Only Human
By Betsey Nash, SPHR
“I have retired.” The words feel strange in my mouth, reluctant to leave my lips, as if doing so signals the start of a long descent.
I thought deciding to “go grey” was traumatic. Getting my Medicare card really threw me. Lord knows what I’ll feel next week when I celebrate the birthday that makes me eligible for it. I have always cherished my birthdays; have been known to make a big deal out of my hot August night, but this year, not so much.
Maybe I’ll feel better after a week or so. Will I spend that week haunting the halls of Strasbaugh, dropping by to pick up “just one more thing,” furtively glancing at emails, or in blissful ignorance of the torment and stress they have to endure without me there to make everything all right?
Do people still define themselves by their work? I am guessing we don’t to the same degree that men used to do, back when they were the “bread winners” and “the little woman” stayed home to raise the kids.
Our broad based identities are more apparent at work now, so employers are wise to provide flexible scheduling to both moms and dads, including the extended maternity and paternity leaves of absence we’ve read about recently.
And softball teams, of course. At Strasbaugh we started a brown bag lunch series where employees teach the rest of us something fun, like how to use a camera, how to change a bike tire, arrange flowers, and using a chef’s knife. (OK, we had one session, but I am hopeful more will follow even in my absence.) It is important to know our coworkers on as many dimensions as they’d like to share.
As I reflect back on 50 years of work, there are many milestones; the most significant being when my business and personal personas meshed, somewhere in the early 1980s. It can be tough for a Leo to admit that they won’t lead an army or star on Broadway, but it dawned on me that I could make a difference in my small corner of the world.
And, significantly, I didn’t have to wait ‘til after 5, while volunteering for the Symphony or Land Conservancy, to do “good works.” I could do good while at work. As a Title Officer? Yup. And later as a radio talk show host and a human resources professional.
Years later, I came across quotes by Gandhi and Mother Teresa who both expressed the concept better than I. Gandhi said, “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” And Mother Teresa (now a Saint) said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Even in HR.
All this came back to me during my last days at Strasbaugh. The employees who thanked me for my four years there were doing so for the small things I’d done.
So bring it on! In retirement, as in my workdays, perhaps the Grateful Dead sang it best: “Sometimes the lights all shinin’ on me… Other times I can barely see… Lately it occurs to me… What a long, strange trip it’s been…”
Think I’ll just keep on truckin’ along.
Betsey Nash, SPHR etc., is now focusing her attention on consulting clients, family, travel, and more writing. She can be reached at: . Only Human is a regular feature of Tolosa Press.
