age appropriateness?

why am i so judgy when it comes to "age appropriateness" and relationships? or even the potential for relationships?

example: there is a woman in my office who is 54. she looks about 44 and she's very pretty, but she still is 54 and is in the middle of getting divorced from a man she was married to for 34 years. i could write pages and pages on this person. in a mixed light. but, were i to sum her up: she's frustrating to me because she's someone who always needs to be taken care of and she makes people feel sorry for her because she says she can't do things that are well within her capabilities so that someone else will do it for her. i can't STAND that.
right now, there is a fairly good-looking, well-kept guy in our office to discuss spurs season tickets and stuff with the 2 managers in our office. he's MAYBE 32. i think he's 29. the 54 year old lady came into my office and asked me if i thought he was cute. i said, "meh, he's lukewarm. besides, he's short." and then she asked, "what about for me?" and instantly i think "WHAT?!". actually, several thoughts come into my head, but that was the loudest. there are so many reasons that she shouldn't even CONSIDER him, but how do you say that? you can't.
i ended up stammering out, "i think he's pretty young." she said, "what? 30s?" and i said, "no, i think late 20s." and that ended the conversation.

why do all these negative things come into my head in that situation? am i being protective of my potential dating pool even though that's not something i'm interested in right now? am i just instantly seeing the process of her getting her heart broken and saying no to protect her (because i don't want to deal with her with a broken heart and i know i'd have to)?

i'm really a lot more interested in dudes that are older than me (by a good 8-12 years or so) and live life knowing that the powers that be have a REALLY BIG sense of humor. these kind of people RARELY exist in my "dating pool". why did i have such a strong reaction to her being interested in this young slip of a man?

i guess i'm ok with cougarism only if the woman is independent. and she's the opposite of independent.