Keep on rolling..

The Hammer and the Betamax: Keep on rolling Through a World That Wants You to Stop

The gap between pension age policy and the social devaluation of the aging workforce. 

I was writing a different post when a client confronted me today. He was totally baffled. At 62 years old, he cannot find a meaningful job—not even as a volunteer.

The Dutch government, in its infinite spreadsheet wisdom, decided to set the pension age at 67-plus. The system says: “Keep working.” But the market reality says: “You are obsolete.”

He told me, “Everywhere I find youngsters, and they treat me as a charity case. But give me a hammer, and I fix things. They just look at me and say: ‘Opa, nowadays, a hammer is not what we use.’”

The Betamax Memory

That phrase—“Grandpa, a hammer is not what we use”—hit me hard. It reminded me of my mother.

She got divorced at age 69 in 1987. Trying to be helpful, we gave her a Betamax video player. She had no clue how to use it. I remember, to my shame, being annoyed. “Mama, it’s so simple, why don’t you get it?”

We are doing something cruel to people. It is not just that we let them suffer; it is that we play games with their time. We extend the finish line of their working lives, but we remove the ground beneath their feet. We have “knowledge” and digital tools, but no patience for the skill that doesn’t require an update.

Find Your Wheels

I looked at my client, and the energy of the Rolling Stones came to mind.

You feel dizzy in this new world. You feel out of place. But you ain’t drunk. The world has just spun away from you. The advice I wanted to give him—and myself—is the spirit of the track Start Me Up. Find your wheels. Accept the role. And keep on rolling.

If the “Senate” won’t give you the job, build your own road. Smile at their confusion, grip your hammer, and keep moving.