encore performances #8...

 encore performances #8...

                                                

  This post explores the activities retirees turn to after the decision has been made to pull the plug and step down from regular, gainful employment.  Forty hour weeks to get a financial reward at the end of the week are in the past; OT means OFF TIME; any raise comes from Social Security, and; negotiating on any level is now only for personal benefit or personal gain without regard to a company, business, or organization   

  HUH?  What's up with that?

  Throughout the past two years, dozens of people, both men and women, have been interviewed for these posts.  Their words are their own.  Every word is recorded and then transcribed to a working paper.  Some people decline to be interviewed, while others don't want their name in print.  Anything said to me is fair and all requests have been honored.  

  Human nature being what it is, seldom have I approached someone without trying to pigeonhole them into a category indexed in my mind.  It is an innocent, but, invariably, an incorrect assumption.  Trying to guess their occupation is a fruitless endeavor for me, but I keep doing it.

  One woman who wore a lanyard around her neck and an ID attached to the cord had the word, CODE, in bold black letters on the ID.  My guess was she was in some kind of management, thinking CODE referred to top level access to company documents.  It turned out CODE was her last name and the ID was a passkey to her place of employment, which was a bank.  

  An impeccably dressed man in his 70s spoke in a soft manner, but with some authority.  After talking to him for a few minutes, I asked him if he was a doctor or medical person.  He laughed and told me, I am a master gardener for a landscape company in town and I'm going to a funeral.  I should have checked his fingernails first.  

  Last Christmas, a woman was telling me how she made extra money working a part-time job so she could buy her grandchildren a, Few extra things this year.  I was being sympathetic and understanding and told her how difficult it is with rising prices and sometimes we have to sacrifice.  She self consciously replied, Oh, I don't think you understand.  My husband and I just sold our business, but we can't touch the money for six more months.  I didn't mean to make you think otherwise.  

  So, for all my incorrect mind games, I have deduced guessing a person's weight or age while working on the midway at the state fair is not in my future either. 

   My way off base, incorrect assumption that Steve Adams was a mid-level office worker at GE or Ford wasn't even close.  

  I was a program manager to develop and implement application solutions for a tech company, he told me.  

  You've been retired a few years now.  What kind of activities take up your time?

  I'm really taking it easy and enjoying my retirement, Steve said.  My wife and I fish and go to a place in Tennessee several times a year.  

  That's great that she goes with you.  

  Back when we started dating, she decided she better learn to fish or she wouldn't see much of me, he laughed.  Now, she likes it as much as me and she's better at it than I am! 

  Steve, do you work or have a part-time job?

  I do. he responded.  My son manages a golf course and I help him by cutting the grass and mowing the tees and fairways.  

  It sounds like you keep pretty busy.

  It's not in my makeup to sit around, he replied.  I also started a mentorship with Middle Schools in town to teach boys and girls carpentry work.  They learn how to make and do things and they learn all about different tools.  

  That's a cool thing to do.  Giveback time.  Do you and your wife travel?

  We haven't since Covid, but we'll be doing a lot more once everything settles down, he said.  

  Thanks for your time, sir, I hope we meet again down the road.

  My pleasure, he smiled. 

  When I met Judy Patton, who is the cousin of a friend of mine, she was as well-kept as a Macy's cosmetic sales person, but that's not even close to what she did before retirement.  

  I taught at Rose Hill Elementary in Jeffersonville, Indiana for 30 years, she said.  Then, I went on to be the principal at Utica Elementary in Utica, Indiana.  I did that for seven years.    

  How long have you  been retired?  

  I stepped down in 2001 and I'm 75 now, she admitted.  

  What about family?

  I have one son, David, who works for Boeing in Huntsville, Alabama, she said.  I have three grandkids, one is a high school senior, one is in the second year of college, and one in the first year of college.  

  What keeps you busy or active? 

  I love gardening and I do a lot of reading, she responded.  I also have a lot of friends and we socialize all the time, any season.  

  Do you have a bucket list?  

  One thing I want to do is take my grandkids to Disneyworld, and I'm going to do it this summer, she confessed.   I know they are older, but I've always wanted to do that and we're going.  

  Are you a traveler? 

  I've traveled some, but I want to do more, she confided.    

  So, it's on to Disneyworld this summer.  

  It's going to happen, she said emphatically.  

  I hope you make some great memories.

  Thanks, we will, she said. 

  Coming up:  Derby Day is about three weeks away; more POS, and;  we'll look at a world without Wayne.   

  And, finally.  My wife bought me a couple long-sleeve shirts and I was trying them on for fit.  The two shirts were size XL.  As I was buttoning the first shirt, she said, Oh, the tag says Slim Fit.  As she was laughing she commented, Doesn't it seem like an oxymoron?  When she saw my perplexed look, she said, Slim Fit?  Extra Large? 

  HUH?  What's up with that?