I’m Not Dead Yet!

by Steve Radford

One of my favorite scenes from the 1975 comedy, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, depicted a medieval village during a terrible plague. A man is leading a cart down the narrow street loaded with corpses and yelling out “bring out your dead”.

Out of a doorway comes a young fellow with an elderly man slung over his shoulder. “Here’s one!” he yells and offers up the standard payment. The old man raises his head and objects “I’m not dead”, which stalls the transaction and leads to a funny exchange between the undertaker and the younger man. “I’m getting better”, the old man offers. But the young guy is determined to unload the old fellow as hopeless.

If you’re over fifty and especially if you’re over fifty and looking for a new job, you may feel like the old man in the Monty Python movie. No matter what you have done or can still do, it feels like someone is determined to toss you on the undertaker’s wagon.

Don’t buy it. If you’re still breathing, raise your head and proclaim that you’re not dead. Each of those wrinkles represents a tough problem solved. Each gray hair, a stressful situation endured.

Don’t get discouraged. Use your experience to overcome. If you’re worried because others can text, tweet and chacha faster than you, hire a fourteen year old kid to teach you how. It will cost you a couple bucks for a burger and Coke and probably take about ten minutes to learn. And it will give you a slight advantage over most of your peers.

While you have the kid’s attention, take an extra five minutes to teach them to have a firm handshake and look people in the eye when conversing. It will give them a slight advantage over most of their peers.

You have solved problems, resolved conflicts and devised solutions without the benefit of the internet. You can find your way to the grocery store without a GPS. You can calculate percentages in your head without the benefit of a laptop. You know how to improvise.

So stay sharp, keep learning and keep going up stairs two at a time. The world needs you to stay engaged. Never give up. You’re not dead yet.

Originally published on SearchWarp.com for Steve Radford Sunday, May 31, 2009

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