Retirement…

My job, as I have mentioned on numerous occasions, is a pretty thankless one. I work for a public service agency serving needy populations. It is the type of job that many people retire from because the benefits and pension opportunities are so good. We have several people retiring this year in our office. It struck me as odd that one of them made quite a fuss about refusing to let anyone in the office acknowledge in any form that she was retiring. She made it very clear that even though she has spent 35 years in the same office with many of the same people that she did not want a party, a cake, or even a card. Maybe I will feel differently when I reach that stage of life but it strikes me as unusual. Who knows in 30 years if I won’t be telling them to ignore my retirement and just get me a discount cigar to smoke on the way out the door! Right now I just feel that 35 years of service would make you want some sort of pat on the back or something.