An interview of a Motivational Veteran who has a heart of Lion

             Sigmund Freud said, “Love and work. Work and Love”. ‘That’s all there is’. Well, I(Michel) am retired, and my wife is dead. As you can imagine, that’s given me some time on my hands. My wife’s been gone for five years. I miss her in every way. And retirement? That is an ongoing, relentless effort in creativity. At first, I admit, I enjoyed the novelty of it. Sort of felt like I was playing hooky. I used all the miles. I had saved and traveled the globe. The problem was, no matter where I went, as soon as I got home, there is nothing to be and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized the key to this whole deal was to keep moving. Get up, get out of the house, and go somewhere. Anywhere.

How do I spend the rest of my days?

You name it. Golf, reading books, movies, tried yoga, learned to cook, went to the gym, bought some flowers and plants, Took classes to learn French. Accept as true, I have tried everything.”

And then, off course, there are marriages and funerals. So many more than I could imagine.

The only traveling I do these days is out to visit my son and his family. They are great and affectionate. I love them to pieces. But to be honest, I think I probably relied on them way more than I should. Don’t get me wrong, I am not an unhappy person. Quite the contrary.

I just know there is a whole in my life and I need to fill it, soon which brings me to today, when I was leaving for market and caught your flyer out of the corner of my eye. Pamphlet says, “Seniors, be an intern”.

My friend Steve asked, what’d you find?

I think an internet place is looking for senior interns. “Applicants must be over 65 years of age, have organizational skills, a genuine interest in e-commerce and roll up your sleeves attitude”. Well, you have to upload the CV. That could be challenging. Cover letters are so old-fashioned. Show us who you are with a cover-letter video. Upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo using mov. Avi. Or an mpg File. We are looking forward to meeting you.

So here I am, applying to be one of your interns because the more I think about this idea, the more tremendous I think it is. I love the idea of having a place I can go every day. I want the connection, the excitement. I want to be challenged and I might even want to be needed. The tech stuff might take a bit to figure out. I had to call my nine-year-old grandson just to find out what a USB connector was but I will get there. Eager to learn. Also, I want you to know, I have been a company man all my life. I am loyal, trustworthy and I am good in a crisis and I love that you are right here in New York. I have lived here all my life, and lately, I feel I may not be hip enough to live in New York, so this could help with that, too. I read once, musicians don’t retire. They stop when there is no music in them. Well, I still have music in me, absolutely positive about that.

Interview day for the job selection:

Michel: Business is usual is not our motto. So we hope you have some fun here. This is for the first time, we are hiring senior interns, so some of our intern’s questions may not fit your profile, but we are going to go for it anyway, okay?

Michel. Fire away the questions. I am good to go.

Interviewer: Where’d you go to university?

Michel: I went to Harvard.

Interviewer: My brother went to Harvard, too.

Michel: Probably not at the same time.

Interviewer: He graduated in 2008.

Michel: Class of ‘68.

Interviewer: Wow, What was your major?

Michel: I’m an MBA from Harvard.

Interviewer: After Harvard, you went to?

Michel: I went to work for a phone book company in New York and I was in charge of overseeing the printing of the physical phone book. I did that for over 20 years and before that, I was their VP sales and advertising.

Interviewer: So, do they still make phone books? I mean doesn’t everyone just google numbers?

Michel: I believe they do, but before google that was how things go.

Interviewer: Yeah, I got it. So, 40 years at the phone book company? That is amazing, seriously. Now, I am going to ask you one of our telling questions for all of our interns, so I want you to think and take your time. Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?

Michel: When I am 80?

Interviewer: Sure. Whatever. Wait. I did not realize you were 70. That question just doesn’t work for you, does it?

Michel: It’s your call, Sir.

Interviewer: That’s one gone. You look great. By the way, so great, and you are clearly more than qualified for this job, you are like way overqualified, and we were so impressed. You had great interviewers, great video. You nailed it, Michel. Congrats.

Michel: Thank you!