Everyone said retirement is great and I'd have time to do all of things I always wanted to do. They didn't lie, I have time, but the great part, I'm not too sure about that. Pete said to himself.
Today is the first day of his retirement and he's already bored. Following his normal routine of getting up at the regular time, having a shower and then coffee before getting dressed, he stood ready. Next he'd normally be leaving for work, but today had no idea what to do.
He poured another cup of coffee and sat down at his kitchen table. He normally got his second cup of coffee at the deli near work along with a breakfast pastry. Maybe he'd have to settle for his weekend breakfast today and make sure he added breakfast items to his weekly grocery list.
People said he could travel and see the world, but after checking his bank account and accounting for his reduced income, that seemed like a pipe dream. He was entitled to a pension and his first check should arrive on the first, but it was only 80% of what his paycheck had been, not really enough to see the world.
He prepared toast with jam and a fried egg for breakfast, cleaned up the dishes and looked around the alien surroundings that was his home. He could not remember seeing it this time of morning during the workweek ever before.
After an hour he remembered a goal he'd made every New Year and never kept. He wanted to start walking and maybe lose some weight. He had walking shoes and casual clothes, but did he really want to get all hot and sweaty?
After another half hour of total boredom, he changed his clothes, grabbed his house keys and headed out the front door. As he looked up and down the street trying to decide on which direction to head, he was struck by a few of his neighbors walking by. He'd lived in this neighborhood for the last 15 years and recognized the women walking by; he'd even spoken to both of them on occasion, but could not remember their names. Today he noticed them and more importantly what they were wearing.
He'd heard of yoga pants before, but had no idea how form fitting they actually were.
"Hi Pete," one of the women called out. "We normally don't see you out during the week. Did you finally retire?"
"Hi. Yes, today is the first day of my retirement and I thought it was about time I did a bit of exercise." Pete responded.
"Great idea, but don't overdo it on your first day. Judy and I walk every day a couple of miles. It's great for your energy levels. See you later." The woman replied as she and the other woman walked off at a fairly brisk pace.
Pete watched the sway of their hips as they moved away from him. He now knew one of the women's name, Judy. She lived around the corner and had the rose garden in her front yard. He'd seen her many times before. If he recalled correctly she was divorced.
If all the women walking around here wore nothing, but skin-tight pants, he'd be out walking every day. He might have trouble concentrating on where to place his feet, but he'd get a very good view.
Pete could only walk around the block, before he was winded. He saw another female walker and she also wore something that appeared to be painted on. The warm temperature made jackets or sweats unnecessary and if it weren't for the color of what these women wore, he would have sworn they were naked. This was definitely the hobby for him.
Pete returned to his empty house. He lived alone these last 5 years since his wife of forty years died of a quickly advancing cancer. The one bright side of it was that she hadn't suffered long. It was only three months from diagnosis until he had to bury her. He still misses her and now without work to distract him, he might fall into depression. He needed things to fill the space vacated by his lack of the daily activity that occupied most of his waking hours for the past 20 years.
Pete cleaned his house and made up a grocery list with added food now that he would be eating both breakfast and lunch at home. He already had food for dinners. He then decided to do his shopping today instead of Saturday, as was his norm.
The near empty store surprised Pete; he normally fought the crowds on Saturdays. Not only were the customers today almost entirely women, but also several of them wore the same skin tight, butt-hugging pants he'd seen earlier this morning. The pace was more leisurely than what he experienced on his normal shopping day. He figured he had little else to do, so he went up and down each aisle checking out what was available, both in terms of groceries and in customers.
Most of those shoppers appeared to be over 60. There were a few men shopping and a couple of younger people, but for the most part the dozen or so people in the store looked be, like him, retired.
Pete recognized over half of the women there, but names escaped him. In the past he'd always been in too much of a hurry to chat with any of the neighbors; it was different now, he had nothing but time. He wondered if it was too late to get to know some of these women.
Pete grabbed the closest item to him and walked up to a woman he recognized. As luck would have it, her pants looked painted on. "Do you know how to cook this?" he asked.
"Now that's a pick up line I've never heard before," the woman laughed, "Do you realize you are holding a package of spaghetti?" She smiled at him, before adding, "You don't remember me, do you?"
Pete was caught and his embarrassment showed. "No, I don't. Do we know each other?" He thought of adding that he suffered from a blow to the head last year and had lost all of his memories, but decided he was already in too deep and that statement would only make it worse.
"Pete, I'm Suzy; I picked up your wife for Bunco every Friday night for two years until she received her cancer diagnosis. I'm so sorry she's gone; she was such fun."
"Yes, she was a lot of fun to be around. I remember you and some of her other Bunco friends came over a few times to bring me dinner and check up on me after Ruth died. I appreciated that."
"You were always so busy and didn't seem to want company. You just seemed to throw yourself into your work and no one saw you except on rare occasions when you went to the store every Saturday morning, like clockwork." Suzy commented.
"I guess I needed something to fill the void and work was there. I'm retired now and trying to make up for avoiding everyone who tried to be there for me. I missed a lot and want to try to reconnect. I don't know why I picked up this pasta. This is far too much when you're cooking for one. I normally just get the frozen dinners."
"I know what you mean. Do you like the frozen dinners?"
"Not really, but what choice do I have?"
Suzy's face took hold of a wide grin, "Do you cook?"
I can make a few recipes, but I haven't in a while, why?"
"Do you know what a co-op is?" Suzy asked.
"Yes, that's for buying things in bulk to share with a group."
"You can also do the same with cooking. I'm in a group of a few other women where we all take turns cooking to share with each other. Would you like to join our co-op?"
