Opinion: The Cedar Fair and Six Flags merger implications

Shades:

I get that everyone is different but I cannot understand why some people want to keep working long after they can retire. I am hoping to get out at 60...

I'd like to make it work at 58, but we'll see. That said, I don't mind continuing to work, but only if it's on things that I really enjoy, and not for the money. You know, part-time lighting designer or zoo keeper. Because...

Brian Noble:
After a few personal crises (mostly self-inflicted) and a whole lot of therapy, I'm separating my sense of self from what I do for money. Perhaps coincidentally, I'm also now more serious about planning my retirement.

I feel very seen. Mine have been a combination of self-inflicted and not, but I've never been able to find the right spot on the spectrum of "work is life" and "work is just a job." I still don't have it right, but if I'm looking for purpose, there are plenty of things that I do that aren't work that give purpose. I think that the dream is for work and purpose to be the same thing. And the people who believe they've found that, and are not artists of some kind, I don't get them at all.

Shades:

I get that everyone is different but I cannot understand why some people want to keep working long after they can retire.

I manage a retail pharmacy/drug store, and just hired back a woman who retired last year. She's now 80 and is full of energy, it's wild. She hated being retired, and always begs me for more hours, wanting to do 44+ a week. And then just this week sent out a job offer to a 73 year old, who worked a full career as a chemical engineer and now wants to work retail full-time. People continue to surprise me.

GoBucks89:

But there are some people who go beyond liking their work. They don't view it as work. It energizes them. Its enjoyable to them.

Now I feel seen.

But then again I have a very odd occupation to begin with in terms of schedules and day-to-day activities. I find my job fun. I would never prioritize a work-related thing for a family thing, but then again my job gives me the flexibility to make those choices already.

Jeff:
I think that the dream is for work and purpose to be the same thing. And the people who believe they've found that, and are not artists of some kind, I don't get them at all.

What about someone in the helping fields, where the job literally helps to alter peoples' lives?

Purpose can get fulfilled in so many different ways. This is making me think back to high school and my cross-country team, because when you are a distance runner or anyone who "runs for enjoyment" you get asked the proverbial why question over and over and over. The back of our shirts had one simple quote which was also the ultimate answer to the question: "I am Purpose".

That answer only confused people, which made me smile.

The back of my shirt says “I am the god of hellfire”

OhioStater:

What about someone in the helping fields, where the job literally helps to alter peoples' lives?

There is a big component of my job that fits this--teaching and advising students definitely feeds my soul. On the other hand, it's not clear I am changing anyone's life. All of these students are talented and ambitious, and they will likely succeed whether they cross paths with me or not. I also find the winnowing/sorting parts of the job (This is an A Student, This is a B Student) to be...well, not soul-feeding.

To be honest, you professors (weird but awesome, we have two that are active participants here) probably do the thing that I would enjoy the most, because I often believe that the most meaningful and purposeful thing I've ever done is coaching teenagers, and what you do is more like that than you probably think. I have many things to pass along and teach. But there's no universe where I could endure getting a PhD (undergrad was hard enough, #ASD #ADHD, as I understand it now), let alone the absurd politics in higher ed. But few things energize me as the potential in young people, which is why I take on interns every chance that I get. I've had three in recent years, and they're amazing humans. I suspect that the institutional nonsense you deal with would be worth it, but maybe you could talk me off that ledge.

In my current role, I'm peripherally influencing other middle-managers for the better, but I'm honestly not motivated or inclined to advance. Managing managers is a different job, and the VP level, which I have done (although in a smaller org with 40+ people in my charge), is yet another role. But it's amazing when I can use experience and wisdom to influence a better outcome.

I've been thinking a lot about legacy as an extension of that work. That's my next blog post...

My next blog post.

Coaching young people is the heart of education. I love teaching both Freshmen and Juniors. While Freshmen and generally squirrely, by the time they are Juniors they usually have direction and drive. I love seeing that transition and knowing that I played even a small part of them figuring things out.

While I'm generally regarded as a great teacher (seriously, not bragging) it's an exhausting profession. The teaching itself is not the draining part, it's all the periphery. Curriculum revisions, grading, documentation for 504s and IEPs, standardized test prep, professional development, and parent contacts are just a few of the items that I will be happy to leave behind when my 33 years are up.

I'm fortunate that I will have a decent pension and a 403b waiting for me the day I retire. In addition I will be able to walk away when I'm 56. With the remainder of my time I plan on volunteering a great deal. I'll still have plenty of work left in me but won't be interested in making a dime. I don't know if it's about building legacy or just showing gratitude for the carbon that I'm borrowing for 80+ years.

504s and an IEP is the only way my kid would be able to learn.

To be clear I am not against 504s and IEPs, quite the opposite in fact. My son has one for inattentive ADD. High school has already been a struggle with his accommodations related to executive functioning. I can't imagine what it would be if he didn't have organizational and extended time accommodations. Any student with an IEP or 504 is required to have an annual review with feedback from teachers about their performance in various areas. These generally take 15-30 minutes to complete if you are including valid data. Two years ago I had 30 students who had either a 504 or IEP, as a general education teacher. So yeah, they are important but I won't miss the paperwork.

Retiring, without having other things to do like hobbies or volunteering, is bad for cognitive decline. The sharpest retired folks in their 70’s and 80’s are still actively “living” 40 hours a week doing something.

Theme parks really should market job opportunities to this demographic.

Two things that are different in my post-crisis life: I can see what my purpose will be in retirement, and I have a network of friends across a variety of ages that are not connected to work.

Without both of those, retirement would look a lot more daunting.

Retiring, without having other things to do like hobbies or volunteering, is bad for cognitive decline.

Not sure which comes first: cognitive decline or reduced activities. Does keeping active with work, volunteering, hobbies, family, etc. in advanced years keep cognitive ability sharper? Or does having sharper cognitive ability allow people to continue with work, volunteering, hobbies, family, etc? Watching cognitive decline issues first hand in my family, I don't see it as totally clear which one comes first and I think they are very much related. Fascinating to watch how the cognitive process works (or doesn't -- broken brain disease often seems like the right description) and scary at the same time to the extent its hereditary. But no doubt I intend to remain as cognitively and physically active as I can going forward.

Gunkey Monkey:

Theme parks really should market job opportunities to this demographic.

I'm not sure that they have to. There are so many "retired" folks I encounter at the parks, and they're some of the best folks to interact with. I would totally do it, if I'm still in the area at that point.

Research into adulthood and aging shows that it's the quality of your close meaningful relationships (spouses, emotionally supportive friendships, etc.) that has a much greater impact on one's cognitive health later in life than whatever hobbies or work you do.

Best predictor of greater overall health at 80 is what those relationships look like at 50.

Invest in relationships, not stocks.

OK, well do both, but one is more important than the other.

If that works out, I'm gonna live to 100.

Cedar Point bicentennial, here we come.

There is talk of the difference between life span and health span. Modern medicine has done a better job at extending life span than it has health span. Without increased health span, people often find themselves looking for an off ramp in terms of an extended life span.

OhioStater:

Cedar Point bicentennial, here we come

Six Flags Cedar Point*

I retired recently. I have many things to figure out..but one thing that is a given is working part time during the summer. I do a ton of robotics, stem, construction and competition activities with the campers and the camp is very cool in that they leave me alone and let me do my thing.

I have even hired former students to be assistants.

It's a way to help pay for my hobbies.