nancyfrank232
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2019
- Messages
- 249
OPs reaction says more about OP than the people asking the question about not working
OPs reaction says more about OP than the people asking the question about not working
OPs reaction says more about OP than the people asking the question about not working
Not really. Especially since it's the OP's wife who is experiencing this issue, not the OP.
But, but...sometimes there are creative, humorous, helpful suggestions and comments that might be "off color" or sway a little from the original post. All good intentions. BYW, more posts, more stars. I respect your ---mod hat--- and will always try my best.--mod hat on--
To the degree there may be more to say on this topic, let's try to stick to the situation as it has been presented in the OP and related/similar cases--and keep it friendly. "General" or "my experience" is good, "you" (invective, questioning of motivations, etc) is less useful. Thanks!
-- mod hat off--
We certainly do not have a problem with saying we are retired.
The problem is not ours, it belongs to those who are resentful. Nothing we can do about it. So we do not give it a thought. Besides, we have other problems of our own to worry about without adding to them.
Life is too short to go through life worrying about what other people may think. We gave that up a long time ago.
My Mom retired from nursing as soon as she became eligible for Medicare (65) & once when I mentioned this to a doctor at a social event he protested "Oh no, we need those good nurses!"
Joined the USMC in 76 and although didn't suffer the abuse you did, what I'll always remember is the contrast between our haircuts and civilians. We stood so far out in a crowd that noone would associate with us. Of course that was when everyone had long hair. Now there's little, if any, difference in hair length at all. Given how much we were looked down on we always travelled in groups...except this one guy I knew who figured his best way to get a date was to go out on his own with a long hair wig..worked for him too[emoji16]Thank you for that. Mostly, it was just the times we lived in back then. At least during my lifetime, it seems that the 1970's were about the worst period to be in the military. The protests against the Vietnam War may have started in the late 60's, but things really ramped up after the invasion of Cambodia in May 1970. People were angry about the war, angry about the draft, angry at the military, angry at the president, seemingly angry about everything. And that anger did not necessarily stop when the war ended in 1975.
I can recall people throwing trash at me and my Navy friends, pouring beer on us and cursing us out for the sin of simply being in uniform, well into 1980. (I'm sure it was much worse in the first half of the 1970s, but it was bad enough in the late 1970s) I wanted to ask them if they realized that the war was long over and that we had nothing to do with it, but it was pointless. So we tried to avoid wearing our uniforms as much as possible and grew our hair as long as we could get away with. In fact, I recall that, still into the early 80s, certain commands had restrictions on stopping anywhere between the base and your home if you were in uniform, so that they could avoid trouble.
Plus, the economy really sucked in the 70s. Inflation and unemployment were both high at the same time, and stock market returns were low. (remember the "misery index?"). By the time I joined the Navy in 1977, the belief was widespread that if you voluntarily joined the military (the draft had ended in 1973), you were either some kind of sociopath or a desperate loser with no future.
Add to that the fact that the military was itself "broken" by Vietnam. The equipment was dangerously worn out and/or in short supply, morale was at rock bottom, drug abuse was high and there was a profound sense of alienation from the civilian population. We certainly knew the country -- or at least the Baby Boomer cohort of which I was a part -- hated us. Sometimes, older veterans would offer us a quiet word of support, and that was quite meaningful, but day to day, things were grim.
I'm glad that you and the other younger active duty people and recent veterans are getting the recognition that you deserve and glad that the rift between the military and the civilian population seems to have been healed. I hope that division never occurs again. As for me, the Navy was good to me. It gave me the education and the discipline to make something of my life. (I really was one of those without other options). I got to do incredibly fun things and meet some great shipmates. And I got paid. So, I'd say no thanks are necessary for me. But I don't mind if people do thank me, and I try always to be gracious when that happens.
Good luck with your upcoming transition.
So DW retired at 45 from being a nurse. She often gets the question, "Why aren't you still working as a nurse?"
I think I would give some indication of being well deserved, like "I was finally able to retire early" indicating that she was ready both financially, and mentally to quit.
Wasn't that simply a doctorish compliment? That nurses are good, and your Mom was especially so?
Doctors, I have noticed, can be a little clumsy with compliments.
As I recall, no one ever thanked me for my service while I was actually doing it. If anything, they either actively loathed me or pitied me for not being able to get a real job. (I joined the USN in 1977, upon high school graduation.)