It’s not an “accusation.” It’s personal experience. In fact, more than one of the “interviewers” was pretty explicit about it. It was made quite clear, that, even if I was hired, I’d be treated pretty badly.

Not only that, I think that younger folks would also be treated fairly badly, and that the workplace, in general, has changed dramatically from what I knew. It seems a far colder, more hostile environment than it used to be. People make a lot of money these days, but it appears that comes with a human cost.

It made the decision to stop looking for work, fairly easy. I want to keep doing what I do, but I don’t want to deal with my work being treated badly.

Despite its illegality, many firms are quite open about ageism. There was one, in NYC, that used to run ads, that basically said “Bros only.” May still be running them. I don’t know (It was one of those places that has a permanent “Help Wanted” sign). You would not see the same, wrt to race, religion, or gender.

It’s an open secret, and SV plastic surgeons are doing great business on Friday neck-pulls.

But it’s no longer my problem. I’ve been doing a lot of work for free, for outfits that can’t afford folks like me, and it’s really been a great experience. I’ve probably done more work, in the last seven years, than I did, in the twenty before. My GH activity graph is pretty green, and it’s not difficult to see what I’m up to. The scope of my work is necessarily smaller, but I stay busy, and learn new stuff, every day. It’s a joy.

I’m quite fortunate that I had the means to drop out. I would not have made the decision to do it on my own, and needed to be pushed from the nest, so it has all been good.

I made the decision, some time ago, to not return the favor. I try to treat others with respect and kindness, whether or not they choose to respond in kind. I try to model the behavior I would like to see more of in others. I’m quite capable of being a real troll, but find that type of behavior to be emotionally corrosive (both to me, and to others). It doesn’t improve anything.

This is a professional venue. I may not be looking for work, but many others are, and I’d like to support them in treating others well, and finding the joy and rewards in the work and the personal relationships we make, as I was fortunate enough to do. It’s been a signal Honor to work with some of the people I’ve assisted. I have found that looking at others as teachers and potential friends, as opposed to competitors, has made my career richer.

I would suggest that decent behavior here, could translate into great opportunity. There’s a lot of very influential people that hang out here, and I’m sure that they pay attention to how we play with others.

It's also entirely possible that I'm just a "quaint anachronism," and that today's workplace is more akin to Gladiator, than I'd like to admit. I hope that I'm wrong.