Retirement Day (21st Century)

(Summer of 2017)
It is mid-June and there is no more need for subs.
My budget is tight, but I am okay because
I have summer school to teach
and a friends house to paint.
Summer school is canceled,
and so is the friend’s will to
have the house painted.
I get on the horn and call 50 painting contracters.
I get a summer painting for Rulhio’s Painting.
Paul says, “I know the exact day I am retiring.”
I am on the 24 foot ladder taping windows
for Dominican Popo, the spray painter,
and next to me on the 32 footer is Paul.
Paul use to be a chef, but the chef salary
promised never came to fruition,
He grew tired of the corporate world
and the kitchen politics
and started house painting
with his hermano.
Paul bought his home just
before the housing bubble burst
and paying $200,000 more
than the house if valued today.
I hope to still get my
own home painting job.
I hear on the next job,
we are working on 60 foot ladders
and a slate roof with high pitch.
My legs get shaky after 40 feet.
I prefer being my own boss.
The money is better and
Sometimes I can cut out
early from the job.
I ask, “So Paul, what day will you retire?
“On the day I die,
is my retirement day.”

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