My friend Margot went to a department store the other day to purchase some face cream. She picked up the product she normally uses and brought it to the counter. The cashier said that the cream was very good but redirected her to another cream in the same line stating that it was "perfect for skin over the age of 45" (let's leave cashier's emphasis and tone to our imaginations).

Margot does happen to actually be 45 but hadn't mentioned her age to the clerk. We could debate whether or not Margot looks 45 but then we'd have to empower someone to be the definitive judge of what 45 really looks like. We'd also likely have to have a template -- a 45 year old woman against whom all others would be compared. For the record, Margot is in awesome shape physically and is married to a man five years younger who's a tri-athelete. She's not exactly shuffling around with dowager's hump, but that says nothing about the state of her 45 year old skin, which to my eye looks pretty good -- clean, no blackheads, she even has those often coveted small pores but yes, strictly speaking, it is 45 year old skin.

Apparently cosmetic counter sales training programs don't include diplomacy skills. A simple, "perhaps you'd like to look at an alternative -- your skin seems stressed here's a cream that will act as an anti-depressant and bring it into a happy state of being," might have been more appropriate. By the way that cream for 45 year old skin and older cost $7 dollars more... guess compensation is a must for the extra hope or water put into the jar. I'll leave the last word to my friend Margot, who said, "same packaging, same size, same promises but it costs more because you're old."