By Mark Harvey

I told you last week that I wasn’t at all convinced that I was done, and I promise that next week I’ll revert to something that is genuinely helpful — but I think it does at least some of us some good to look around (and ahead, and maybe even behind) to understand where it is we think we are.

And where we’re going.

Yes, “we,” because that’s the only way that we’ve ever gotten anywhere: together.

To restate the basic premise: Aging is not an affliction; it’s an achievement. It is not a problem that needs solving, nor is it a demographic that needs to be deplored. It’s a reality that needs to be acknowledged, understood and (yes, I purposely used the term) exploited.

So, I don’t want to talk about the growth of the senior population as though it were an infestation just waiting for the miracle of a Pied Piper. I want to talk about the ascension of Elderhood … and I want to do it with a smile.

Try employment: I’ve heard some employers worrying themselves to death because they can’t find qualified, trained, responsible employees with some reasonable degree of work ethic, and I can’t help but wonder if they’re just not looking in the right places. There is an amazing amount of talent, knowledge, experience and energy walking around these parts! They just happen to be retired, or close to it, or older than last week’s People magazine — so, maybe we need to rethink how we structure our jobs.

For instance, what about split shifts, to allow for caregiving? What about a quality adult day care program (perhaps funded by a cooperative of employers) that allows a caregiver to focus on your business for a few hours? Maybe that’s more important than a big dollar sign.

Maybe an employer-provided Medicare supplemental policy is more important than a big dollar sign. Maybe job-sharing takes on more day-to-day relevance. Or what about telecommuting? These folks were responsible enough to work to retirement, so they’re now going to suddenly start ripping you off? I don’t think so.

Or what about an opportunity to voice an opinion about the business/service/product/enterprise? I didn’t say “decision-making,” I said a voice. You could be shooting yourself in the proverbial financial foot by ignoring what someone has learned over 50 years of experience. What about restructuring our jobs to be less consistently physically taxing or mind-numbingly boring? Spread the grief around and see what happens.

Or what about treating people with some genuine respect? OK, you’re right, I’m dancing on the brink of heresy once again.

Try another one: volunteering. I’ve heard it said that the current and on-deck Elder generations just aren’t volunteering the way their parents did; well, (a) I don’t believe that, based on what I see; and (b) if that is true, what does it tell you? It tells me that we (yeah, “we,” as in “me, too”) haven’t figured out how to make what we need done attractive, palatable and meaningful enough to appeal to the folks for whom we want to work without pay (let’s call it what it is).

Try repeating that to yourself: work without pay. When you put it that way, it’s a little easier to understand why these “jobs” need to be “attractive.” Maybe folks don’t want to join our little organizations and fill out our reams of forms and come to our little meetings. Maybe what they want to do is rock the babies or walk the dogs or cut the firewood or take Mrs. Jones for her MRI or help people understand health insurance or help reduce loneliness in nursing homes … and then go home.

Here’s what I know: Insisting upon doing the same things in the same ways when our entire culture, country and world is changing before our very eyes is probably not going to work — at least, not for long.

So, the next time you hear some talking head instructing you about how the “gross national product cannot sustain the current aging infrastructure,” agree with them, because they’re right. It can’t, and it shouldn’t. That was then and this is now, so go peek into a mirror and tell me whose future you see.

Elders aren’t the problem; they’re the solution.

Mark Harvey is the director of information and assistance for the Olympic Area Agency on Aging. He can be reached by email at harvemb@dshs.wa.gov; by phone at 360-532-0520 in Aberdeen, 360-942-2177 in Raymond, or 360-642-3634; or through Facebook at Olympic Area Agency on Aging-Information & Assistance.