Where Have My Choices Gone?

The past year has been rough on me, emotionally. I've had to deal with, essentially having all my choices taken away from me. I wanted/needed to work at least one more year at Dow Chemical to have a retirement that would be significant. The decision was made for me, via corporate down-sizing and, therefore, I have to make do with what I was given. The same thing happened to Donn and, so the choices and plans we had for our retirement were cruelly rearranged to be, not what we wanted, but what we were left with.

What sent me into a tail-spin today? I had to give Donn a haircut. We've sliced our budget to the bone and one of the things he opted out of for himself was going to Master Cuts for his hair and beard trims. This isn't the first trim I've given him. It was actually #3 and, contrary to popular opinion, the 3rd time was not the charm. His hair is a little more thin, OK, a lot thinner, behind his right ear than it is on his left. He's fine with it. Donn has so little ego it scares me sometimes but, in cases like this, I'm thankful for it. He won't even use a mirror to look at the back of his hair and, besides, it grows fast.

So, why the tears? It's because I think after you've worked your whole life in your career, did all the things you were supposed to do, followed the plan, to the letter, you shouldn't have to be in a position where your wife gives you haircuts so you look neat for your job at Walmart.