The creator economy allows people to unbundle from traditional employment and still be successful.
— Destinee Berman
Ageism is a thing.
Indeed, a basic tenet of Critical Age Theory (CAT) holds that ageism is systemic.*
It begins to affect you the day you're no longer carded for an alcohol purchase.
Things go downhill from there.
By your late 60s (my age), ageism rears its ugly head every day.
Waitresses give you the senior discount without asking; kids hold open doors for you; your mailbox is stuffed with offers for long-term care; your spam filter is clogged with emails about ED; and all the TV and Facebook ads feature Tom Selleck.
Worse, whenever you're asked for the name of your employer, the only answer the clerk will accept is "retired."
I'm not retired; and never will be, Lord willing.
I'm unbundled.
To be unbundled is to be part of the gig economy.
A perhaps creaky part, but a part nonetheless.
Currently, I consult to clients; advise three nonprofit boards; tutor a high-schooler; write occasionally for magazines; and, first and foremost, paint original still lifes in oil.
Just ask the IRS whether I'm "retired."
I have no issue with anyone who's really retired, but only with those binary people who believe everyone over 60 must be retired, when in truth a lot of us are unbundled.
Why isn't that on your form, punk?
*NOTE: Bob James' Critical Age Theory (CAT) is not to be confused with linguist Eric Lenneburg's Critical Age Theory. The latter pertains to children; the former, to geezers. Lenneburg's theory is, in addition, widely accepted, while James' theory is still controversial.
