lunchtime and retirement

i met 2 guys today at rein's deli. i was on my way home from ed's mom's house where i just dropped off the kids, and i was really hungry, so i stopped at this deli, which i used to like a few years ago. no space to sit though, it was lunchtime, so i had to sit at the bar on one of those stools that rotate. 1st time in my life...

it felt a bit weird at first, it was just me and a bunch of businessmen on their lunch hour. not my usual crowd (this morning i was at a tomato transplanting party with a bunch of earhty moms and kids, and this was quite a change from that).

the guy next to me started talking to me half a minute after i sat down. he tried guessing a few things about me, but was wrong on all of them. then he gave up and started telling me about hmself. he was 71, he said, and working for an insurance company nearby. i asked if he's planning to retire soon, and he said maybe in 10 years. i gulped. 'dude, you may be dead by then', but of course i didn't say it.

then his friend showed up. he was even older. 93 years old, and as he proudly let me know, he waas still working too, in some contracting business. i couldn't come up with anything other than 'that's....interesting'. what i really wanted to say is 'sorry to hear that'.
but maybe they love it. i'm just projecting my own feelings here...

the 71-year-old guy then asked me if i work nearby. i said that i was retired. he was...surprised, but then i told him that i was home with my kids and he looked somewhat relieved, and said that that counts as work. then he said "what does your husband do", and i told him engineering, but probably not much longer because he really wants to quit and be a farmer. then he said, 'so your husband is very wealthy', and i said yeah, but i don't think we meant the same thing. i tried to clarify for him a little, telling him that we live very simply, small cars, no TV, not too many gadgets, all that. he looked puzzled. i don't think he knew what to make of me.

we all have our ways of categorizing people, and he probably categorized me as 'strange romanian woman' (he asked where i was from). i most likely categorized him and his friend as something they're not. it's hard to get to know someone in 10 minutes. still, it was an interesting lunch...

peace