I sit and watch them: communing; commiserating; discussing; articulating – all about the mechanics of educating the nation. I look at their faces, their hair. How old are they? I hazard a guess. Some don’t look older than twenty-three or four. A few ladies have some grey hairs. The majority of persons seem to fall between the thirty to forty-five age group. There is not one really old and bent person.
And I say: “Life is really remarkable. Strange. Sobering.“ In the world of work, you often outlive your usefulness. You Grow in expertise and experience, serve in your heyday/your prime, then pass the torch on to younger people to carry on the task. The world is run by them. We don’t think about it while we’re young and in full bloom, but our futures are decided by young, capable but sometimes not very experienced people. Our children are being trained, taught and influenced by them. We have trained them to take their places in society. We now have to live with the consequences of a job well or poorly done – and there are no second chances.
But what of the elderly? Is there no place for them? Can’t we find some way to tap their rich and varied experiences?
Perhaps society has been neglectful of this vast treasure, but I think they themselves should seek practical ways to continue their usefulness to society . . . and I see recent retirees doing just that. They are the new breed. Others before them were satisfied to go home and grow mold. They (the new breed) prefer to continue to mould the nation.
