This one takes a little getting used to because it can be, uhm, rather harsh. Retiree's aren't the type to beat around the bush. They'll tell you exactly what they think about this or that 'cuz they've got nothing to lose. In a way, theirs is a refreshing mindset. Brace yourself for it, though, because it can get rather chilly.
Chilly in the sense that you're not going to get a lot of sympathy for your plight, situation, or predicament from a retiree. This can be rather shocking to the uninitiated. It might be the end of the world you're facing but it's your world and not theirs. This critical differentiation you will quickly learn, should you be so brash as to think that a retiree might care.
Retiree's live in a dreamy land. Work was something that they did once, long ago, but not any more. Not being on a schedule they forget what it used to be like to not be able to sleep in. Commuting is something they haven't done in years. Workplace angst? What's that? "Oh, yeah" they'll scratch their chins some, upon being pressed to share some of their experiences. “I vaguely remember all that 'drama extraordinaire'. Whatta buncha crap! I don't want to remember what went on! Ask somebody else what it was like!".
Every working Joe or Jane should do what I did once. Between jobs I lived in a retirement community as a 'guest' for about five months and what an eye opener that was. The place I lived in was accessed through a lone security gate and the edges of this (golf course) community were denoted by eight foot high stucco walls. It was like living in a fort. When you were in, you were 'safe'. When you were outside of those walls you were in the realm of the General Public, which was a different kind of ‘in’, sort of like being ‘in the wild west’.
The people that lived outside the fort worked, most of them, and provided the things that the people within the fort temporarily made forays outside of the fort to acquire, things like food and water, library materials, and furniture and appliances. Service people came through the fort’s gate on a daily basis, performing landscaping, trash removal, and repairs for the insiders. The retiree's depended on these outsiders to keep the intake/outtake flow of their lives moving. There was slavish contribution on one end and an entitled attitude of consumption on the other.
This highly unequal situation had to be somewhat realistically expected because, after all, you couldn't have put these older folk, many of them, on the job but I had to wonder, whilst I was lounging away the months at one of the many pools inside the fort, whether the retiree's could've contributed just a little bit more. Heresy, this kind of thinking was, for nobody I saw in there wanted anything to do with whatever they didn't want anything to do with, which in their minds made up a very long list, and that's exactly why there was a high wall around the place.
So I experienced, while in there, another of my bubbles bursting, this one being that I thought that the elders of my tribe were 'looking out for me'. Laughably, I saw that few if any were. Beyond the fort's walls however, behind the scenes and mainly out of view, I was heartened by the fact that many older people were still involved in The World. I knew they were because I saw evidence of this on the news. People of retirement age were still involved in science, tech, medicine, philantropy, in the writing of biographies and memoirs, and in volunteer work. I knew that some of them still cared about what was going on and that they were contributing.
I’m done.
Jacek Dylag- Unsplash.com
But I also saw that a lot of them had checked out completely, like most of the people inside the fort had, and could've cared less about what was going on out in The World.
Couldn't say as I blamed 'em, though. Life had been tough for many of them, perhaps, and some damned peace and quiet and the ability to do what they wanted when and for how long they wanted to do it had finally been earned or granted. Still, that sort of justification seemed odd to me. 'Twas a flawed argument somehow, and felt cold.
Many of the retirees were conservative. Their main interests laid in protecting themselves and what they had acquired and oh yeah, they voted along those lines, you betcha. They were very aware of who was in charge in their neck of the woods, and of the ones who sat at levels where policy was shaped.
Many in the fort were living to what amounted to second childhoods consisting of frivolity all day, every day. You couldn't pin any of those down, they wouldn't get serious about anything. Others entertained a bit of serious talk about the state of the world and lent an ear perhaps for some of the particulars concerning a specific topic but sooner or later from them would come the raised eyebrow look followed by pushing back, signaling that they'd spent (wasted) enough time on affairs better left for the next generation.
What I came away with from my time in the fort was understanding that change wasn't going to be coming from the people inside of it. Change was going to come from the people who were outside, who were still involved in the world, people that were filled with energy and passion that were going to be around for a lot longer. To be sure, some would say that retiree's were acutely aware that the next generations (i.e. their kids and grandkids) had to live in the forthcoming world but really- how many grandparents paid more than just lip service to that concept?
Some did, but not with the same intensity as any fully immersed one. Tellin' ya, it's different once you're behind walls.
Inside of a compound like the fort your days are filled with activities. Weeks go by unnoticed, months pass imperceptibly by, and things stay pretty much the same. People that are involved in the world might live what amounts to entire lifetimes in these time periods, so transformative are the crucibles in which worldly personal and group interactions take place.
I personally like the dynamic energy participating in the unpredictable world brings me so I don't think I'll ever really retire. I also think that you can only stay current by keeping in the mix. Drifting, my five month long pre-retirement trial run in the fort, showed me that it's essential not to remove yourself too much for if you do, The World and the people in it becomes distant and unreal, like you’re watching a movie.
Old people possess a lot of valuable life experience. If they stay in the world they can more easily pass their knowledge on to people who could use it. Doesn't mean they have to be with the general public to the extent that a fully immersed, time crunched worker bee does but they can at least show up here and there. If they do, their presence acts as a tempering force to counteract the preponderance of self important hotshots out there, and also makes them available for kids that have their eyes out for shrewd role models.
Lord knows that right now that we could use all the tempering forces and positive role models we can get so how ‘bout it, astute elders? Young people are looking for meanings for being here that are far beyond posturing and self gratification.