the skills of a peace-keeper

Geraldine is a typical empty nest mom looking to throw herself into a career after years of sacrificing for her husband and children but she has been so frustrated by workplace ageism that she thinks her skills as a marital and family peace-keeper make her, and other wives like her, better fitted for a military career than younger people!

"I'm 54 and yet another empty-nest mom who expected her career to take off once her mothering duties ended, but even my skills as a peace-keeper are not appreciated at work," explains Geraldine, "and that's ridiculous because if there's something we empty-nest moms really excel at it has to be peace-keeping."

"We've managed to keep our husbands on the straight and narrow and stopped our kids from killing each other all these years, haven't we, so why aren’t these skills appreciated at work?"

"Seriously," adds Geraldine, "if employers continue discriminating against older women then society has to find useful employment for us. Once a woman’s children have reached adulthood, she’s free to travel and take on heavy responsibilities so why not put Mom’s Army into uniform and employ us in the Home Guard or employ us as international peace-keepers?"

“I believe that a high level of unemployment in any age group, especially the young, is a national and global tragedy,” says Geraldine, “and in older workers it’s a joke because the people who are pushing them out of jobs are likely to be their own children and grandchildren who have little of no experience.”

"I know that back in the sixties they promised us a future life of leisure," says Geraldine, "but unemployment is not my idea of leisure. As Mom's Army grows, as it will, taking in women from 35-up, there is definitely going to be a social revolution."

"The women in Mom's Army aren't going to be happy to retire to their rocking chairs at 60 like women in previous generations did," laughs Geraldine. "These women are rockers, movers and shakers!"

"Maybe when Mom’s Army gets so big that society can’t ignore us any more," laughs Geraldine, "we’ll become a powerful force. Hey, maybe we’ll take up arms and take over the world!"

"My husband agrees with me - naturally," laughs Geraldine. "He knows I'm right!"

Read more by Geraldine on this issue:

mom's army
Rolling over the oldies