It was last April when I retired from the grocery. Last night my son calls and wants to know if I could come in and unload the delivery truck. The first and second stringers are all busy. Naturally I said yes. I feel like I'm being called off the bench. Put me in coach ! It should only take about an hour or so. But I'm sitting here already feeling the pressure. I told him I'd be there at 6:30. I haven't had to be anywhere that early since, well, last April. I admit it feels a little different. Is this the same feeling some " old " folks get when they have a doctors appointment ? Wait, I am the " old " folks now. At least that is what others probably see. I know my mother doesn't want to go anywhere a few days before a doctors appointment. I also know she isn't the only one. I've heard that from quite a few seniors. I can't go, I have an appointment. Their appointment may not be for a few days though. LOL, I'll have to guard against that.
This morning I'll go to work, sorta. That'll be something different, a change in the old routine. I did enjoy the company of those I worked with but don't miss the job. Truth is, with one exception, it has always been that way with me. I enjoy the company of good people. I am a social person. I had jobs because I needed money. You have to do what needs to be done. Some jobs were better than others there is no denying that. The best job I ever held was upholstering furniture. I really did get a great deal of satisfaction out of that. That must be the type of job people have that they talk about being their life. Do you know what I mean by that ? The kind of job where you take pride in your craft. I wasn't a master at it but did have a few pieces displayed in the front window of the shop. It was a satisfaction.
Circumstance forced me to make a decision and I left that job. In the big picture I have to believe I made the right choice. It certainly wouldn't do any good to bemoan a poor decision, now would it ? You certainly can't change the past and there is no need to beat yourself up about it either. No one got hurt by that decision and so I can dismiss it. Hey I was only 24 at the time and let's just say not the most mature 24 year old. Yes, I believed I had all the answers back then and just moved on. There was no hesitation. Well, as I said , no one got hurt. All that was a lifetime ago.
I do believe it is true of us all. We don't mind working if we're doing what we want to do. Seems logical enough doesn't it ? I think it depends upon how readily we are convinced of our own talents ? I grew up with a father that I felt could do just about anything, and do it extremely well. The evidence was before me daily. He was a carpenter, plumber, electrician, mechanic, machinist, welder and waterman. He fired huge boilers at the fish factory for a few years, the only thing he admitted to not being able to fix was electronics. Thing is, I saw him do that a few times. In retrospect I see him changing jobs as he grew bored with what he was doing. He had enough talents that other jobs were always available to him. People like him are always in demand. He did change jobs often. In todays world they would say he had an unstable work history. They wouldn't be wrong.
With the exception of the upholstery job, I went to work because it was necessary. I stayed in the Navy for twenty years because it was the logical choice. It has been possibly the best choice I ever made, with the exception of my wife, she is the best. But it isn't a job I particularity enjoyed. No, I wasn't going around with this great sense of pride and patriotism. It was a job and one that needed doing. Following that I worked in a machine shop and that was alright. Good people and the job itself involved a diverse skill set. Still, I could have been doing something else. A few others followed that until I took employment at the grocery. I might say being retired seems like something I can do, and do well. Perhaps I have finally found my ideal situation ! I get " paid " and get to do pretty much what I want to do. And I get to do it with my wife, can't ask for better company than that. I really do like this new " job " being retired. Today I am being called off the bench, it is nice to be needed, I admit that. I've still got game, as the young folk say. It'll be different that much is sure.
This morning I'll go to work, sorta. That'll be something different, a change in the old routine. I did enjoy the company of those I worked with but don't miss the job. Truth is, with one exception, it has always been that way with me. I enjoy the company of good people. I am a social person. I had jobs because I needed money. You have to do what needs to be done. Some jobs were better than others there is no denying that. The best job I ever held was upholstering furniture. I really did get a great deal of satisfaction out of that. That must be the type of job people have that they talk about being their life. Do you know what I mean by that ? The kind of job where you take pride in your craft. I wasn't a master at it but did have a few pieces displayed in the front window of the shop. It was a satisfaction.
Circumstance forced me to make a decision and I left that job. In the big picture I have to believe I made the right choice. It certainly wouldn't do any good to bemoan a poor decision, now would it ? You certainly can't change the past and there is no need to beat yourself up about it either. No one got hurt by that decision and so I can dismiss it. Hey I was only 24 at the time and let's just say not the most mature 24 year old. Yes, I believed I had all the answers back then and just moved on. There was no hesitation. Well, as I said , no one got hurt. All that was a lifetime ago.
I do believe it is true of us all. We don't mind working if we're doing what we want to do. Seems logical enough doesn't it ? I think it depends upon how readily we are convinced of our own talents ? I grew up with a father that I felt could do just about anything, and do it extremely well. The evidence was before me daily. He was a carpenter, plumber, electrician, mechanic, machinist, welder and waterman. He fired huge boilers at the fish factory for a few years, the only thing he admitted to not being able to fix was electronics. Thing is, I saw him do that a few times. In retrospect I see him changing jobs as he grew bored with what he was doing. He had enough talents that other jobs were always available to him. People like him are always in demand. He did change jobs often. In todays world they would say he had an unstable work history. They wouldn't be wrong.
With the exception of the upholstery job, I went to work because it was necessary. I stayed in the Navy for twenty years because it was the logical choice. It has been possibly the best choice I ever made, with the exception of my wife, she is the best. But it isn't a job I particularity enjoyed. No, I wasn't going around with this great sense of pride and patriotism. It was a job and one that needed doing. Following that I worked in a machine shop and that was alright. Good people and the job itself involved a diverse skill set. Still, I could have been doing something else. A few others followed that until I took employment at the grocery. I might say being retired seems like something I can do, and do well. Perhaps I have finally found my ideal situation ! I get " paid " and get to do pretty much what I want to do. And I get to do it with my wife, can't ask for better company than that. I really do like this new " job " being retired. Today I am being called off the bench, it is nice to be needed, I admit that. I've still got game, as the young folk say. It'll be different that much is sure.
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