Outsmarting the geezer

Here is an old geezer joke.

A “geezer” (old man) became very bored in retirement and decided to open a medical clinic.

He put a sign up outside that said: “Dr. Geezer’s clinic. Get your treatment for $500. If not cured, get back $1,000.”

Doctor Young (who was positive that this old geezer didn’t know beans about medicine) thought this would be an excellent opportunity to get $1,000, so he went to Dr. Geezer’s clinic.

Dr. Young: “Dr. Geezer, I have lost all taste. Can you please help me??”

Dr. Geezer: “Nurse, please get five drops from the bottle from drawer 12 and put it in Dr. Young’s mouth.”

Dr. Young: “Aaagh! – This is gasoline!”

Dr. Geezer: “Congratulations! You’ve got your taste back. That will be $500.”

Dr. Young gets annoyed and goes back after a couple of days, figuring to recover his money.

Dr. Young: “I have lost my memory; I cannot remember anything.”

Dr. Geezer: “Nurse, please bring the bottle from drawer 12 and put three drops in the patient’s mouth.”

Dr. Young: “Oh, no, you don’t – that’s gasoline!”

Dr. Geezer: “Congratulations! You’ve got your memory back. That will be $500.”

Dr. Young (now having lost $1,000) leaves angrily and comes back after several more days.

Dr. Young: “My eyesight has become weak – I can hardly see anything!!!”

Dr. Geezer: “Well, I don’t have any medicine for that, so here’s $1,000 back.” (giving him a $10 bill)

Dr. Young: “But this is only $10!”

Dr. Geezer: “Congratulations! You got your vision back! That will be $500.”

The moral of the story: Just because you’re “Young” doesn’t mean that you can outsmart an “old Geezer.”

There was a time when young people would look at old people (50 and above) as “geezers,” which technically speaking is a derogatory term for people in their senior years perceived as obsolete, “has-beens,” irrelevant, etc., and were stereotyped this way.

I will never forget an incident when speaking in front of about 150 participants in the audience. This younger speaker (about eight years my junior) interrupted my presentation with a distasteful joke insulting me about my age and how old I am (compared to him). There was little laughter from the room as the intelligent crowd knew how insulting and offensive the remark was. But generally, that was the prevailing attitude at that time. Young people looked at older adults as irrelevant, useless, and unproductive.

Things are different today. Generation Z (entering the workplace) is not so much concerned with the “age” of their leaders. They admire, respect, and are excited to learn from the “geezers” who stay relevant with today’s times and exhibit wisdom from their words and behavior. Perhaps the young ones today are better informed and more exposed to the world such that with all the tons of data they are absorbing every day, they need to borrow wisdom and they long to learn from the experiences and the insights of the older ones.

As I constantly harp in my Level Up Leadership Master Class training program, “mentoring today is a two-way street.” Leaders in their senior years should invest in the young generation. Share their insights, talk about their experiences (not repetitively), and encourage the young people to be better and do better. Senior leaders should also be taught and trained by the young, specifically digital technology.

Many people in their senior years today continue to exhibit curiosity and wonder. They make good leaders. They are investing in the young, and they continue to develop themselves. They never get to the point of saying, “been there, done that.” They continue to learn, and they are very excited about life. They are called: “A people with a twinkle in their wrinkle.” They find life exciting and live it meaningfully. I like what singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffet say” “their wrinkles will only go where the smiles have been.”

There are lots of younger people who have lost the twinkle. Complacent to the core, they may still have a lot of physical years ahead of them, but they are not productive and useful. Instead of growing and developing themselves, they have preferred to rest on their past achievements and deteriorate into stagnancy. Strangely, these are the same people who would be critical, cynical, skeptical, and always feel like they are victims of life’s unfairness and injustice.

Poet Jules Renard says: “It’s not how old you are. It’s how you are old.” Someone says: “Age is simply the number of years the world has been enjoying you!” So chill. Continue to be productive and put that twinkle in your wrinkle.

(Francis Kong runs his Level Up Leadership 2.0 Master Class Online on May 24, 25, and, 26. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)