One side effect of aging that people don't tell you: You eventually get to a point where your boss is younger than you.
For the first time, I'm taking orders from someone younger than me. She's cool, and she obviously values my experience and respects me, so it's not an awkward situation. I imagine it can't be, and I think I can see why some older people that I've managed may have been troublesome.
But it's just a weird thought that up until now, I've always had a direct manager who is older. It's just one of those things where I've just kind of equated authority with age.
I've already seen this effect outside of work. There are plenty of policemen and doctors younger than me, but they are the authoritative experts in their fields, so I respect them (though some aren't worthy of that respect, I'm sure).
It's not something that I've dwelled on. Perhaps that's a good thing. It means I've accepted people based on their knowledge. It's just now that this has come to my attention.
It's not like this trend is going to stop. It's how aging works.