Thirdcloud Publications Surf City Strand Mag January 2016 | Page 26

Tony  Mecurio.    After  exchanging  greetings,  I   asked  Tony  if  he  thought  the  rising  interest   rates  might  hurt  businesses  around  town.   Our  discussion  briefly  veered  toward   Donald  Trump  and  Hillary  Clinton’s   presidential  candidacy,  so  I  asked  what  he   thought  about  Bernie  Sanders.    Mecurio’s   response  came  in  the  form  of  a  question,   “What,  the  old  guy?”    It  was  his   identification  that  seemed  to  stick  in  my   mind.       Clearly,  Tony  had  already  dismissed  Sanders   as  a  viable  presidential  candidate  based   solely  on  him  being  “too  old.”    Mecurio’s   thinking  is  troubling  for  many  reasons.     Allow  me  to  focus  on  why,  I  think  his   response  should  be  important  everyone,   not  just  older  Surf  City  residents.       Ageism  is  a  negative  stereotype  that  is   commonly  ignored,  if  not  embraced,   throughout  our  community.    The  Surf  City   image  is  built  around  youthful  activity  and   vitality.    Ageism,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a   generalization  that  allows  people  to  create   tidy  packages  of  thought—even  if  they  are   inaccurate—about  an  entire  segment  of  the   community.   Here’s  a  few  examples—older  people  are   lousy  drivers;  elderly  are  cheap,  weak,  and   feeble;  seniors  are  grouchy  and  set  in  their   ways.    These  perceptions  affect  an  entire   segment  of  our  community  that,  with  a   little  luck,  eventually  everyone  will  join.    So,   it  is  an  important  issue  for  everyone  now   and  in  the  future.       In  a  word,  ageism  is  a  form  of   “discrimination”  just  like  sexism  and  racism.       Moreover,  ageism  is  harmful—not  just  to   older  people.      Ageism  has  lifelong   consequences  too—medical  and   economic—that  affects  the  entire   community  according  to  Yale  University   Professor  Becca  R.  Levy.       Speaking  with  Don  MacAllister,  our  local   senior  senator  on  the  California  Senior   Legislature,  I  learned  during  the  recent   HBCOA  Senior  Surf  Invitational,  that  they   were,  in  his  word  “frustrated.”      MacAllister   said,  “so  many  people,  even  into  their  60’s   don’t  want  to  associate  with  the  idea  that   they  are  a  senior.”         While  not  a  surprise,  it  is  an  important   observation  because  both  MacAllister  and   Mercurio’s  experiences  fall  into  the   category  of  “implicit  ageism.”    Defined,  it   means,  “The  thoughts,  feelings,  and   behaviors  towards  elderly  people  that  exist   and  operate  without  conscious  awareness   or  control,  with  the  assumption  that  it   forms  the  basis  of  most  interactions  with   older  individuals.    In  other  words,  the   stereotype  is  so  deeply  embedded  in  our   thinking  and  culture  it’s  gotten  to  the  point   of  unawareness.   The  fact  is  that  we  live  in  a  culture  that   ignores  attitudes  and  actions  directed   toward  older  individuals.    On  television  for   example,  we  laugh  at  how  the  character   Arthur  Schooner  is  treated  in  King  of   Queens—it’s  comedy,  but  harmful  too.