by El Zorro Viejo (aka; Jim)

Our District Manager is scheduled to be in the store tomorrow...while I am actually scheduled to be working! This is a rare occurrence. Usually the corporate types are long gone by the time I wander in about 3:30 in the Post Meridian (I like to do things like that...don't quite know why, but I do...). However, tomorrow our DM lady will actually be there in the afternoon. I'm thinking that I'll ask to talk to her for a minute. I will need to be very calm and rational in my presentation. Basically I plan to tell her that I think our store manager was less than fair in the way he treated both Esta and me. His promotion of the basically new, inexperienced and young Chris is nothing other than a blatant preference for "young and trainable". I have heard him use these exact words when discussing other hires when he thought only his partner-in-crime was around (I was in an adjacent aisle restocking books; they couldn't see me over the bookcases, but their voices carried.) He wants to impart his "management expertise" as a monolithic block of knowledge/behavior. The problem is, as a manager he probably has more weak points than strong points. In fact, he is being moved out of this store just as some of his weaknesses are coming into full play.

Anyhow, I have to something, and this seems like a reasonable first step. My next task is to reach a modus vivendi with the new DM. My preferred solution would be for her to understand that, as far as I am concerned, the best management technique to employ is that of benign neglect: in other words, leave me completely and totally alone. I think that I can make that happen. As I said, she is young and very, very inexperienced. Further down the road, there is a rumor that the cafe manager of our store is seriously flirting with retirement. That would be a way to enhance the old income although I am not really wild about the idea of running a cafe. Way back when in Florida, I owned a bar for a couple years so you could say that I've been there and done that. The other possibility, which could come to pass sometime between next week and July, is that our other DM could go back to D.C. He has taken the civil service test for the D.C. police department, and, besides, his family lives down there. Even if he doesn't get into the police immediately, the lease on his apartment is up in July, and there is some speculation by those who know him well that he will use that opportunity to move back to D.C. no matter what. *sigh* I don't know...I'll just have to take this on a day to day basis for a while. Other than that, I am dusting off the old resume and will be getting together with friends and family who might be able to help me find that one last job which will take me into the golden years of my retirement...in about 15-20 years!

And that brings me to a thought totally unrelated to my current problems. It is becoming more and more apparent that we do have to make some changes to what we consider the age of retirement. Because of the advances in medicine and general health, it appears that we are living to more advanced ages and that our health and general vitality are both greater for more years than they were even in 1933 when Social Security was first created. This is especially true for the middle and upper income classes. They (we...let's not pretend) are simply living longer and we are active for much longer than was true for prior generations. Sure, once you hit 60 or so, you're chances of kicking off this mortal coil start to increase every year, but the slope of the line is not as steep as it once was. So, other than diseases such as Alzheimer's, obesity(and related problems) or something untreated because you have been avoiding the doctor, your chances of being able to perform your job until you hit your 70s are much higher. And, it should be noted that people who are involved in doing something that keeps them thinking and moving and that is something they enjoy doing stay more vital for a longer period of time. I know people in their 80s today who are physically and mentally comparable to people in their 60s forty years ago. So, I plan to find something (books work, I would enjoy selling books for the next 15-20 years) to keep me engaged until I hit my mid-70s. I figure that'll give me enough cushion to get through the next twenty years of retirement...because (sorry, my children) I do intend to make a run on my centenial birthday. Who knows, if I can last the next twenty years, all these earnest researchers in genetics may find a way to keep us going, healthy and active, for a lot longer.

I would like that not just because I don't want to have to face that question nobody can answer until death overtakes us. No, I want to be here for the real opening of space as humanity's next frontier. I want to see viable colonies established off this planet. I would like to live to see self-sustaining populations established...out there. Failing that, I would like to be able to postpone the answer to the question of what happens to us after this physical body dies. For a long time. Preferably. OK...

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. ©El Zorro Viejo 2002-2005