Every now and then Rachel has to remind me that she is retired

 

After Rachel finished her schooling (in her 20s) she insisted that she was retired

 

Fascinating Interactions Everywhere I Go

Two elderly women were sitting at a nearby table at a restaurant this afternoon and I began to notice they were pointing at me and whispering. This continued for close to a minute or so… pointing and whispering and occasionally nodding, as if they knew something.

Finally, one of the women asked me, “Are you retired?”

I said, “No, I look a little bit older than my age, but I’m not retired yet.”

The other woman said, “See? I told you!”

I smiled, chuckled a bit and nodded my head.

Then one of them said, “Just wait until you get on Medicaid. It stinks!”

The other one said, “Yeah! I don’t like it!”

I nodded to indicate I heard her but she thought I was nodding to agree that I did not like Medicaid, as well.

She said to her friend, “See? He doesn’t like it either.”

I quickly said, “No! No! I don’t know anything about it. I just nodded to indicate that I heard you!”

They both looked at me suspiciously and that was the end of our conversation.

I seem to attract these kinds fascinating and insightful interactions everywhere I go.

We Were Designed To Be Engaged, Challenged, Active And Productive

I read this line yesterday…

“According to a 2005 report in the British Medical Journal, people who retire at fifty-five are 89 percent more likely to die in the ten years after retirement than those who retire at sixty-five. We need to be alive to stay alive, simple as that.” Bold, Diamandis and Kotler

We were designed by God to be engaged, challenged, active and productive, at every stage of life. I do not interpret this data to mean it is unhealthy to retire from a particular job, however, I do interpret it to mean it is unhealthy to retire from life. I think those of us who are followers of Jesus would interpret this to mean that even when we retire from our jobs we will still be alive and purposefully engaged in the work of God’s kingdom.

Rachel Is Willing, At Age 25, To Come Out of Retirement

Rachel just told me she would be willing to come out of retirement to work in the modeling industry.

I said, “Do you want to be a model?”

And she said, very emphatically, “No way!”

She would, however, be willing to work behind the scenes.  She would help the models apply their make-up and make costume changes.  She would even be willing to play video games with them during their down time.

Since she doesn’t drive or take public transportation on her own, they would have to arrange things in such a way that they would come to her but, come on, that seems like a fairly minor inconvenience.

So, I just wanted to keep you folks in the loop on these recent developments.

I'm Not Yet One Of The Seniors

I look at least 15 years older than my actual age (which is 54). In Florida—where I’m taking a break—this creates mildly irritating situations for me because the retired seniors think I’m one of them.

Seventy-five to eighty year old women flirt with me. “I’m going to bingo tonight at the V.F.W. Maybe I’ll see you there.”

Senior men chuckle and make references to Tommy Dorsey music while shaking their heads and saying, “Peanuts Hucko played a mean clarinet, if you know what I mean.”

I don’t know what they mean!

Today, while standing in line, a senior said to me: “Are you a snowbird or a full-timer?”

Me: “Neither. I’m not retired I’m just here for vacation.”

Senior: “What? When are you going to retire? You can’t put it off forever, you know.”

Me: “I’m not putting it off, I’m only 54 years old.”

Senior: (Looks me over carefully and with a slight amount of sadness and disbelief.) “That’s too bad.”

I guess it’s probably best if I don’t talk to strangers.