Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-03-01
THE GOLDEN YEARS
New Activities Cure
Conversation Bores

money j.. a lot of 1t :. and
went south to establish
themselves in a new home In
a blue-ribbon community. =
Their experience, almost
a classic in modern-day re-
tirement practices, holds O
lesson not so much for the
retired rich as for the retired
poor. The rich. after all, can
lure friends with cocktails
and food. The poor have
only their charm. Err
h. "The last thing I would
ever have thought of before
retiring" says the rich man,
"was that I would run out Of
anything to talk about and
turn into a bore. But this
happens to you, and you don't
realize 1t until some time.
afterwards :"
r..
Something Wrong
He says he got his first
hint that something was
wrong with retired people
by making friends with o
couple Of them. ~.~
I'VE were having parties
and such, and my wife and I
began to see that the two re-
tired couples were a bit
heavy. At our house or at
other peoples houses they sat
around or stood around and
talked a lot. But they didn't
interest anybody. One night
I asked my wife II maybe we
were just as dull and didn't
know it. -,
I'VE made it a point to see
what the two couples were /,
talking about. M
One of the couples was
only half talking-the wife
was keeping quiet while the
husband droned away. Al
ways about his old company.
His old friends. His old tri-
umphS. That was all he knew.
He hadn't had a new thought
or a new experience since the
day he retired.
1T wasn't very interesting
even the first time. Nobody
in the sunshine cares how
you sold shoes back in the
snow two years ago. But this
old guy was running like a
monograph record over
and over again :"
The second couple was
worse, but in a better way.
THE fellow and his wife
had bought an older home in
the community and were re-
modelling it. This apparently
was the biggest thing since
Columbus discovered Amer
lea. Their kitchen was the
cutest. The antiques they had
picked up for the living room
were an absolute steal. The
carpenters, the painters, the
plumbers-all the cheapest,
and really marvellous.
"A little of this goes a long
way. And they had a lot Of
it,"
So the rich man and his
wife went home to analyze
what they themselves had
been talking about.
Il had been talking about
my old job, about moving
south, about my old Job,
about our children, about
moving south, about my old
job. etc., etc. My wife was
talking about our children.
about moving south, about
our children, about moving
south, etc.. ETC., etc. :"
They Wise Up >'
So the rich man and his
wife set out deliberately to
make themselves interesting
to talk to. This is how they
did it: They each began
reading a book a week-al-
ways a new book because IL
was a better conversation
piece; the wife joined the
League Of Women Voters,
the husband the local Re-
publican Club; they jointly
Joined the Chamber Of Com.
merce, the husband volun-
teered to teach q junior
achievement class, the wife
volunteered to sew one
morning a week for the Red
Cross: and both resolves
they would talk about moth
ing that happened before
last week.
ut worked, as simple a.
that" the wife says. and
in extroverting ourselves to
find something fresh to talk
about we found activities
that have made our retire.
ment fun" Rs
Copyright 1862 IA
General Features Corp.)
| The Golden Yaore nnn.... TL