Hugh Dougherty: We're not as old as we're grey-looking

I crossed the Rubicon from working in a bustling council press office into the world of retirement last May. Now, one year on, thanks to a coveted public sector pension, good health, and a keen interest in cycling, shared by my wife, life's sweet. Most of my fears about that uncharted land beyond the identity of work, the defining statement of worth in our consumer age, have evaporated.

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But not everything's a bed of roses, for, no matter how you look at it, you have moved into a different land, where everyone's as old as, or older than, you. There, you soon discover, you're likely to be treated as daft, deaf or just, well, old. Age discrimination is alive and well in our brave new Scotland.

And I can prove it. My occasional forays back into the world of work as a freelance journalist show that I'm taken at face value if I turn up to do an interview. People talk to you as they always did, for you're perceived as having a defined place in society and, to misquote one of those impossibly age-defying beauty adverts, you're worth it.

But, tell someone you're retired, or use your bus pass, and you'll soon be slotted into the dreaded "pensioner" category where no work equals no status, and that's when you're likely to be treated as a sub-species.

Or, if you've asked for a concession for cinema entry, look on with resigned frustration as your change is counted out slowly and carefully into the palm of your hand, and pressed down into it, just in case you lose it. "That's one pound, two pounds, three pounds, DEAR," all conducted with a high decibel rating and a look of pitying disdain on the face behind the pay desk, as though pensioner non-comprehension is a given.

So, please, if you're on the other side of the age divide, treat me and the growing army of Scottish pensioners just as you did before we retired. Grey hairs are honourable, even on a nearly compos mentis baby-boomer like me. And don't forget that our grey pound fuels the Scottish economy. That's why we're worth it!

l Hugh Dougherty was press officer at East Renfrewshire Council