Regardless of the profession as soon as you get up in years there’s always some member of a younger generation ready to label you a “dinosaur.” Well, I prefer to refer to myself and others of my ilk more as “silverbacks.”
If you are unfamiliar with the term a silverback is a senior male gorilla named for the characteristic “silver hair” on their backs. The silverback is the center of the troop’s (5-30 gorillas) attention, making all the decisions, mediating conflicts, determining the movements of the group, leading the others to feeding sites and taking responsibility for the safety and well-being of the troop.
You see in the animal world, and in the one closest to the human race with DNA highly similar to that of Homo sapiens, age is highly respected. True, there have been some remarkable achievements by millennials but that doesn’t discount the successes of other silverbacks i.e. Warren Buffet still going strong at 84, Carl Icahn at 79, Michael Bloomberg at 73 not to mention some of the world leaders past and present who have flourished deep into their 60’s and beyond.
Dinosaurs are extinct. Silverbacks are only threatened by its most dangerous enemy; humans! We “human” silverbacks will continue to strive and thrive with or without the blessings of others!