Great Job Pops

Confronting Age Bias with Grace and a Good Jab

At sixty-eight, I still show up to kickboxing class ready to work, sometimes five times a week. Last week, I found myself next to a young woman who appeared to be new. I recognized that tentative look—the one we all have when we’re trying something unfamiliar and wondering if we belong. So I did what seemed natural: I smiled, offered some encouragement, and tried to make her feel welcome in the space.

After class, she approached me with a smile. “Great job, Pops,” she said. I stood there for a moment, unsure whether I’d just received a compliment or been politely told to keep my distance. Had my friendliness been misinterpreted as something else? Or was this simply her way of acknowledging that yes, she’d noticed I was old, but thanks anyway for the encouragement?

---

---

The same day, I headed to what I thought was open pickleball, only to discover a tournament in progress. “You know,” the director (about my age I’m guessing) said, prefacing his explanation about a scheduling app I’d missed, “you know how to use an iPhone, right?” The condescension hung in the air like humidity before a storm.

Here’s what struck me: I worked for Unisys back when computers filled entire rooms. I was navigating internets and intranets and complex systems when many of today’s tech-confident twenty-somethings were still in diapers—or not yet born. Yet somehow, gray hair (in my case white hair) has become shorthand for technological incompetence.

Aging and the Culture

These moments reveal something deeper about how we view aging in our culture. We’ve created a peculiar set of stereotypes where older adults are simultaneously invisible and hyper-visible. We’re dismissed as out of touch, yet scrutinized when we dare to occupy spaces traditionally reserved for younger people. We’re patronized with terms like “Pops” or met with surprise when we demonstrate basic competencies.

The challenge lies in how to respond to these micro-aggressions—because that’s what they are—with grace while also maintaining dignity. I’ve learned that humor often disarms tension better than confrontation.

When someone expresses surprise at my iPhone proficiency, I might say, “I was building websites before smartphones were even imagined, but I appreciate your concern.” It’s factual, it’s light, and it gently reminds people that their assumptions might need updating.

For the “great job, Pops” moments, I’ve chosen to give people the benefit of the doubt while setting gentle boundaries. A simple “I appreciate that, though you can call me Anthony” works wonders. It’s direct without being harsh, and it educates without lecturing.

Stereotypes Hurt Everyone

The deeper truth is that these stereotypes hurt everyone. When we assume older adults can’t learn new technology, we rob them of opportunities and ourselves of their wisdom. When we’re surprised to see a sixty-eight-year-old in a kickboxing class, we limit our own imagination about what aging can look like.

I’ve come to see these interactions as teaching moments—both for others and for myself. They remind me to examine my own biases about age, ability, and belonging.

They push me to respond with patience rather than defensiveness, understanding that most people aren’t being malicious; they’re simply operating within a cultural framework that hasn’t caught up to reality.

So I keep showing up—to kickboxing, to pickleball, to life. I keep learning new apps and new moves. And when someone calls me “Pops” with that particular inflection, I smile and remember: I’m not proving anything to them. I’m simply living proof that their assumptions are outdated. And that, perhaps, is the most powerful response of all.

#AgingGracefully #ActiveAging #Ageism #Over60AndThriving #SeniorFitness
#NeverTooOld #AgeiIJustANumber #HealthyAging #FitnessAtAnyAge #60Plus

#Kickboxing #PickleballLife #SilverSneakers #AgingWell #StayActive
#FitOver60 #GrayPower #GenXFitness #BabyBoomerFitness #LifelongFitness

#EndAgeism #AgeDiscrimination #GenerationalWisdom #ElderWisdom #RedefineAging

---