Old, But Not Retired

（单词翻译）

Old, But Not Retired¹

Drop into the Vita Needle Company of Needham, Massachusetts. It’s six a.m. and Rosa Finnegan is arriving for work, one of 35 people employed by this small manufacturing outfit². 

Rosa: I think in the back of your mind, you sort of don’t want anybody to think that you can’t do this work. I know that’s the way I feel. I feel, “Well, I can keep up with anyone.”

It can’t be easy to keep up with younger people, but Rosa can do it.

Q: Rosa, let me ask you a rude question. How old are you?

Rosa: Ninety.

Q: Ninety. And you’re still working.

Rosa: Yes. I work 37 hours a week.

Q: That’s a full week’s work.

Rosa: Yes.

Q: Why do you do it?

Rosa: Because I would be bored to death sitting doing nothing. Beside that, I’d be all 1)stiffened up. My fingers would be all stiff. No way! When I came here I was 86. I was a little afraid to tell them how old I was. But he said, “As long as you can climb those stairs, you have a job.”

Q: That’s the main qualification.

Rosa: So I’ve been climbing the stairs ever since.

The old idea of the good life of non-stop 2)goofing-off at age 65 is going out of style. In Potsdam, New York, there’s Mayor Ruth Garner⁴, age 87. Greenhouse manager, Peter Porich, in Indiana, is 92. Then there was 3)Al Herschfeld, who spent a lifetime at his drawing board, celebrating the great entertainers for the New York Times. He was still at it, seven days a week, at age 99.

Q: Never thoughts of retiring, ever?

Al: Oh, good God, no! Look, I wouldn’t know what to do. I mean, that’s a special talent to retire! You know, I’m no good at that.

Q: People tell me they look forward to retirement⁵.

Rosa: I know. I did.

Q: You did?

Rosa: I did. Yeah, I didn’t think I was going to work forever, but I think I will.

Scientist Ray Crist is a hundred and three; still on the job nine hours a day, five days a week at a lab near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

Ray: How can this be work? This is so interesting. Look, look, I’m finding out what’s going on! 

He’s relentless⁶ in his effort to figure out the impact toxic⁷ metals have on the environment. 

Ray: I have an inner movement, an inner drive, and this goes on, and it is still going, and I don’t have sense enough to quit. I should stop, but I can’t stop.

Look closely at these faces. They could be your future. 

注释：
1) stiffen³ [5stifn] v. 不易弯曲，僵硬
2) goof-off [^u:f Cf] v. 消磨时间
3) Al Herschfeld 艾尔·赫什菲尔德，美国著名漫画家，为《纽约时报》工作长达七十年，以画娱乐圈人士为主。

生命不息 工作不止

到位于麻省尼德汉的维塔制针公司看看吧。现在是早上六点，罗莎·芬尼根来上班了，她是这里三十五名员工的一分子。

罗莎：我想在心灵深处，你多少有点不想别人认为你做不了这份工作。我知道自己就是这样想的。我的想法是，“我能与其他人保持同步。”
对于老人来说，要跟上年轻人的节奏并不容易，但罗莎做到了。

问：罗莎，我冒昧地问一个不太礼貌的问题，你高寿？

罗莎：九十了。

问：已经九十了，而你还在上班。

罗莎：对，我每周工作三十七个小时。

问：那就等于是全职工作了。

罗莎：没错。

问：你为什么要这样做呢？

罗莎：这是因为如果我无所事事的话，我肯定会闷死的。而且，那样的话，我的手脚就会变得不灵活，我的手指都会变得僵硬。我才不干呢！刚来这里时我已经是八十六了，我当时不是太敢把自己的年龄告诉他们，但老板说：“只要你能够爬上这里的楼梯，你就能保住这份工作。”

问：这就是主要限制条件？

罗莎：所以我就一直在爬这里的楼梯。
以前，人们对好生活的认识就是，人到了六十五岁后就可以过上无所事事的闲散生活。但这种想法过时了。纽约州波茨坦市的市长是八十七岁高龄的鲁思·加纳，印地安那州一家温室的经理彼得·波里奇已是九十二岁。还有就是一生都在画图板前度过的艾尔·赫什菲尔德，他不停地为《纽约时报》提供优秀艺人的漫画。他在九十九岁时，每个星期还工作七天。

问：你就从来没想过要退休？

艾尔：哦，没有！你想啊，要是退休了，我会不知道日子该怎么过。我是说，退休可是一个很特别的天赋，对那个我可是不擅长的。

问：人们总是对我说，他们都盼望着退休那一天。

罗莎：是的，我以前也一样。

问：你也这样想？

罗莎：不错。我以前可没想过要一直工作下去，不过现在我想我会的。
科学家雷·克里斯特现年一百零三岁，但他还是在宾夕法尼亚州哈里斯堡附近的一个实验室里工作，他每天工作九个小时，每星期五天。

雷：你怎么能说这是工作呢？这多有意思啊。你看看，我探究事情的真相！
克里斯特一直不间断地努力研究有毒金属对环境的影响。

雷：我有一股内在的冲动，一种内在的动力，它没在止境，不停地驱使着我，我还没想过要停下来。我也许该停下来了，可我停不了啊。
认真研究一下上面这些人吧，这可能就是你未来的缩影。