Learning the brand new skill set prior to your retirement, that should be, truly, difficult, especially when you’d been the one, barking at your subordinates from before, now, the shoe’s, on the other foot! Translated…
After a Week-Long Training of the Handing Off of My Positions, I’d Gotten the Thought of, Maybe, I Should, Just, Retire. Filing for My Early Retirement, What am I, Still, Holding on to………
With a Heart of Ease, Everything Became, Easier
I will be eligible for retirement in about a year, I’d worked in the managerial position of my enterprise for thirty years, and recently, my company wanted to, reduce the age of the managers, and so, I’d, handed in my resignation of a manager, and started, working as a senior engineer, and I’d, agreed to help the new manager with the support from my superiors.
And yet, things didn’t work as I wished, in just a little over a month after I’d resigned from my managerial position, the superiors wanted to “borrow” my senior experiences, to have me take a very difficult to handle case. At first I’d told my superiors no, after all, for a man in his sixties, learning something that’s brand new to me professionally, is a big challenge. I’d given my whole life to the company, would there be a need, to torture me at this age that I’m in?
illustration from the papers online
Even though, I’d turned it down many a time, the high-ups in the company told me, that they will, send over a younger woman to assist me, and so, I can only, force myself, to take this job. After I’d, taken the new position, I’d moved to a brand new unit, left my former coworkers, I thought that the manager from the unit I was transferred to had already, agreed to the request I’d made to my superiors, that an assistant will be sent to help me, and yet, the manager who’d set it all up said, “I’m sorry, there’s, only ONE opening, it’s, a one-man job.”
Thankfully, the woman whom I was supposed to be taking over for was more than patient, she’d, taught me the skill set I’d needed, treated me quite courteously. But, there are, still the cases, the accounting professional skills, that are still, quite stressful for me to learn. I’m older now, as I sat for long hours, my back started aching, my mind reactd slower, sometimes, I’d pretended that I’d understood, and just, wanted the learning sessions to be over, so I can get my break. After a week’s worth of training, I’d thought, that maybe, I should just, quit. Just, file for my early retirement, what do I have to prove, with these old bones of mine anyways?
But, I’d, changed a thought, if the younger generations can do it, then, so can I! If I’m able to get past my mental blocks, then, things will surely, fall into place, and of course, I’d wanted, to prove to my company, that I can, handle the tasks they’d, given me, so I’d, gritted my teeth.
After the switch-off happened, my very first job was to write an e-mail to a client. The younger generation was able to do it in five minutes, but, I’d had to, key in the phonetic spellings word-for-world, it’d, taken me a full thirty minutes, I was slow, and it’d, taken a lot of time, and sometimes, as I couldn’t get the phonetic spelling right, I’d asked, others working around me to help me out. I’d recalled how when I’d worked as a manager, I’d often grilled my subordinates on their lacking of efficiency, how they’d, had many typos, how the content weren’t, short or precise enough…………I’d, grilled the subordinates so hard that they’d, looked fearful, and as I’d recalled all of that, I’d, felt so very, sorry towards each and every one of them.
From before when I’d worked as a manager, the lunches were ordered by someone else, and as I’d stopped working as a manager, I’d, had to, handle all of these, nitty-gritty myself. And, more often than not, as I got too busy during lunch, I only snacked on the crackers, and, until three, four in the afternoon, I was on a glucose low, my limbs started to tremble, I couldn’t see straight, and I’d, felt sorry for myself. Afterwards, I’d thought, if I couldn’t, handle these smaller matters, how do I, live alone after retirement? Who will help you out? And so, I’d, started using the post-its as reminders, the first thing I do in the morn, is order the lunches, and after I’d started training myself like this, I’d, never forgotten, to order the lunches.
When We’d Met Our Dead-Ends, a Brand New Path Shall, Present Itself
Once, there was, a case meeting, as I was hosting the conference, I’d needed to, also be, taking notes, and it’d gotten me, a bit, flustered, and so, I’d asked the woman who helped me, and yet, she’d, become self-righteous, as she’d told me, in front of everybody who was there, “can’t you see I’m doing something? I’m only assisting you, don’t ask me to do EVERYTHING for you!”
I don’t know who I can turn to for help, there’s, that feeling of, everybody’s, gaining up on me, and I’d, lost my fierceness of being a manager from before, it’d, felt, awful.
But, the roads kept winding, when I got home, I’d had my children taught me how to use the recording function on my cell phone, and to transfer the sound files into the word files. It wasn’t that hard to learn, I’d, written the steps down one by one, and as I’d bumped into a trouble, I’d, checked back to the notes, to help me figure things out.
That was when I’d found, that the high-tech gadgets are advanced too quickly,that I was, tossed to the back of the high-tech era without even knowing it, thankfully, this learning opportunity had, helped me catch up on my high-tech abilities, and, once I’d learned the how-to, I was able to, sort through the files, relatively, quickly.
There was another time, when the equipment are going to get installed in the factories, and, I’d needed some help from the engineers in their twenties, and he’d told me, that I was, in charge of it all, otherwise, he will just, let everything go. After the arguments, and, for the sake of the biggerpicure, and how I’d, cherished myself, I can only, back down. Finding someone to teach me how to apply for what I’d needed, the documents, and after a ton of errors, and, a lot of trial-by-error, I’d finally, gotten everything done, and, it’d been, half a day that’s, wasted at work. And, although I finished everything, but, that pent up anger inside of me, didn’t find a viable outlet, and, I’d started thinking, was I that awful when I was a manager from before? And, just so happens, my friend LINED me an article, and one of the lines had, helped me rid of the displease inside of me, it said, “taking it all in, is not foolish, it’s actually, wise, it’s, being the bigger person.”
After six months’ worth of being grilled, my writing skills still aren’t as fast as the younger generations, but, I’d, made great strides, because I bought a writing board, and, I’d known how to operate the computers, and, I’d, written down every thing I did, step, by step, and sometimes, I’d only needed to, go into the files, and change minor wordings, and I was, all set, it’d, saved a ton of time.
And because, I had this unique method of handling the cases, I was, very precise on budget, time control, and due dates, in the end, I was still, able to, finish the goals I’d set based off of my plans, it’d, helped turned the case that my company thought they would be losing money on, into a profit. The month before my retirement, the company suddenly told me, “You manged this case really well, there’s another case that’s brand new, but we’d wanted to have you on board as a consultant, it’s just one day a week, the pay is great.”
Suddenly, I’d, felt a mixture of emotions, and, I couldn’t believe, that this learning process before my formal retirement, had actually helped me get a brand new job as a consultant after I’d, retired.
And so, this just showed, how as you retire, there are, a ton of things you will need to adjust to, like for this person, s/he had to learn so many new skill set, and, nobody was there to offer her/him the assistance s/he needed, s/he’d had to, learn everything from the fundamental, and, because of how hard this person worked, to learn the new skill set that was required for the new jobs, that was why s/he shone through at the end, and became someone irreplaceable to her/his company.