Age has its advantages
Here I go, sounding old. I see young docs, nurses, and physical therapists staring at their phone and I think they have no idea how far we have come. I still remember the novel technology called the clock radio. Or a digital calculator, which my brother said would make it so that no one would need to learn long division.
Most people under 50 have no idea of the revolutionary novelty of cable television. In a single day, my house went from two-and-a-half television channels (CBS, NBC and occasionally ABC) to over 30 channels.
I was mid-puberty at the time; my parents didn’t get HBO with its R-rated movies (which, to a 12-year-old boy, meant nudity). My friend Mike showed how to move the controls to almost get a snowy HBO. We spent an entire Saturday night in my basement trying to see “Animal House,” squinting through horizontal flashing lines for over an hour before we had the sheer thrill of seeing an actual naked belly button flickering on the television screen and seconds later what looked like part of a nude female breast (although I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t actually just an ear).
One thing we should all agree with is that it is most wise to stand up for seniors.
I walk around the hospital and realize that most of the people I see think clock radios, electronic calculators and on-demand TV have been around since the dawn of time. It used to be, I was the same age as most of my colleagues, but now a lot of them refer to me as
“Dr. Gaudio” instead of Jon. One young doctor said, “It’s out of respect.” He might as well have said, “Because you’re an old fart.”
Thing is, I don’t feel old. I don’t think my Mom (84) and Dad (85) are old either. They both continue to work and both still see patients. My Pop has gray hair, moves slowly and needs a hearing aid, but he’s still the best ophthalmologist I know, and I call him regularly when I have a medical question about the eye. My Mom is one of the most insightful family therapists there is.
I hear about older colleagues around the country, my mentors who have been asked to step down because of their age, in spite of their razor-sharp minds. And yet, when I have a complex medical conundrum, I usually am calling them for advice and wisdom, rather than the younger, slicker crowd.
I similarly get frustrated when people (usually people who don’t like President Biden) paint him as some doddering old fool. I do not say this to defend any of his policies or views, many of which I disagree with. But it’s both lazy and foolish to discount someone as stupid or demented simply because he walks, looks and acts like an 80-year-old. Fifty years of experience gives anyone — politician or doctor or nurse — a savviness that youth cannot have. This was on display during the State of the Union Address. Biden accused some Republicans of wanting to abolish Social Security and Medicare. Older, more savvy Republicans were wisely silent. The younger hotheads, by contrast, stomped, yelled and protested. Biden smiled and agilely said that he was glad to hear that they agreed with him and then said, “Let’s all stand up for seniors!” During the bipartisan standing ovation, he put them all on record as saying they would not try to sundown Medicare or Social Security.
I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Biden’s position. Rather, I am merely pointing out that his performance was not that of a doddering old fool with dementia, but rather an astute, slick politician who has honed his craft over 50 years.
One thing we should all agree with is that it is most wise to stand up for seniors.