My husband is practically despondent because tomorrow is his 50th birthday. This isn't about vanity or the fear of getting old. Along with the well wishes of friends and the cards with the bad jokes comes a very real fear about our family's future. He was laid off at the end of last August -- which means at midnight tonight he will officially be fifty-years-old and unemployed. 

Even though age discrimination is against the law, it appears to be alive and well, and living in the online job applications - most of which contain certain questions (requiring mandatory responses) that are thinly veiled ways to ascertain the age of the applicant.  If my husband is fortunate enough to land a face-to-face interview, then what happens? He's in good shape, but it's obvious that he isn't thirty-years-old. 

There is nothing my husband can do about his age, so tomorrow we will celebrate with friends and family. Then he will return to the job hunt on Monday, just like he has done for the past ten months.