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Works Newsletter December 2002 maturityworksvictoria@canada.com Web Site http://maturityworksvictoria.50megs.com
Maturity Works Society is dedicated to support and inform all persons
over 40 years of age concerned with employment and career options in our
rapidly transforming socio-economic society.
It’s been a dynamic year for Maturity Works! We became incorporated, had a great Summer Solstice Dance, a very successful garage sale and most precious has been the recognition of our cause from the City of Victoria, with the Special Projects Grant. We have also received wonderful support from members of the public, corporations including Walmart, Safeway, Thrifty Foods and service providers such as Workstreams…the list is growing to our delight!
We also want wish all members, supports and each and every Victorian, a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year. We look forward to serving Victorians for years to come. Brigit K O’Leary, Community Relations and Development.
Employers can rely on older people often because these people have built their self-esteem, they’re extremely reliable, surprisingly flexible and a lot of employers just underestimate the personal qualities of older workers.
Devin Gosper, International
Olympic Committee Vice President, Australia
Breaking the Mold -
New Images of the Elderly in Film.
Submitted by Dennis
Eberts and Connie Fraser
Dr. Walter Suess gave
a lecture titled Breaking the Mold: New
Images of the Elderly in Film, at the Victoria
Society for Humanistic Judaism. This is his third lecture at the VSHJ and
the good doctor made a point of mentioning how he considers Victoria a second
home, away from his stateside residence in Bellingham and a professorship at
the University of Western Washington. Dr. Walter Suess, of course, is not the
writer of such stories as The Cat In the
Hat and Horton Hatches An Egg.
That doctor passed away a few years ago.
Based a great deal on
Dr. Seuss' own experience aging and his great love of film, the lecture centred
on exerts from several feature films and the discussion these cinematic
masterpieces prompted with an audience of about thirty people (some elderly,
and most merely mature). I say masterpieces.
Many of these films
are award winning and, for the most part, are made
by foreign directors outside of mainstream of Hollywood. After stating that
"...aging is something we grow into, but nobody tells us how to do
it..." Dr. Suess showed a clip from the film Tatie Danielle, a film by Etienne Chatiliez. In it, an elderly woman
bosses her equally aged female servent. She tells her maid to go the grocer.
"Don't take the car, walk; and exercise the dog while your at it,"
the dominant woman orders her caregiver. She also demands that the poor, old,
servant polish the chandelier, and by the look on the serving lady's face, we
know the job is a dangerous one. As it turns out, the servant dies polishing
the chandelier and the mistress of the house must move to Paris. There, she
meets her match-- a younger woman who does not condone the negative, mean,
behavior of the elder woman. The elderly woman is able to confront the reason
for her past actions, which are a result of early widowhood and being forced to
live on a small pension. The second clip was
from a Hungarian film, The Shop On Main
Street. An elderly shopkeeper and a younger man speak to each other in her
shop. It turns out that it is during the Second World War and the authorities
send the man as some kind of Aryan watchdog. The woman strikes us as wiley --
she doesn't let on that she knows what might be going on and uses her perceived
notions of the elderly, bafflement and hearing loss, to confuse and frustrate
the Nazi official and to survive the upheaval in her community. Eventually,
however, she becomes another victim of the Nazi instigated holocaust, although her
end comes not like so many others of her society and religion. The official
kills her himself, to spare her the suffering of the death camps. The next film is The Boat is Full, a Swiss production
about Jewish refugees seeking asylum in Switzerland during the war. Everyone in
the family has failed in trying to communicate with a young boy. They wish him
to say he is six years old in the German language-- probably so the authorities
will get the impression that he is not Jewish. A grandfather is able to communicate
with his grandson distracting the child with mystery, childlike mannerisms and
animated antics. Pretending deaf and dumbness, he finally gets the boy to
respond by rewarding him with a sugar cube. The point of the
lecture was becoming apparent through the examples so far and the discussion
subsequently evoked among the audience. There seems to be neither old, nor
young. There are simply people of all ages. Everyone does what he or she must
to survive and exist. The elderly may be subject to the problems that come with
aging, but other than that, everyone is simply a part of this human world with
all its foibles. So far, there were no
stereotypical, cardboard figures of the elderly in these films. These people
are have lived many years and are subject to the diversity and individuality of
the human condition. Older people have a great deal to give and offer their
society and the people in their community. Others may take more and give back
less. And there are probably some who do nothing and simply wait to leave the
mortal realm, but are these characteristics of just older people. No. It is the
way all people are. To further illustrate,
Dr. Suess exhibits another clip of a German film shown called Fear Eats The Soul by the German
director Rainer Werner Fastbinder. An elderly woman has an affair with a much
younger man of Arab descent. Another film from Germany's Werner Hertzog titled Styozzek shows an old man who has
dropped everything to change his surroundings. He does this by going from
Germany (where he has spent his life) to America and occupies himself with
crackpot experiments in animal magnetism. Idiotic as his experiments seem, we
see he has a passion and fascination with this hobby. Therein lies the
lesson. How to live long? You must have a passion. Something that fascinates
and makes you wants Togo on living. Maybe it’s a hobby like pseudo scientism
experimentation as shown in Strozzek or finding a young man in your autumn
years as Emmy does in Fear Eats the Soul. Life and living has to turn you on in
some way. For many it is their work. But what happens when the work is finished
and forced retirement is upon us? As Emmy says in the Fastbinder film, "... Half our
lives are spent working." What happens when one loses such an important part
of our existence and the way we define ourselves. The next film shown by Dr.
Suess gives us some insight into this dilemma. The film is Ikuru, by the great Japanese director
Kurosawa. The elderly protagonist is diagnosed with cancer and seeks to find meaning
in his life before he dies. He has been recognized by his peers and fellow
workers as important, but when faced with a drawn out and painful death, his
job and life's work lose their cachet. He seeks the company of a young woman,
who finds the whole thing strange and upsetting, but the elderly man simply
wants to be near her because of her youth and vitality. Eventually he does find
meaning in a way that might seem small and inconsequential. But it is
symbolized in an extraordinary and touching way. Kurosawa certainly showed
masterful artistry in this monochrome film made back in the 1950s, and why he
is considered to be, arguably, the greatest of cinema directors. Kerosawa seems
to say that what we are in this life may surprise us. Others may tell us that
we are important or useless in this way or that. Perhaps our contribution to
our time here on earth is not recognized by anyone
or is considered great in
our lifetimes. Perhaps we are not sure what we have done that's good or worthy.
And like the protagonist in Ikuru,
what is important may surprise us. The last film is Company of Strangers, a Canadian film
(actually Quebecois), about a group of woman forced together on a bus journey
in Quebec. But time is running
out now and the lecture is adjourned. The films have provoked much discussion
with the Saturday afternoon audience. Perhaps they will try to get the films at
their local video store. Good luck. Shelf space at Blockbuster is devoted to
the big new films, like Spiderman and
Men in Black 2. And that's a shame,
as you'll see stereotypically depicted elderly people in those videos. The
directors of the films that Dr. Suess showed reveal the diversity and true
character of older people as profoundly as Shakespeare did with King Lear. They are really worth
searching and watching for. Powell Travel Design/Round Trip Vacations #324-645 Fort Street Victoria BC V8V 1G2 Phone
250-361-3777 fax 250-361-1770 Powell Travel Design is a team of professionals
dedicated to providing an outstanding travel experience. We boast a group of enthusiastic and
knowledgeable drivers, guides and agents of all ages, especially mature
workers. Round Trip Vacations has a number of “on call”
and part time guides who each have their own specialties in various interest,
hobbies and geographical areas. These
people are often retired or semi-retired individuals who are active and enjoy
meeting new people and having fun. They provide a wealth of new tour ideas and
are always willing to go the extra mile for the guests on board. Not only are these drivers and guides extremely
reliable, they are able to easily relate to our seniors groups and tours. Steve
Powell owner of Round Trip Vacations states “Many senior organizations trust
and rely on the services of our company.
Our passengers really appreciate the knowledge and life experience that
our mature guides bring to the tours.” Profile of a Tour Manager: Cal Cole Our most valuable assets come in the form of
our tour managers. These guides and driver/guides represent the sum of all the
homework and
preparation that goes into leading a successful tour. Cal Cole certainly fits the profile of our
guides; a mature active individual looking for a challenge and an opportunity
to share her skills and expertise while meeting new people. She has been a freelance guide since 1994 and
has lead tours to such exotic locales as Vienna, Prague, Hong Kong and
Budapest. Although her current tours
keep her a bit closer to home, she enjoys going the extra mile for the
participants. Cal’s dedication to each individual is evident
as she recounts past tours. “I like to tell people that they don’t just have to
sit at home. These tours give them the opportunity to be themselves again and
they experience a certain freedom that they may not have at home. I remember one man who kept “forgetting” to
use his cane he was having such a good time!” Despite the hard work and preparation behind
each tour, Cal believes it is all worth it in the end. “If you have a gift (skill), why not get out
and share it with someone else? It’s the little things that make the
difference”. The fact that our repeat
passengers will often ask if she is the tour guide is proof enough that Cal’s
determined efforts are paying off! Profile of a General Manager: Beverley Dragseth Beverley has been working with The Powell Travel
group since May 2002 and brings a wealth of diverse talents to the team. Her 22 years of experience in the Tourism
industry include accommodation and transportation, product development,
operations, customer service and marketing. As Powell Travel evolves into a full service
tour, travel and conference management company, new products are being added to
the existing services that they provide. Beverley has assisted in the creation
of a year round scheduled motor coach sightseeing operation as well as
coordinating marketing and sales initiatives for the group. After losing her job when the company she was
working for declared bankruptcy, Beverley had to look at the reality of
re-entering the job market as a “mature” worker. “I dedicated myself to spending 6 months taking a realistic
inventory of my skills and talents, researching the market and focusing on what
was important to me.” She
realized that bringing people and projects together and watching them grow and
sustain each other was a major motivator for her. This, as well as her
extensive experience in tourism, led Beverley to
start her own company as a tourism consultant. Beverley believes that success is about
building and maintaining relationships. Along with reliability and excellence in
communication and focusing on the task at hand you must keep an eye on the
ever-changing market demands. “I like to think I can help fill that niche.” “I personally believe that a mature employee
will enrich any work environment. Theory alone is great but life experience
cannot be taught it must
be earned. The
mature worker focuses on what they can do for you rather than what you can do
for them. Networking Gets You
Working!! Some helpful hints on Networking. 1.
Networking
starts at home. Tell friends, relatives
and acquaintances what you’re looking for. 2.
All contacts are important.
Your neighbor, roommate or plumber could lead you to the right
connection. 3.
Try to have your contact introduce you to the person you want to
meet. The meeting will go more smoothly
and your new contact will likely show more interest. 4.
Prepare for each meeting. Be
able to tell people what you do in a simple, interesting way. Rehearse questions about the industry, jobs
you could do and other contacts you could make. 5.
Keep careful notes, include name, address, phone number, email address,
date and details of conversation and names of other leads. 6.
Join a professional or community organization. Get involved in activities that let you
personality and skills shine through. 7.
Go to social and business events and mingle. Networking doesn’t happen just because you are physically there. 8.
Volunteering can help you acquire both experience and job-related
skills. It’s a way to try out different
types of jobs and puts you in touch with a new set of people. 9.
Leave a resume only if you’re asked. 10. Collect business
cards. On the back record the date,
occasion, what you talked about and why you were interested. 11. Don’t
automatically accept everything you hear.
It may on be one person’s perspective. 12. Show your
appreciation by writing thank-you notes to everyone who helps you. Give key contacts regular progress
reports. Help people you meet by giving
them information or ideas. Give now and
you’re sure to receive down the road. 13. There is no script
to follow. You decide what you’re
comfortable doing and saying. Coming Events…. AGM
will be held in February, location and date TBA You
know you're living in the 02's when: THIS ADVERTISING SPACE IS AVAILABLE FOR YOU!
Employer of the
Month
e mail: info@roundtrip.com www.powelltraveldesign.com
JEST FOR FUN
different companies.
terminate the interview when told of the starting salary.
computers".