I am appalled at the ageist comments I am reading.

[DFW]

101. I wasn't going to get involved in this discussion, but you are SO right!!!!!

I'm 72, still working full time, usually in a different country every day, in a demanding, but rewarding job. I have good support staff in Holland and Texas, some help from my guys in France and Switzerland, but I do over 95% of the work myself. I have been looking for a successor for close to two decades, but I can't find anyone with the (admittedly exotic and stringent) requirements and willingness to put in my hours. Nice six figure salary, six weeks paid vacation (expandable at your discretion), you'd think there would be 30-40 somethings lined up around the corner, but, nope. Not a soul. I joined my outfit 49 years ago at age 23, and asked for a lot of freedom and latitude, and was told, "if you can make it work, you got it!" From just me working out of my then-girlfriend's apartment (she is now my wife) in the Ruhr Valley on a sporadic basis, I now run offices in several European countries, and coordinate with the USA and Hong Kong offices. There have been the occasional tentative tries, but no one able to keep the pace, speak the necessary languages, obtain the necessary residence papers and work permit, gain the necessary knowledge. Am I too old to be doing this, keeping up this pace? Maybe. But if I am, how come no one half my age is knocking at our door, given the salary and benefits? After all, I'm way too old to be effective, and obviously past my prime. Right?

By the way, here in Germany, the press tried to knock Angela Merkel as "alt und verbraucht"--old and used up. Oh, really? Then how come she was elected to four consecutive terms as chancellor, and could have had a fifth term if she had wanted it?