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How to survive working at a startup when you’re as old as dirt
Your battle scars were hard-earned, and your experiences go a long way towards fitting in.
I had been building this day up for a while. Finally, I would be honest with my coworkers. I had been considering telling them for the past few years, and I decided to finally let everyone know the truth. I was going to let all the 20 and 30-year-olds at the startup where I worked how old I actually was. I was as old as dirt.
We made a pretty big deal about birthdays in my department. Someone would sneak out and buy a cake, then another person would schedule everyone for a vague sounding meeting at 3:00 PM in the lounge. But we all knew what the meeting was for.
3:00 PM arrived, and we all headed to the lounge. They sang happy birthday, and we were eating the chocolate mousse cake and chatting away. This was my chance to finally let them know. I decided I wasn’t going to just blurt it out, I would wait for a moment to weave it into the conversation. That moment never came, and everyone went back to their desks. I was kind of relieved, but I knew the truth, I lacked the courage to talk about my age at work.
I was concerned I would be treated differently, and it might affect my position with the company. No one…
