Today, I went to a real estate office to get some brochures and realty magazines for a friend's mother. She's thinking of moving back to North Carolina from Illinois, and therefore wanted some information. She doesn't have internet at home, so it's a real hassle for her to go all the way to her local library to get online. Therefore, I was happy to oblige and snail mail her some information that she could use.
When I got to the realty office, the lady looked at me like she was extremely confused when I asked for some realty magazines. She gave me the ones that she had in the office, and then said "you'd be much better off searching online." I said, "Well, these are for someone else, and she doesn't really get online that often." The lady gave me a knowing look, and said, "Oh, is she old?"
Well, my friend's mom isn't old. She's the same age as my mom, and my mom could definitely get online and search real estate listings if she wanted to. It just so happens that she doesn't have internet, so this is an issue of access, not of age. It was interesting to me, because we talk so much about access and those who are more inclined to use technology than others. It just shows how much this stereotype is perpetuated-- if someone doesn't use a computer, they must be old.
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