it’s a big deal anyway. It’s just that now we have our eyes opened that Professions do make us age or maybe otherwise. Maybe waitress is among the professions that make you look younger, don’t you think? You might think that jobs like that are only for part-timers so only the school leavers do it. Unless the person looks and acts so obviously older, maybe it’s not an issue. At least you can tell that you come across a special case where finally someone older also does the job. Hahaha.

Oh well. For the ladies who are way ahead of time, NOW YOU KNOW that it’s not necessarily because you look older when someone addresses with something that doesn’t match your age, it could be because of your profession. So no sweat. Just wait until they find out the truth about your age, you’ll enjoy seeing that look in their face. That time, maybe you might think it’s worth it to withstand an older person salutation for quite a while. Maybe your profession is just too great for someone as young as you.

Hahahahaha. Have fun all :)

No comments: