Ageism, schmageism.

As you might expect from a 44 year old copywriter who has been in the ad business for more than 30 years, I hear a lot of griping from fellow copywriters and art directors.

Invariably, they yack about ageism.

Guess what?
I'll have none of it.
None.

Oh I have my fair share of beefs regarding today's crop of younger creatives and I'll make any number of references to the way things were better in the past (they were) but what I won't do is chalk up any slow periods or missed gigs or agency slights, to the growing number of candles on my birthday cake --I'll be adding another one this Thursday.

That's not to say ageism doesn't exist.

It does.

But there's fuck-all I can do about it. If an agency wants to stack their roster with writers who don't know the difference between there/they're/their, that's their prerogative. Not the Creative Director's choice, mind you. It's more the direction of the CFO who must account for every bean and send the ever-thinning profits to the capos at the NY holding company office.

Besides, last week I just wrapped up a gig, concluding 7 consecutive weeks of work. And I have two more projects softly scheduled in the very near future. So maybe it's the optimism talking.

Or, maybe it's something else.

Or maybe it's something my father, who grew up poor on the hard scrabble streets of the South Bronx, left me. A pugilistic nature. His was forged in the heat of post WWII anti-semitism. Though hardly religious and quite nihilistic, he took great pride in being MOT. And I suspect that any thug on Jerome Avenue who had the temerity to call him a "dirty Jew", walked away with a bloody nose.

Quick aside, anyone naive enough to believe anti-semitism is a thing of the past should look into the recent documents uncovered by Rachel Maddow and her investigation of Spiro Agnew. As recently as 1988, the former Vice President of the United States of America was promising to "destroy the Jews" and smash their world domination. Tired of Holocaust movies and alleged victimization? Too bad.

And so it is with ageism.

It is to be met with fierce determination. A fight worth fighting.
Nose to nose.
Toe to toe.
Keyboard to keyboard.

I'm a freelancer and I will hang up my cleats when I choose to hang up my cleats. And not a moment or a manifesto, anthem spot, two page spread, outdoor board, banner ad, brand activation event or worthless Instagram scavenger hunt, too soon.

What I won't do is complain about ageism.

I'm too old for that shit.