An unexpected delight of the funemployment job I’ve had for several years has been many of my coworkers.
What’s maybe odd about this is that I share little in common with most of them. In any other context, I’d have little reason to talk—much less hang out—with them.
Buddy guy
One coworker in particular—whom we’ll call: Buddy—-embodies this paradox perfectly. We differ in sssooo many ways: upbringing, education, full-time professional lives, politics, hobbies, religion, and much more.
So, what makes me like Buddy so much? Lots.
Buddy’s prolly never heard the term FIRE. What’s more, he’s fiscally conservative. Painfully so. But you know what Buddy did at about age 50, just like me? He FIRE’d. What the what?!
Buddy worked for a public entity his whole full-time career, in a tough, stressful job. He loved, and was really good at, it. Buddy touched and improved or turned around the lives of hundreds—if not thousands—of society’s most troublesome cases.
Under the terms of Buddy’s employment, he became eligible for a full pension after 30 years’ service. What’s more, Buddy could buy years of service. On the cheap!
Buddy took advantage of those terms. He bought a year of service after 29 years on the job. That bumped him up to 30 years’ service . . . and full-pension eligibility.
Buddy promptly retired. And oh by the way received a cash payout for his roughly one year of accrued leave time. Boom!
What (a) character
There’s more to Buddy. Much more. That “more” makes Buddy one of the most decent human beings I’ve ever had the privilege to have met.
First, as to his full-time job. Most people in his job would—quite reasonably—study the case files of each tough case/cookie they were assigned. Better to know what you’re getting into, no?
Not Buddy. No, he generally refused to read those files. Why? Buddy didn’t want to prejudge. He firmly believed that each person could be reached and helped. And that he could do just that. Best to eliminate the possibility of preconceived notions.
What a brilliantly counterintuitive approach! And you know what? It worked. A lot. Many who Buddy worked with were helped. No small number still look to him as a father figure even decades later.
What’s more, Buddy took a related (and even tougher) job with his employer during his full-time employment. Buddy is a law-and-order type, and that new job was straight-up law and order. He was excited by the opportunity. But once in the role, Buddy didn’t like what he saw. Not one bit. So, what did Buddy do? He took appropriate measures and left the job. Cuz Buddy has character. In spades.
Another thing to know about Buddy is that he has ants in his pants. He took his current part-time job in part for that reason. But just as much because our workplace is near a high school. At which Buddy coaches of one of the sports teams.
Buddy participated in that sport in high school. Then on scholarship in college. He had much success and knows the sport up and down. When Buddy took his coaching job at the high school many years ago, he inherited a team with little structure and even less success. Buddy turned the program around. He’s produced state champions and countless others who accomplished more than they’d dreamed they were capable of.
But as with so much about Buddy, there’s more. Lots more.
First, the financial viability of his team. In any given year, Buddy contributes gobs of his own money to keep it running. Then there’s the getting the kids to/from events, setting up the events, and organizing fundraisers to further supplement program expenses. Buddy (and his wife) do it all. Amazing!
Buddy doesn’t suffer negative attitudes, bad behavior, or even his best team members getting even slightly too big for their britches. He builds character. Buddy would happily sacrifice success in the sport for building participants with the highest integrity. But he’s so good that he does both. Buddy’s not successful in those regards all the time. But he sure has a good winning percentage.
The high school being an urban institution, it has plenty of tough cases and tough cookies. Many kids on Buddy’s team are one or both of those. As far as Buddy is concerned, the tougher the case/cookie, the more rewarding the challenge (unless and until the kid shows that they can’t and won’t be helped).
My favorite illustration of this involves a kid Buddy had on the team years ago, whom we’ll call: Immy. A good kid, but a really sad case involving absent parents. Immy had fled a war-torn country where he very well might’ve been persecuted and killed in time.
Buddy and his wife are childless by choice. But what did Buddy do with Immy? He took Immy into his home . . . for several years. Immy ultimately went to college, a prospect that but for moving to the United States and having Buddy in his life otherwise would have been fanciful. Today, Immy has a family, coaches the sport he participated in, and embodies the American dream. Amazing!
Five and time
Buddy’s as smart as anyone about life tho generally isn’t the most profound thinker. But he sure can throw out a real curveball every so often.
Case in point: Buddy once asked me where I see myself in five years. Not where I see myself in the job in five years. Rather, in life. That might not strike you as profound, Dear Reader. But it did me. Because of the timeframe within the context of the question.
“Where do you see yourself in five years” in a job context? Been there, done that. But not in life. Because when someone asks you where you see yourself years down the road, that timeframe usually is more than five years. Maybe 10 years or more.
Five years, however, is short enough to be able to make reasonable, informed guesses. But long enough that unexpected events could introduce flies into the ointment. Short enough where one can’t say, “How could I possibly know?!” Long enough that there’s some uncertainty.
Confronted with the question, I sat almost paralyzed for just those reasons. It forced me to squarely address the issue. An even more granular exercise than confronting the “seasons of life” discussed in Bill Perkins’ book, Die With Zero. And just as worthwhile.
And in the end . . .
I’m a firm believer that the FI in FIRE is the real prize. It was for me. But unless you continue in a full-time, paid job after FIREing, some RE comes with the territory. In RE, living a joyful, fulfilling life is a bigly element. Living a good life goes a long way to living that joyful and fulfilling life. I’ve been lucky in that I had a pretty good idea how to achieve this. But Buddy’s helped me refine it yet further. Thanks, Buddy.
