Old, But Not Retired

Old, But Not Retired 1

Drop into the Vita Needle Company of Needham, Massachusetts. It’s six a.m. and Rosa Finnegan is arriving for work, one of 35 people employed by this small manufacturing outfit 2. 

Rosa: I think in the back of your mind, you sort of don’t want anybody to think that you can’t do this work. I know that’s the way I feel. I feel, “Well, I can keep up with anyone.”

It can’t be easy to keep up with younger people, but Rosa can do it.

Q: Rosa, let me ask you a rude question. How old are you?

Rosa: Ninety.

Q: Ninety. And you’re still working.

Rosa: Yes. I work 37 hours a week.

Q: That’s a full week’s work.

Rosa: Yes.

Q: Why do you do it?

Rosa: Because I would be bored to death sitting doing nothing. Beside that, I’d be all 1)stiffened up. My fingers would be all stiff. No way! When I came here I was 86. I was a little afraid to tell them how old I was. But he said, “As long as you can climb those stairs, you have a job.”

Q: That’s the main qualification.

Rosa: So I’ve been climbing the stairs ever since.

The old idea of the good life of non-stop 2)goofing-off at age 65 is going out of style. In Potsdam, New York, there’s Mayor Ruth Garner 4, age 87. Greenhouse manager, Peter Porich, in Indiana, is 92. Then there was 3)Al Herschfeld, who spent a lifetime at his drawing board, celebrating the great entertainers for the New York Times. He was still at it, seven days a week, at age 99.

Q: Never thoughts of retiring, ever?

Al: Oh, good God, no! Look, I wouldn’t know what to do. I mean, that’s a special talent to retire! You know, I’m no good at that.

Q: People tell me they look forward to retirement 5.

Rosa: I know. I did.

Q: You did?

Rosa: I did. Yeah, I didn’t think I was going to work forever, but I think I will.

Scientist Ray Crist is a hundred and three; still on the job nine hours a day, five days a week at a lab near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

Ray: How can this be work? This is so interesting. Look, look, I’m finding out what’s going on! 

He’s relentless 6 in his effort to figure out the impact toxic 7 metals have on the environment. 

Ray: I have an inner movement, an inner drive, and this goes on, and it is still going, and I don’t have sense enough to quit. I should stop, but I can’t stop.

Look closely at these faces. They could be your future. 

注释：
1) stiffen 3 [5stifn] v. 不易弯曲，僵硬
2) goof-off [^u:f Cf] v. 消磨时间
3) Al Herschfeld 艾尔·赫什菲尔德，美国著名漫画家，为《纽约时报》工作长达七十年，以画娱乐圈人士为主。

生命不息 工作不止

到位于麻省尼德汉的维塔制针公司看看吧。现在是早上六点，罗莎·芬尼根来上班了，她是这里三十五名员工的一分子。

罗莎：我想在心灵深处，你多少有点不想别人认为你做不了这份工作。我知道自己就是这样想的。我的想法是，“我能与其他人保持同步。”
对于老人来说，要跟上年轻人的节奏并不容易，但罗莎做到了。

问：罗莎，我冒昧地问一个不太礼貌的问题，你高寿？

罗莎：九十了。

问：已经九十了，而你还在上班。

罗莎：对，我每周工作三十七个小时。

问：那就等于是全职工作了。

罗莎：没错。

问：你为什么要这样做呢？

罗莎：这是因为如果我无所事事的话，我肯定会闷死的。而且，那样的话，我的手脚就会变得不灵活，我的手指都会变得僵硬。我才不干呢！刚来这里时我已经是八十六了，我当时不是太敢把自己的年龄告诉他们，但老板说：“只要你能够爬上这里的楼梯，你就能保住这份工作。”

问：这就是主要限制条件？

罗莎：所以我就一直在爬这里的楼梯。
以前，人们对好生活的认识就是，人到了六十五岁后就可以过上无所事事的闲散生活。但这种想法过时了。纽约州波茨坦市的市长是八十七岁高龄的鲁思·加纳，印地安那州一家温室的经理彼得·波里奇已是九十二岁。还有就是一生都在画图板前度过的艾尔·赫什菲尔德，他不停地为《纽约时报》提供优秀艺人的漫画。他在九十九岁时，每个星期还工作七天。

问：你就从来没想过要退休？

艾尔：哦，没有！你想啊，要是退休了，我会不知道日子该怎么过。我是说，退休可是一个很特别的天赋，对那个我可是不擅长的。

问：人们总是对我说，他们都盼望着退休那一天。

罗莎：是的，我以前也一样。

问：你也这样想？

罗莎：不错。我以前可没想过要一直工作下去，不过现在我想我会的。
科学家雷·克里斯特现年一百零三岁，但他还是在宾夕法尼亚州哈里斯堡附近的一个实验室里工作，他每天工作九个小时，每星期五天。

雷：你怎么能说这是工作呢？这多有意思啊。你看看，我探究事情的真相！
克里斯特一直不间断地努力研究有毒金属对环境的影响。

雷：我有一股内在的冲动，一种内在的动力，它没在止境，不停地驱使着我，我还没想过要停下来。我也许该停下来了，可我停不了啊。
认真研究一下上面这些人吧，这可能就是你未来的缩影。