Unemployment

After working continuously for 40 years, the most recent 25 of which with the same company, I find myself without a job. I don't think I'm "retired". That implies several things that are not true in this case. First, "retired" connotes that my new-found unemployment is voluntary; it is not. Moreover "retired from ..." implies that "..." is somehow participating in my post-employment sustenance; they are not.

Now, it's true that I am old enough to qualify for social security benefits. The government, however does everything in its power to dissuade me from enrolling for those benefits for another 4 years. And indeed, it had been my intention to accede to that protocol. Alas, that may not be possible. It's also true that if I were to start expending those resources I have always planned to use for my retirement, I would probably be able to live reasonably comfortably (along with my long-suffering spouse) for as long as living itself is an option. It just irks me that the decision has been taken from me.

There are, as is well known, many people worse off than I am. Millions of people are unemployed with far fewer resources on which to rely. In that sense, removing me from the workforce is a public "good"; I'm not competing with those who need a job more than I do. I suppose it's a bourgeois conceit in the first place that a man is supposed to work at all. I just don't know what else to do. So I'll look for a job while I adjust to not having one. As Arthur Dent said to Mr. Prosser, "we'll see who rusts first."