All my friends are retired. Why am I still working?
Self employment, for me at least, is a never-ending contest between the world’s worst manager and the world’s laziest employee. Laboring on into one’s 60s adds the complication that a goodly number of one’s friends and associates have called it quits. Once consumed by jobs and family obligations, they suddenly have time on their hands.
And they will assume you do, too, especially if you work at home. Just as the sirens were said to lure ancient Greek sailors to their death, one’s retired friends can be fatal to productivity, even if their song only takes the form of text messages. It’s fun, of course, to meet for lunch, and more fun still to linger.
But why not stop to look at some art afterward? There is a great exhibit showing, and then we can talk about it over a drink or two. One can always work in the evening. That was the same thing I told myself recently when a retired neighbor persuaded me to devote most of a recent weekday afternoon to golf, something I hadn’t played in 30 years.
That evening unfortunately was spent not catching up on work but recuperating from a strained forearm, countless insect bites and lingering intimations of heat stroke. Now that my wife has retired, she has taken up the role of Siren in Chief. There is always something to fix, plan or discuss, and it’s all surprisingly alluring compared with the pressing need of earning one’s daily bread.
Besides, it makes sense to visit museums or big box stores on weekdays, when such places aren’t thronged. And after so many years of work, it seems churlish to resist playing hooky with her on occasion now. Bad financial timing Unfortunately the siren songs of all these retirees come at the worst possible time, professionally and financially.
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