Today one of our twenty-plus year long employees retired. She had thought that the company might want her back occasionally for special projects or to help with issues that might come up, even though her replacement has been in place for some time and is well trained. One of our earlier retirees “retired” and then came back part-time almost immediately, so it’s not an unlikely situation.

I stopped by her office to say goodbye this afternoon and asked her if this was the official end or if she was going to actually be back at work next week. She said that the company had made no requests of her, nor seemed to have any expectations that her help would be required again. So that meant that yes, this was her last day.

Heading back to my office, I pondered that concept. I’ve never been one to define myself by my job. I do what I do for a living not because I love it or chose it intentionally earlier in life, but rather because it is just the job that I fell into when I first joined the adult employment world. It’s not a terrible job and, quite honestly, it’s not very difficult. Hell, I’m a subordinate desk jockey – how hard can that be? I’ve had my time in management, and at this point in my life, I don’t need that hassle.

Given all that, I still was struck by how very strange it would be to not do the same thing you have been doing for over twenty years (forty-five years for me, including time with other employers). It becomes so much a part of your daily routine that I can imagine feeling almost lost without it. Instead of being defined by the job, you become defined by the routine.

This isn’t to say that I haven’t thought about (and wished for) retirement, but I see no way that I could maintain anything like my current standard of living (even as low as it is) without working every day. So why retire from my “regular job” just to have to go work somewhere else or come back part-time? Makes much more sense to just stick where I am, and so far I’ve heard no grumbles from the company that they want me gone. Why should they? They would just have to hire someone new and train him/her and probably pay more money than they are paying me?

But disregarding the financial aspects of the situation, not going in to work would most likely mean that my world would shrink. Going to work every day, I see the people who have almost become like family (it’s a smallish company). But work is the only thing I have in common with pretty much every one there. I never see any of them outside of work. Heck, I don’t have any friends outside of work (except my wife), so I would be pretty much alone.

Would I change my way of living if I retired? I think so. Even on weekends it can get lonely enough that I sometimes go to the store just to be around people, even people I don’t know and don’t give a rat’s ass about me. I suppose I would join something, some kind of group oriented around a common interest. That’s what we old farts do, isn’t it? Well, there’s a good reason for it, I guess.

While retirement does have some attraction, I somehow can’t see myself doing it any time soon. Theoretically I can retire with “full” Social Security next year, but I have absolutely no plans to do so. Shit happens, though, and I know that at my age I can’t count out some physical complication that would make “retirement” a necessity. I sure hope that doesn’t happen.

And who knows? I may change my mind or circumstance may change, like maybe I’ll win the lottery (great financial retirement planning, eh?) Otherwise, I plan on getting up each weekday morning and going to work. It’s what I do.