But, Yes, I made it through the 3 weeks. I can't say as though I have come through unaffected. I now know why we work so hard throughout our lives. There is something at the end. But that has gotten me thinking. Why do we work so hard throughout our lives to retire at the end? I see some people that retire and die, or retire and have a stroke. There should be some sort of gamble you could take as to how much money you are going to make in your lifetime. I think that I have it worked out in my head (yeah, stop laughing, I really do). I see it working like this:
1. You are 18. You get everyone's opinion of how successful you are going to be in life. You hope that they are honest, because you are going to be left hanging if you are wrong. So I would have taken a big bet out as I am overly confident in my own skills.
2. For argument's sake, I bet that I will make $5 million by the time I should retire. And, with my body being an absolute temple (some would say to Buddha), I envision myself living to 90. So I get 25 years and $5 million, adjusted for inflation.
3. I actually enjoy my next 25 years while I can still do crazy things. Like bungee jumping. Can you imagine me bungee jumping when I retire? My legs would still be in the straps and the rest of my wrinkled self would be on the mat in a heap of skin and bones, at least what's left of them after 80 years of osteoporosis. I can go mountain climbing. I can afford a cool car to drive really fast. I am able to live a retired life, when I can most enjoy it.
Who wants to retire at 75 with a bunch of money and needing someone to push you in a wheel chair and change your diaper? It's great if you like 5pm early bird suppers at all you can eat buffets and going to bed at 8 only to wake up 3 times to pee in the middle of the night. Half your morning is taken up with figuring out your drugs just to keep you alive and your body is dealing with the effects of 75 years of life and you are trying to "enjoy" your golden years. Yes, you can golf all you want, but who wants to take 5 strokes to hit the fairway even though every shot went straight. I just don't see the benefit of waiting to retire!!!
4. The catch is that when your "retirement" period is over, you now work the rest of your life or until you pay off the debt. That still leaves room for those really smart folks who seem to succeed no matter what. You know who they are. The 23 year old who sold his company to Google and now has nothing left to do in life but globe trot and party.
5. If you don't earn enough or put enough time in there will be punishments. This keeps everyone from overestimating their retirement years and income in the beginning. It would have to be really bad too, just to ensure that no one wanted to try to cheat the system. Like going the rest of your life with no toilet paper or really rough toilet paper. Can you imagine at 75 having to wipe your rear with semi-sandpaper? Not only would I just choose to go in my pants, I would flaunt my choice! Or maybe, you would be forbidden from eating solids. Every meal would be liquid. Can you imagine the life you would live never eating solids again? Maybe that is just a personal fear of mine after seeing the stuff my daughter has to eat. That is why I will never get into a fight. I am afraid of not eating for a while. Sorry, a little off topic.
Well, just my thought on retirement. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself, had a lot of laughs and wanted to cry at times. Well, not really, but it sounded so poetically natural. Now, this weekend will be like any other weekend until I reach my next retirement period. Just a 2 day break until the man puts his finger on the small of my back and pushes me back to a capitalist society that expects years of hard labor for a nominal return only to lose my best years satisfying someone else's expectations. If you can't tell already, I am optimistic about my return to reality.
Until tomorrow...
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