I would have agreed with you at 57. Now that I’m 70, it’s a different story. I’ve been fortunate to avoid most extreme physical ills and I continue to have things I’m passionate about, like writing. But I have to acknowledge the older I get, the more extreme the ageism I run into. For instance, today I went into a used book/record store where lots of people were hanging around. They looked pretty much the way I used to at 20, 35, 50, 60. But their responses to me indicated immediately they saw only an old lady, and they assumed we had nothing in common. This occurs more and more. I don’t need to say a word to see the shutter come down in their eyes, their avoidance of interaction, or even their hyper-courtesy. Maybe by 80 my eyesight will be so bad I won’t notice, ditto my hearing, and I’ll be in a walker so I can simply run into them.