A woman recently sued her employer for age discrimination. One of her colleagues at the publishing company, road testing a car, commented in the review that the car had "comfy wheels for a grandmother".
She is 62 and ... a grandmother.
She complained to a tribunal that it had been "a dig at my age".
The tribunal threw the case out, So far so good.
The Tribunal Judge, however, ruled that the words in the review amounted to "detrimental treatment" and was therefore "direct discrimination" under the law. Idiot.
I have instructed lawyers to write to my sons regarding their frequent use of the phrase "old man". Boys, please desist. Further, in emails to my grandsons my lawyers say that the use of "grandad" and "grandpa" is no longer appropriate and that I must henceforth be referred to as "bro" or "dude".
What a strange world we live in.
Suspect this is the author stirring with a long spoon knowing his readership.
ReplyDeleteBut - with respect you’re all wrong. It’s not the ageism that really grates, but the sexism. I bet the reviewer wouldn’t have said ‘comfy wheels for a grandad’.
And seriously I think we all need to be careful about ageism; descriptors such as spry, sprightly or feisty are never used about young people, and likewise only young people are described as going through a phase or entitled youngsters.
And if any of my four grandsons call me anything other than Granny, I shall be very vexed. But they and only they are allowed to use that title - because it’s accurate for them and no one else.