Nov 4, 2009 12:39 am US/Eastern
How Not To Act Old: Avoid Cosmos, Voicemail
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Growing old; it's a concept few of us relish.
That's why we spend millions coloring our hair, whitening our teeth and buying cosmetics to make us feel young.
But according to Pamela Redmond Satran, author of the New York Times best-selling book "
How Not to Act Old", little things you do every day could make you appear older than you really are.
"I started to notice things that were sort of a new generation of ways of acting old," she said.
We decided to try Pamela's advice on a group of 40-somethings we met at the hip new Tamo bar at the Seaport Hotel.
1. DON'T WEAR A WATCH
We had everyone roll up their sleeves and sure enough, all five were wearing a watch.
"Almost no younger people wear watches and most older people do. It's definitely something that says old," Satran said.
Young people always have their phone handy and they rely on it for time.
2. DON'T LEAVE A VOICE MAIL
Satran says younger people never leave messages and they never listen to them.
Once again, our group of women failed that test as well.
They all said they leave messages.
3. DON'T DRINK COSMOS
'Sex and The City' made them cool and sophisticated, but according to Satran they are a no-no.
"It's the official drink of menopausal women," she said.
Cosmos happen to be a favorite of one of the women we talked to.
She wasn't willing to give them up, old or not.
COST YOU A JOB?
Before you start thinking this is all fun and games acting old could cost you a job opportunity.
Kathy Robinson is a career counselor but she worked for years as a corporate recruiter.
"Someone would come in who was a certain age and the manager would say, totally illegally, this person seems too old. Then someone would come in a few days later who was actually older and they would say, this is the perfect person," she said.
Kathy now works with her clients to say current.
4. NO LONG FORMAL EMAILS IN YOUR JOB SEARCH
Kathy says she has to work with many of her older clients to make their writing more casual.
"Older workers come across as too formal and their style of writing is a little stilted," she said.
5. CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
Even your email address can give you away.
"If you have an AOL email address or a Hotmail address, that kind of flags you as someone who is a little out of touch," she said.
If you want a young email address stick with Gmail, Verizon.net or Comcast.net.
OTHER TIPS
Don't ask for directions.
Young people have a GPS or a phone with a GPS
Don't fumble through your large purse for your wallet or ringing cell phone.
When someone is waiting for your parking spot, don't take forever to pull out.
After considering all that advice, our group of friends decided growing older is not all that bad, but they might want to think twice before ordering that next cosmo.
What do you think?
Join the conversation in our Declare Your Curiosity blog.
For more information and tips, check out
Pam's popular blog.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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