The major change that took place in my off-blog period was that I got fired. The boss probably got a list of employees for bonus purposes around Rosh Hashanah time, saw my name with ‘80’ next to it and called the manager.
“We have someone working here who is 80 years old?”
“We do.”
“Get rid of him. Today!”
“But he…”
“You heard me! Today.”
About 20 seconds later a pink email arrived. I moped around for a couple of days, checked the ‘Wanted’ ads and then hobbled over to my bank to see the manager.
“You know that nest-egg I’ve been building for the past 60 years?”
“What about it?”
“I’ll be making regular calls on it from next month. I was fired last week.”
“Forget it. You’re not touching those savings. Get out there and find another job!”
I have news for you, Mr. Bank Manager. The 50 year olds are having a hard time finding jobs.
I took the line of least resistance, retirement. It is respectable and non-invasive, even though it hurts a little. People are much more considerate. On the bus I heard a mother telling her 8 year old to “offer that retired old gentleman your seat, Johnny”. Had I been wearing my work clothes, the dark suit, blue shirt and striped tie I would have had to throw him out of the seat myself.
So, in order to justify my existence, I paint, do the crossword, scan the papers in search of good news and read books. I also nap from time to time during the day. Napping is not to be confused with sleeping which is a nighttime activity and not in the same class as napping.
I have also discovered a new state-of-the-art time-waster for retirees – surfing the TV channels in search of something to watch; and then there is the internet, top of the league in time-wasting activities…