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Well, what can I say? When I wasn’t paying attention, I seemed to have turned into a responsible adult. That’s the thought running through my mind as I signed the consent form for my grandkids’ school, allowing them to contact me with any issues during the school day. I’m second on the list after my much more sensible wife, Suzie, so I’m moving up in the world!
Getting elevated to the contact form is a direct result of retirement. Before, I was considered a bit of a dodgy inclusion due to the unpredictable nature of my whereabouts on any given day. Not ideal for a dependable emergency response during a school crisis.
This being retired business seems to have introduced other out of character behaviours into my daily repertoire. Maybe at long last I’m being moulded into a man of maturity and thoughtful actions. My wife certainly has her fingers crossed…I think I get on Suzie’s last nerve on occasion.
Take my past efforts to get to appointments and social engagements on time, I’ve been known to arrive a week early or if I got the day correct I’d normally be 30 minutes late or turn up at the wrong venue. Friends would always pass comments if I happened to successfully get the day, time and place spot on…it was considered a noteworthy cause for celebration.
Busyness was the bane of my life. After rushing to an important meeting with my bankers, my return journey to the car was delayed for an hour looking for my car keys, only to discover I had left them in the ignition with the engine still running. It took me a few days to admit this slight disaster to Suzie, but her only response was a slight sigh and a shake of the head.
Nowadays, thanks to the newfound freedom of time gifted to me by quitting the rat race, I’ve found myself turning up early for all manner of events. It’s such a revelation. I even got kicked in the ankle by Suzie for rolling my eyes when friends were late for a restaurant meal. My memory can be conveniently hazy when required.
My redemption continues apace. Last July, pre-retirement, I organized a flight to Manchester plus a car hire for transport to the hotel I’d booked to meet up with some friends. Somehow, I managed to turn up at the wrong airport and, due to no availability on flights, I never got there. Suzie suggested it was possibly a lot of money to spend going nowhere. This year, I organized a trip to London and not only was I early, I even got the correct airport.
Where does this yarn leave us? I’m guessing my slightly chaotic work life would have frustrated and exasperated the average Humble Dollar reader, but it seems retirement can even teach an old dog new tricks. The gift of time has been the catalyst for this metamorphosis.
My only worry now is what stories the grandkids will tell about me. The old me provided legendary material—”Remember when Pops went to the wrong city?” Now what will they have? “’Remember when Pops arrived five minutes early?” That’s not passing down family folklore, that’s just depressing. I may need to stage something memorable. Accidentally attending someone else’s wedding, perhaps. Just to keep the legacy interesting. But I’ve already done that once before, that really was legendary!
I’m finding the same. I’m more attentive to details (like which airport to turn up at!) and more present as a new retiree. I think I’ve surprised some people in real life, I hope pleasantly so!
In my defence, both airports have the name Belfast in their title lol
Once long ago, I traveled on business that required a layover in Charlotte, NC on both the outgoing and returning flights. On my return, I entered the Charlotte airport and was terribly confused, as the entire layout was changed and modernized. It turned out that they had built a new, modern terminal adjacent to the old one, and opened the new one while I was gone. I was in the right place, I just thought (momentarily) that I was in the wrong place.
“I was in the right place, I just thought (momentarily) that I was in the wrong place.” I wish that had been my experience last year!
That is so funny! You’d think they might have made an announcement, like “Welcome to our new and improved Charlotte Terminal,” before you deplaned. I’m sure you were not the only confused traveler.
Some years ago I was sent to Milan, Italy for a couple of weeks for my engineering job with a Middle Eastern oil producer. My wife and two daughters followed me a week after I had arrived and we made plans to take the train from Milan to Venice for some tourist activity on the weekend. At the Milan train station I needed to find an ATM to get cash for the trip, so I told them to “SIT HERE” until I returned. It took me longer than expected to find a machine and while I was gone the initial boarding announcement was given. So, sure enough, when I returned they were gone. My wife had the train tickets while I had the cash. Neither of us could move without the other. I assumed they had boarded the train, which was soon to depart, to ensure we didn’t miss our train and were waiting for me to join them. While I headed for the platform and ran from one end to the other of the train, peering in all the windows and trying to spot them, they resumed their seats back where I had expected to find them. Just as the train was about to leave the station I got on board without tickets, thinking that I just must not have seen them. After all, they weren’t on the platform or at the place where I had told them to wait as far as I could see. (There was a wall with huge, arch-shaped openings between the place they were to wait and all the platforms, so I really couldn’t see).
In the end I found the conductor on the train and explained my predicament. They dropped me at the next stop and put me in touch with the ticket office back in Milan where my wife had gone to change the tickets for the next train. (My post-paid cell phone made calls in Italy, but her pre-paid plan did not allow for such things. We learned our lesson!) They took the next train and I got on when it arrived where I was waiting. SMH.
What part of “wait here” did you not understand?
OMG! This reads hilariously but it must have been very scary for everyone at the time! Thank God that cell phones and texting have nearly eliminated such mishaps. Before cell phones, I once had a terrible misunderstanding about where I was to meet my husband to pick up his passenger, our future daughter-in-law, for the two of us to continue on to our destination. We changed our rules about designated meeting places after that.
I’ve always been pretty good about punctuality – long term travel doesn’t go well if you are habitually late! I did once arrive at the wrong airport in Buenos Aires, but with enough time to correct the mistake. And there was the time I got on a train going in the wrong direction in Hungary, but overall my error percentage is really low. I find unpunctuality rude. Up to ten minutes, fine, major traffic accident, fine, but an habitual twenty or thirty minutes, definitely not fine. But I have been a little surprised to find that people in my CCRC are generally early. This could be because you need to allow time for meeting people on the way, which often involves a quick chat.
I once took the wrong train from Milan. Meant to go north to Lake Maggiore but ended up on the express south to Bologna. Happy accident though, since Bologna was beautiful with very few tourists.
Whereas Lake Maggiore is beautiful with lots of tourists. Been twice…
Someone thinks Lake Maggiore is ugly? Really?
perhaps a misplaced finger… easy to do
Mark, I’ve found that I need to be very careful in exhibiting maturity. If done too often, Chrissy will come to expect it from me. Oh the pressure!
A man of wisdom! Can’t let them think maturity is anything more than a happy accident. That way lies impossible expectations!
While I can’t compete with you, Mark, in the sort of misadventures for which you are famous in your family, I was also chronically late for after-work commitments. I’ll soon celebrate 10 years of retirement, broken only by three semesters of a part time teaching job. The last six years I was parenting my teenage grandson, but three weeks ago he went off to college, so now I’m truly in charge of my time. I’ve got plenty of projects and volunteer activities to keep me busy but I love that they are mostly quite optional. The only things that are not optional are the times spent with family and friends, whether in person or virtually. Last night was a particular pleasure receiving a phone call from a high school classmate who was part of our French class group that spent six weeks together in France in the summer of 1968. Thanks to Facebook, we’ve been in touch for several years but in person only twice. We’re looking forward to another in-person meeting. Time to enjoy with family and friends is the best reward of retirement.
You’re right, retirement lets us focus on what truly matters. Six years with your grandson and decades-long friendships. That’s success. I joke about my chaos, but really, just being present for family and friends feels like the greatest luxury after years of always rushing.