AGED OUT [sat, 4-15-23]

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter—AGED OUT [sat, 4-15-23]

 

Yesterday Clara, from Medicare Stuff, called me, to see if she could get some extra money out of me for some extra benefits.

I didn’t know it was Clara, until I answered the phone, because the caller ID said “caller unknown.” I don’t usually answer those, but it was an 812 number, and that is our home area code. Sometimes an unknown caller is actually a known friend, or a medical office, or a return call from someone I have already forgotten that I called, so I answered.

Clara was quite cheery, and was sure she could get me some extra benefits. “So, how old are you?” she asked. I told her. She hung up.

Not a word. Not “Sorry” or “Goodbye.” Just nothing. I was too old even for benefits for old people. It’s a strange feeling, knowing you’re too old.

I remember the first time that happened. I was in one of my periodic frustrations with the ministry. “Surely there is some job where I can make more money and have less aggravation,” I said to myself. So I looked at the employment classifieds in the newspaper. [Remember classified ads? Remember newspapers?] We lived near Chicago, so it was a paper with lots of job ads, either the Trib or Sun-Times. One ad said, “No one over 25.” I did not feel old at all, but I had already aged out.

These days, of course, you can’t put categorical rejections into a job posting, winnowing out folks ahead of time because of age or gender or race or religion. That’s good. Mostly folks will know anyway if they don’t qualify. I mean, I would know it’s no use to apply if the local temple is looking for a rabbi.

On the other hand, it’s not always good to have no restrictions on who can apply. I mean, if the people doing the hiring already know they won’t hire you…

I once applied for a part-time job on a seminary faculty. I was retired, so I was immediately available. I fit the qualifications more than well. I had lots of degrees, including a doctorate. I was an alum. They had a rather arduous app process, including lots of recommendations from others. I’d had a long career, so I knew lots of impressive people who wrote glowing recommendation letters for me. The seminary president called me and said, “You’ve got such a great resume, I guess we’re going to have to interview you.” He sounded resigned about my great resume instead of enthusiastic. That seemed odd. Why would they not interview me?

Because they already knew who they were going to hire, that’s why. Just like Clara, I never heard anything from them again, but I read later in the school’s publication that they had hired the wife of someone on the faculty. They had intended to hire her along. They could have saved themselves, and me, and my recommending friends, and anyone else who applied, a lot of time by just hiring her, instead of posting the job. Except they had to for… some sort of legal reasons or something…

So, maybe Clara did me a favor. She didn’t use even one more second of my time when she found out how old I was. She knew that at my age, each second is too precious to waste. At least, I hope that’s why she hung up, instead of just because she found out she couldn’t get any money out of me. I haven’t aged out on being naïve.

John Robert McFarland