Another Winning Season

Tommi was back in touch today and feeling recovered, re-centered again following Friday's harrowing experience of war at close range. She has an unusual few hours “off” on Sunday and hopes to connect with a computer for some emailing time. I was relieved to hear her possessed of herself again and was consequently able to do a bit of my own work today.

My work led me to Bloglines, a collecting location for the various “blogs” with which I try to read along. There I came across a couple of rewarding reads on the topic of age and aging, and as this is a blog addressing that topic, I’ll share some of the highlights from those two pieces, both from the New York Times online.

With an eye toward the ruling handed down by the Supreme Court this past week, the first article, “More Help Wanted: Older Workers Please Apply,” discusses the turn being made toward the hire of older workers in the workplace and the effort of some top companies to recruit in that fertile field. Some of the more interesting quotes from that article include:

“… a growing number of companies are hunting for older workers because they have lower turnover rates and, in many cases, better work performance.”
“Training and recruitment costs are much lower than for younger workers.”
“Costs of training, recruitment and learning the job routine are all much lower than for younger workers.”
“In the 65-69 age group, about one-third of men and almost one-fourth of women were working in 2004.”
“…almost one in three workers will be 50 or older within five years.”
“Older folks seem to catch on a lot quicker … They’re used to life in general.”

Baseball fan? The season is underway! “Better With Age” is a summary report with a measure of awe and growing respect for the power of aging players in the game. Though the focus turns primarily toward the dynamo pitchers, Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson (Clemens in his 22nd season and Johnson in his 18th), writer Jack Curry recounts the “good company” with which these men are reshaping the face of the game. Some highlights from the article include:

“… superb pitchers who just keep going and going.”
“… still uncorking the heat and still dominating as power pitchers deep into their careers.”
“Burn my birth certificate, they are saying, and let me pitch.”
Of Johnson: “…the nearly triple-digit miles-an-hour fastball…”
“…they don’t care about my age. They just want me to win.”
“…wanted to continue chasing magical numbers while not worrying about other numbers – like the count for the candles on his birthday cakes.”
“The expectations put on you, you either shy away from them or you take them for what they are and understand them and try to maximize your ability. Even though we’re getting older, it doesn’t mean we can’t do the things we’ve been doing all along.”

When I wondered aloud recently whether or not I could actually “do this,” whether or not I would successfully complete the course of study for my Ph.D., a woman with whom I’d been chatting, a visiting scholar in agricultural economics - herself in her fifties with a recently awarded doctoral degree, answered in a series of matter-of-fact series questions and a conclusion punctuated by exclamation:

“Have you given birth?” she asked, and I answered, “Yes, three times.”
“… survived a divorce?” Again, “Yes.”
“… lost a parent, a job, or both?” Still, “Yes.”
“Then you’ll finish. You’ll do fine. Compared to those, this Ph.D.’s a breeze!”

The currency of “life in general” is gaining strength for me over time; along with Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson, I’m looking forward to another winning season.