Still Booming in Silicon Valley Despite Age Discrimination
I can read your mind: "Ok, Boomer, tell us all about how life's unfair and we'll try not to roll our eyes."Working in Silicon Valley since the Dot Com boom-nearly 25 years, I've been extremely fortunate and very privileged as a straight white American male with a Theatre degree to carve out a writing career in high-tech marketing and still be around after all these years.
But I didn't realize how privileged I was until a couple of years ago when — for the first time in my life — I had the bitter personal experience of being discriminated against. It was age discrimination. Ageism. I'd heard about it, especially in relation to the Valley's supposed obsession with youth, but I'd never experienced it myself until 2016. I thought I was prepared for it, but I was honestly surprised by its subtle yet clear presence.
Not looking for your sympathy
Bear with me because I'm not sharing for your sympathy but rather with the hope that by disclosing my experience perhaps it will help lead to better treatment and less ageism in the future when you get to be "old" like me.
Yes, I was in my 50s, but still in my prime. (And I still am!) I guess that's why I was a bit surprised by the treatment I got when I was interviewing for a marketing writing position at…
