writes:
Age can become a problem. All judges should be retired off at 70. By this time, sight, hearing and general well being are starting to decline, and many old people start turning inwards, worrying too much about their disintegrating bodies and minds, so not being in a position to view flowers, or anything, objectively any more.
Whereas the inability to discern the difference between red and green (and see them as muddy browns) or the inability to discern flower structure properly without glasses constitute obvious problems in judging orchid flowers, advanced age may or may not. To say that judges need to be "retired off" by 70 is ludicrous. People age differently in terms of both their physical and mental capabilities. I have known people in their 40's who will clearly never have the ability to be judges despite being good growers, and people in their 80's who continued to judge, and did it well, up until weeks or days of their passing.
Older people are not necessarily "turning inwards" any more than teenagers are necessarily self absorbed. Often the dedication necessary to be a judge gives older people a motivation and interest that keeps them going. It maintains their health and enthusiasm, and they remain an asset to the judging community. Plus the more one sees and judges, the better equipped one is likely to be to judge properly.
I go bicycling and hiking with guys 20-25 years my senior and they constantly give lie to the notion that anyone over 70 is "decrepit." It is time to retire outmoded notions about old people and aging.
Dennis Westler
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