Episode 8: I’m Not Your Dear Life’s Funny…Until It’s Not™ — Ageism, Part 1 of 4
It started with a word. My dentist called me “Dear” — twice — on his way out of the exam room, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it on the drive home.
That word has a name: elderspeak. It’s the slower pace, the singsong tone, the terms of endearment people use the moment they decide someone in front of them is “old” — and research shows it’s triggered by cues like gray hair or a birth year on a chart, not by how a person actually behaves.
In this episode, I trace that moment back through the Google searches that quietly told me I wasn’t the face marketers had in mind, and the slow realization that I’d started noticing things about how the world treats people my age that I never used to see. It’s the first of a four-part series on ageism — not because I have it all figured out, but because I think it’s a conversation worth having out loud.
Question of the Week: When was the last time someone’s tone or word choice made you feel your age instead of just your name? I’d love to hear your story — leave a comment or find me at R2RB.com.
🎧 Listen to the full episode below.
Life’s funny. Until it’s not. And then, somehow… it gets funny again.
© R2RB Network — Life’s Funny…Until It’s Not™
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