Yesterday I was on the end of a yo-yo string. My friend Mindy called me in the early evening to tell me that mandatory retirement had been made illegal in Nova Scotia. With a few exceptions: firemen, policemen, etc. At first I felt hesitant. Do I really want to go back to teaching? It’s been so amazingly fruitful, and peaceful, not teaching. Having so much time to paint, think, walk with Lila, meet neighbors. But of course, I was excited about the idea of a steady income, spending time with students, talking about art to budding artists. So yes, I was happy about it. Then I checked on-line at the CBC News site. The exceptions to the rule included Collective Agreements. Which, of course, meant me. So no teaching job. And to tell you the truth, it doesn’t feel bad. Not right now.
Today CBC News on-line had a very interesting article about retirement.
Retirement is big business for banks. Bankers believe people hate their jobs as much as bankers hate theirs, so they set out to convince people that retirement - Freedom 55 … Take This Job and Shove It - is the solution to worry and the road to happiness.And yet, and yet … many people enjoy their jobs and dread being forced out of them merely because they have turned 65, which is a lot younger than 65 used to be in the 1920s, when pensions began. Someone turning 65 today is expected to live another 20 years.
It has been shown that those with the most education tend to enjoy their work and are reluctant to be turfed out at 65. Do you think for a moment that when Margaret Atwood turned 65 - on Nov. 18, 2004 - someone told the illustrious Canadian writer, "Jig's up, Atwood. No more novels for you."
"But… "
"Sorry, Peg, you've been at this game a long time. We need to make room for younger writers."
Yep, age is everything. To some people.
Posted by leya at March 30, 2007 06:29 PMI'm 70, and one of the hardest parts about Katrina was the loss of a half-time job that I really loved--university teaching. I'm still hoping that one of these days they'll need 1/4 or 1/2 an instructor. Meanwhile, I work three days a week at a university Women's Center getting archived material in order. As a volunteer.
Without a scheduled commitment or so each week, I'd have an infinite number of days to put off doing anything. (If I weed today, what will be left to do tomorrow?)
Posted by: sue at March 30, 2007 09:52 PMI guess I'm very lucky, Sue, to have my main source of joy my work at home--painting. But I will always feel being forced out of a job because of age immoral. Katrina would be an even more upsetting reason--to see such devastaion and long-term results.
Posted by: Leya at April 3, 2007 09:18 AM