Do you ever really get to retire (unless you're a hermit?)

Some people love their jobs.  I'm going out on a limb saying most people don't.  But at some point in life, if we are lucky, we are able to retire.  And what is the purpose of retirement?  The purpose is that at a certain age people should be able to enjoy the life they have left.  If they are lucky, that could be several more decades.  There's also perhaps the theory that as people get into their 60s, their bodies don't function as well as they did when they were younger.  Either way, there is a reason that we have systems in place in the United States that allow previously employed people to retire.

The question I have is, "why can't retirees every really retire?"  The answer is because friends and family won't let them.  I think that when people are retired, that is when they should never be EXPECTED to do anything.  They've earned that.  But I think that oftentimes friends and family take advantage of the fact that when someone is retired they have "nothing to do."  Whether they become homebodies, volunteers or active in their community or socializing, the point is that these retired persons should be able to CHOOSE what they do with their time.

But when you have the pressures of friends and family thinking that you have "all this extra time," they assume that you should have no problem doing what they want you to do.  Oh, you had plans to swim with your aquasize group?  That's not important, you should help me do a, b, or c.  I know you'd rather drink a gallon of paint than do X, but you're retired, so really there is no excuse for you to do X.  And hey, remember my point about the theory that as people get older, their bodies don't function as well as when they are younger?  But, I think other people forget that.  But they are retired, why can't they help me push a school bus up a hill?  It's not like they have anything better to do.

I have kids, I love my kids.  I have friends... probably won't have them all my life, but I might have some at the age of "retirement."  But, guess what.  If my friends or family are selfish enough to think that MY golden years are meant to be spent doing all these things I don't WANT to do, they can go F themselves.  And I think people should respect that.  Retired people don't need you to find ways for them to spend their time as if retirement means you sit on your front porch in your underwear watching traffic go by.  Retirement is meant to be the years where you get to do the things you've always wanted to do.

Keep that in mind when you decide how retired people should spend their time.