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We have employees here that are pretty much deadwood. Waiting for their 30 years...or their 30 years has come and gone and they can't figure out how/why to retire.
It's very true that when you first start a job your activity/interest is piqued and you're productive...... but after a couple (30?) years that's pretty much gone.
Looking at media reports on the increasing articles ;TV ads for senior services etc.; I do not see this in society. If anything in both public and private sector I see more senior based thinking than ever with boomers retiring and being 26% of the population. Just the numbers of senior housing built here is obvious.As far as what Op experienced its perhaps no different than anyone leaving and gearing to replace him/her that as always existed.Pretty normal in other words.
You WERE the spark plug - will you be the spark plug after you are retired and in your new "environment"? To me this sounds like the transition to being retired may be a bumpy one for you. You'd better plan some "spark pluggy" behavior or a special place where you can show your "spark plugginess" when your job ends.
Some would regard this as a glide path or cool down and appreciate it for what it is.
No transition problems for me. I was just reflecting.
Jeez, I hope you continue posting once you're down there. I live vicariously through others' adventures, lol!
Thanks i will. I do what you describe also. Due to polio there have been quite a few things i could never do. That doesn't mean i don't get a thrill watching others do it. I have seen a lot of hiking videos etc i sure enjoyed and then had video of things i would never see other wise.
I felt a little marginalized while still working because everyone else was younger and some a lot younger. Since we moved to a gorgeous retirement community, it's great. Now I have so much in common with so many people here. Happy retirement in Costa Rica!
The emptiness of your schedule is not marginalization. Let go.
The ego in you that screams "these young ones still have much to learn" and "this place will falter when I leave" should be left behind. They will run it without you. If you are a parent, your adult kids will visit. Learn to accept, gracefully, that you were never too good or too smart to be replaced or discarded. You raised your kids to function without you. You trained staff to function in your absence. Now you are gone and it is their turn. Quit being melodramatic and selfish--you had your turn.
The person in the mirror tomorrow is not the honcho anymore. That person is FREE. You get to wake up when you want. You get to nap at noon if you want. You can take a shower at 3 pm if you want. You can sit at a coffee shop in the middle of the morning if you want. You are not marginalized, and feeling that way is denying the truth: no one cares enough to mind your business--and it is WONDERFUL.
I am retired. I used to have a significant level of responsibility in my career and ranked high amongst my peers. Walking away from that was easy. Never looking back--even easier. Let go.
I worked in the personnel dept. of a large mortgage co. for one year. I learned a lot by seeing the way employees were treated. The reality is that the employee is just a cog in the machine. If you outlive your usefulness, or are no longer needed, they have no problem cutting you loose no matter how many years you've worked there, or how high your position is, or how had you've worked. So don't imagine your more valuable than you really are. Take you check, say thank you but forget love and loyalty. The employer may sell it. They want the employees to buy it and work hard, thinking they are earning some loyalty from the employer, but its all fake. When you're ready to leave, go, and don't look back.
Same goes with coworkers. Unless you actually get together outside work, they aren't friends, they're coworkers and that's all. Once your gone, the association with the vast majority of those people will end.
I don't worry about being marginalized when I'm gone. Maybe because I've had quite a few jobs, that jobs are a way to make money, they are not your life.
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