Ageism

One of the things I've observed since retired is daily life in my neighborhood since I spend more time there during the work day.  I have seen my neighborhood transition through age groups: when we moved in over thirty years go we were some of the youngest, transplanting some of the original home owners in the neighborhood.  Now, with adult kids dispersed in different time zones, we are some of the oldest living side by side with the new newest, who, like us in the past, have kids.

A neighborhood should be have a wide range of ages, from newly marries jogging with infants in strollers to olders pruning their shrubs.  However, what I observe, is the lack of everyday conversations among the various age groups.

Maybe this is a concomitant of the Robert Frost New England 'good fences make good neighbors' ethos.  We did not find this when we lived in other parts of the country as we felt not being acquainted or friends with people old enough to be our parents or our children is a form of discrimination.  I'm not saying social age segregation (SAS) is as insidious as racism or sexism, but it is a limiting factor in our social horizons.

So invite someone for a beer, assuming they are of legal age, offer them some of your perennial plants, and listen to their concerns on issues in the public schools, etc.  Expand your visions.