The View From The Loft – July 2018
RETIREMENT. That elusive goal that everybody has for thirty or more years. No more early mornings, no more aggravating co-workers, no more lost weekends or late nights and no more dressing up in fancy clothes or working outside no matter the weather conditions. Every stress you ever had just magically melts away into RETIREMENT. Well I’ve tried it … twice.
I HATED IT!
When I was growing up in South Georgia I remember my grandparents and all their woes. The kidney stones, the gall bladder attacks, the cataracts, arthritis, rheumatism and just plain nerves. I now know that they were only 60 years old. Just to set the record straight, they lived in a house that had 2 air conditioned rooms, they drank the most popular soft drink of the time every morning at 10 sharp with salted peanuts in the bottle, their big meal was lunch which consisted of salt fat back and some other meat, vegetables boiled in bacon grease, sweet tea that resembled syrup and a selection of pies and cakes.
A gall bladder is a very small organ and it can only take so much abuse before that sucker is gonna go kaput. My point is, I grew up thinking 60 was elderly and that if you lived to retire you’d only have a couple of years at best.
Man oh man, aren’t we lucky how things have changed? We still have our share of issues but for the most part we are much happier and healthier than we were just a few decades ago. Our life expectancy is substantially longer and our lifestyle is, for the most part, healthier. I keep telling myself that 60 is the new 40 and that fat looks good tan.
When I retired the first time I decided to take a lower stress “community leadership “ position. It wasn’t long before I was surrounded by more clowns than Ringling Brothers, but that’s another column. That brought me to Newnan luckily to work for the airline. After five years of slinging peanuts, they suggested I move to Detroit. I suggested I not do that which resulted in, guess what? … RETIREMENT.
A few months at home were a welcome break from the rigors of work, but after the holidays I thought I was going to go stir crazy. So when I had the opportunity to get back in the aviation business at my age, I jumped on it. I mean when your body tells you that you are the new 40, your tan line proves that your imperfections are disguised and your brain has convinced you that you are still smart you, just have to go with it.
SENILITY, my next topic.
(Jim Coleman is twice retired as a financial advisor and flight attendant. A theatre geek, musician, arts administrator and preservationists, he lived a relatively obscure life until he crossed paths with Corby Winters. Jm choose Newnan as his new forever home five years ago and is dedicated to making our community the best it can be.)
