Kungfu, I absolutely understand what you are saying. I am the wrong side of 60 in pretty much that position. I have a son half my age, who is a furloughed Captain and like so many other people, desperately worried about the future for himself and his family. I have a lot of friends who are putting a brave face on their situation and doing whatever they can to minimise the inevitable damage, and again the huge burden of insecurity and worry is something they often try and mask. Not a day goes by when I’m not whatsapping or emailing or otherwise “chatting” with so many colleagues and friends from my past and present whose ages range from their twenties to well ahead of mine, and everywhere in-between. The common factor is fear.
Fear often makes us appear (and sometimes act) very selfish, since it is naturally instinctive to want to put ourselves and our families first. That is just how we are wired and our societal norms require a conscious modification of the natural behavioural response. This crisis (and it is a “biggie” but not the first or last,) is a “Titanic!” There simply aren’t enough lifeboats! The archetypal pilot in their twenties or thirties can make a case for all those above him/her recognising his/hers vulnerability in the career ladder. Those in their Forties with (often) large life debts (mortgages/kids/seniority/etc.) can see the compelling case where the young are flexible enough to start again, and the old have had their day and should be pushed out on the ice flows. Those in their Fifties and Sixties see the career cul-de-sac looming large on the horizon and the need to rectify the realities of what life has actually thrown their way.
We are conditioned to believe the “Sun life” and “Werthers originals” marketing, where we work until the magic day we don our tweed and start clipping the roses outside of our thatched cottage in the country, waiting for the tray of tea and biscuits to provide a natural welcome break. Unfortunately (like every other stage of life) the reality is often something far removed from the cultivated image.
I’m afraid (and often glad) that we don’t always get to choose who sits in the lifeboats. Nevertheless, whoever doesn’t should be shown help and compassion, and as an intelligent generic group (go with me on this!) we have the resources to compromise with our actual solutions.